 |
 |
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture I'm sorry, I may not have been paying attention, but did we ever get an explanation as to why the bishop was wearing women's clothing? It seems awfully advanced - indeed, even as we speak, the Vatican is making special arrangements to accommodate Anglicans who object to that sort of thing... John Briggs > ----- Original Message ----- > From: John Dillon <[log in to unmask]> > > For what little this is worth, the cross-dressing episode in the > probably monastic, perhaps late twelfth- or early thirteenth-century > legendary Vita of the early medieval St. Vitalian of Capua (BHL 1254) > envisions a situation in which V.'s wearing women's clothing while he > celebrates Matins in his cathedral (an adaptation of a similar > incident in legendary Vitae of St. Jerome) only becomes apparent to > others as it grows light. Which in turn means that the Vita's > audience is expected -- if it thinks about this -- to imagine a > chancel insufficiently lit at the outset of the service to permit > observation of the nature of the celebrant's clothing. > > This seems more likely to reflect dimness on the part of the Vita's > author than actual darkness in the chancel at Montevergine (or > wherever the Vita was written) when Matins began. Still,... ********************************************************************** 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