It’s not just bones
either...
Henk
Van: medieval-religion
- Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] Namens
Ms B M Cook
Verzonden: zaterdag 5 juli 2008
20:28
Aan:
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Onderwerp: Re: [M-R] saints of the
day July 3
Yes, but the human body has more than one bone in it! (Someone clever
will tell us all how many!) Have you seen the bones ? Does LA have an ENTIRE
skeleton or only *some* bones ? Certainly in the MA skellies were
disarticulated and relics sent to different places. If a church has "the
relics" of St X it does not follow that they have the WHOLE of St X.
Portions may be retained by the donor church or donated elsewhere.
And not just the MA
A few years back, the (Anglican) cathedral of St Albans aka St Albans
Abbey where the mediaeval Shrine of St Alban has been lovingly restored, were
sent (IIRC) a scapula from the skelly which is claimed to be St Alban's by
St Panteleon's (Roman Catholic) church in Koln as a friendly gift. The Anglican
High Church faction in St Albans were thrilled ( a lovely, ecumenical
gesture); the Protestant Evangelical wing averted their faces in
considerable embarrassment (popish abominations !!!) . The Church of England
(used to be able to ?) take both viewpoints in her stride. But BOTH St
Albans and St Panteleon's can claim to "have the relics of Saint
Alban."
The history of the whereabouts of Saint Alban's bones is a complex and
multi-faceted one, but it would NOT be impossible that the bones which were in
the mediaeval shrine at St Albans at the time of the Reformation were smuggled
to St Panteleon's in some recusant's baggage to join the rest of the skelly
which had been there since the days of the Empress Theophanou; and the
skelly which Henry VIII ceremoniously trashed was that of a stray tramp
substituted for just that purpose. The monks had plenty of warning: St Albans
was almost the last abbey to be dissolved.
The point I am making is that the word "relics" can just as
easily refer to one or more bones as to a complete skeleton. It is a case of
the part representing the whole.
See you at Leeds anyone ?
Brenda.