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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Dear All For a possible culting of Maurilius in England, see http://www.le.ac.uk/users/grj1/morrell.html with a link to high-quality wall-paintings in Angers, including the fish-and-key miracle, at http://www.le.ac.uk/users/grj1/mor1.html Hard copy material in my book 'Saints in the Landscape' (Stroud, Tempus, 2007). Best wishes Graham ****************************************** Dr Graham Jones St John's College (University of Oxford) Oxford OX1 3JP Tel: +(0)1865 280146 (with voice-mail) e-Mail: [log in to unmask] Senior Research Associate School of Geography and the Environment University of Oxford. Web: http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/staff/gjones.html Honorary Visiting Fellow Centre for English Local History University of Leicester. Web: http://www.le.ac.uk/users/grj1 ****************************************** -----Original Message----- From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Dillon Sent: 18 March 2009 04:12 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [M-R] keys - pilgrim souvenirs, grave goods, other? medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Jim, There's a keys-and-relics miracle in the later Vitae, etc. of St. Maurilius of Angers, starting with Arconaldus in the tenth century (BHL 5731-5731d; once falsely attrib. to Venantius Fortunatus) and including Marbod of Rennes in the early twelfth (BHL 5732; PL 171, cc. 1635-48; passage is at col. 1644B-D). For modern French-language and English-language versions, see (in French): http://carmina-carmina.com/carmina/Mytholosaints/maurille.htm (and in English): http://tinyurl.com/cqz4cz Best, John Dillon On Tuesday, March 17, 2009, at 7:15 pm, Jim Bugslag wrote: > Meg, > I have no doubt you are on to something here. Such seemingly > innocuous items as keys and > bells and staffs seem to have had a very powerful resonance in the > Middle Ages. I haven't > made a systematic study of this, but as has been pointed out, St Peter > was from a very early > time associated with keys, which became his attribute long before > attributes of saints were at > all common, and I have come across a couple of stories (legends, in > hagiographic terms) that > involve keys. The first, I am sure, will be of particular interest to > you. It involves the > foundation legends of Evesham Abbey in the 7th century. St Egwin, who > was the bishop of > Worcester at the time, was forced to become a hermit on the banks of > the Avon, near the > future site of Evesham. When called to Rome, he determined to travel > as a penitent, and > shackled his legs, throwing the key into the Avon before setting out. > When he arrived in > Rome, he celebrated Mass in St Peter's Basilica and then settled in to > a fish dinner. Inside > the fish he was eating, he found the key he had thrown in the Avon. > On his return, after > apparitions of the Virgin Mary, Evesham was founded. I haven't been > able to determine yet if > the key was among the relics of Evesham, though. Another story > involves the church of > Notre-Dame la Grande in Poitiers and supposedly took place at the > beginning of the 13th > century. The mayor of Poitiers had an ambitious clerk who in 1202 > found himself in the city > of Perigueux, which was then held by the English. He made a deal with > the English to deliver > Poitiers to them in exchange, I believe, for a pot of wine (obviously, > he was a fairly inept > traitor!). To this effect, he sneaked into the mayor's bedroom one > night, where he usually > kept the keys above his bed, but couldn't find them. So, he woke up > the mayor and trumped > up an excuse for asking him for the keys. But the mayor couldn't find > them either. Shortly > later, the English were discovered outside the gates of the city, and > the mayor prayed to > Notre-Dame la Grande to put the city in her care. And when in front > of the statue, he saw the > keys in her hand. She was afterwards sometimes known as Notre-Dame > des Clefs. I doubt > whether these are isolated stories, and I wonder whether others have > come across similar > ones, or of keys that functioned, in recognition of such miracles, as > relics. > Cheers, > Jim > ********************************************************************** 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 ********************************************************************** 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