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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Culled from various sources in our archives: 10,000 Martyrs of Mt. Ararat (d. c120?) This is apparently a twelfth-century legend, widely popularized in the fifteenth century. It tells of a large chunk of Hadrian's army, converted to Christianity after their leader heard the voice of an angel. The legend shows a lot of frustrated goriness in the style of "The Chinese Brothers": the evil pagans tried to stone the 10,000, but the stones flew back at them; they tried to burn them, but they wouldn't light, etc., etc. So finally they were thrown off Mt. Ararat. Cnut / Knut of Denmark (d. 1086) Cnut was a bastard son of Svein Estrithson, born c1040. He became king of Denmark in 1080 and proved to be a strong supporter of the young Danish church, building churches, endowing monasteries, making favorable laws, etc. The people didn't like it. They rebelled against his heavy taxes and tithes. He was besieged in Odense, where he took refuge in the church of St. Alban. The rebels broke in and killed Cnut and 18 of his followers. A cult started immediately. His relics were raised in 1095; the pope is supposed to have declared Cnut a saint in 1100 (at the request of his brother and successor Eric III), but this is not clearly attested. His feast day used to be January 19 but today is his dies natalis. Etto / Hetto (d. c. 670) According to tradition a native of Ireland, Etto became a missionary bishop based near Cambrai. Irenaeus and Mustiola (3rd century) were martyred in Chiusi (Tuscany). According to legend, Irenaeus was a deacon who got in trouble with Roman authorities by burying the body of the martyred St. Felix (a priest of Sutri). Irenaeus was put in chains and thrown into prison, where he in turn was visited and aided by the noblewoman Mustiola. Both were martyred. John of Dukla (d. 1484) This Polish saint became a hermit at a young age, then joined the Convential Franciscans at Lviv (Ukraine) in 1440. He transferred to the Observants in 1463. He spent his career preaching and caring for the Germans of Lviv. John was canonized in 1997. Lantfrid, Waltram, and Elilantus (d. c770) were three brothers who founded the monastery of Benediktbeuren near Munich, and succeeded one another as abbots. Leontius and companions (d. c320) This group of 45 martyrs were killed at Nicopolis (Armenia) in the reign of Licinius; they were nearly the last martyrs of the Great Persecution. The author of the persecution was Emperor Licinius. Pasquier (d. late 7th century) Pasquier was bishop of Nantes. The only known act of his episcopate is his foundation of the monastery of Indre on an island in the Loire, obtaining monks for the purpose from Fontenelle. Pasquier's cult is attested from the twelfth century on. Rufina and Secunda (d. c250) These two martyrs probably died during the reign of Valerian. Legend tells that they were Roman sisters, who refused to apostasize along with their fiancés when Emperor Valerian’s persecution began. They fled from Rome, but were denounced by their former suitors. There was a church over their tomb (at the tenth milestone from Rome on the Cornelian Way, at a place called “Silva Nigra”) by the fourth century; the town of Silva Candida grew up around it, and in time became an episcopal see and appurtenant to the cardinalate. The Seven Brothers (d. c150) According to the Roman Martyrology, these were the seven sons of St. Felicity of Rome (Nov. 23). Legend reports their lurid deaths - while three got off with beheading, three were flogged to death and one thrown off a cliff. The truth of the matter seems to be that they were seven early martyrs who were completely unconnected with each other, perhaps turned into siblings because they happened to share the same feast day. William the Silent of Orange, a protestant, savior of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands, assassinated on this day in 1584. He came to the leadership of the Dutch rebels/religious reformers after the duke of Alva's draconian suppressive measures killed several other Dutch leaders. William put up an extremely good fight against the troops of Philip II. He seems to have been rather religious ambivalent himself, eventually converting to the Reformed church at a late stage in his career. He is included in this calendar because of the honor he was given by members of his faith. ********************************************************************** 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