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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (10. October) is the feast day of: Gereon and companions, martyred at Köln; Cassius and Florentius, martyred at Bonn; Victor and Mallosus, martyred at Köln (all d. ca. 304, supposedly). These are saints of Germania Inferior with cults that were already well attested in the sixth century and with churches originating in the central Middle Ages that (at least at Köln and at Xanten) replaced late antique martyria located in or next to early Christian cemeteries. The tale grew up that they were all members of the Theban Legion, leading to their customary representation as soldier-saints. Though the three towns did indeed house Roman garrisons, civilians of course lived there as well. Whether these saints' later memory as soldiers is factually correct is unknown. Gereon has a wonderful church at Köln not far from the cathedral. An aerial view is here: http://www.stgereon.de/Basilika/allgemein/13kl.jpg and a virtual tour is here: http://www.stgereon.de/Basilika/allgemein/Ueberblick_Rundgang.html (NB: the individual sections are more than one page deep; clicking at lower right will bring you more). An illustrated, German-language account of the Münster at Bonn (dedicated to Cassius and Florentius) is here: http://tinyurl.com/3x8npm and a virtual tour is here: http://www.bonner-muenster.de/basilika/rundgang.html (Click on "Virtuellen Rundgang starten"). Xanten's present cathedral of St. Victor was begun in 1190. Most of it is of the later thirteenth to early sixteenth centuries. A couple of illustrated sites on it are here: http://tinyurl.com/9b92v and here: http://www.premontre.org/subpages/loci/imagines/imxanten/galxanten.htm A single exterior view: http://www.xanten.de/img/bigimg/domstviktorkirmes.jpg A different exterior view and five interior ones (all expandable): http://oase.uci.kun.nl/~hvreenen/bio/20040102_dom_xanten/analoog/ A view of V.'s shrine (said to date from 1128 or 1129) is here: http://www.bistumsjubilaeum2005.de/index.php?cat_id=9947 For those more interested in the earlier sixteenth century, here are a few views of the main altar in which the shrine is housed: http://tinyurl.com/2rzlnm http://tinyurl.com/2vlky6 http://tinyurl.com/2zu8z5 Best, John Dillon (last year's post lightly revised) ********************************************************************** 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