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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture John Dillon's post came in just as I posted mine, and he is undoubtedly correct in noting the allusion to Apoc. 1:13, which perhaps shifts this practice towards a different meaning in this case. I notice that the PL version of the Glossa ord. -- which we all agree is not very good -- nevertheless reads: "Praecínctum ad mamillas. Daniel cinctum renes vidit in Veteri Testamento, quia ibi carnalia constringuntur; hic legimus praecinctum ad mamillas, quia in Novo Testamento, etiam cogitationes judicantur", which at the least might give you an idea to follow further. -- Paul Chandler On 31/10/2007, John Dillon <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > Dear Eliana, > > As various people have pointed out, a _zona_ is a bodily cincture; wearing > an iron one is almost certainly a form of penitential > self-mortification. Cinctures are commonly worn around the waist and in > those instances _zona_ is usually translated as "belt" (also the word's > extended significance, as in zones of the earth) or as "girdle". But a > _zona_ can also be worn around one's torso to cover the breast. A modern > term for that is "bandeau" and a generic one is simply "band": your saint > will have bound herself across the breast with an iron band. > > You might have a look at translations of Apocalypse 1. 13 to see what > terms are used to render the the golden _zona_ that the angel there is said > to wear across his breast (_praecinctum ad mamillas zona aurea_). In view > of _mammillas_ and _precinxit_ (to say nothing of the conceptual opposition > between _ferrea_ and _aurea_), it seems likely that your author has this > passage in mind. > > Best, > John Dillon > (not confident that this will be posted in a timely manner) > > ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html