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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today, February 11, is the feast day of: "The Guardians of the Holy Scriptures" (d. c. 303) A group of north African Christians who died rather than hand over sacred texts to government authorities during Diocletian's persecution. The fact that other African Christians were more accommodating led to the Donatist schism. Jonas the Gardener (4th cent.) Jonas was a monk at Demeskenyanos (Egypt). He was the gardener for his community for 85 years, working day & night while singing psalms, and living on a nourishing diet of raw vegetables and vinegar. Castrensis (d. 5th cent., supposedly) Venerated in Campania as an early martyr-bishop, this less well known saint of the Regno is recorded for today in the (pseudo-)Hieronymian Martyrology, in the early eighth-century Calendar of St. Willibrord, and in the ninth-century Marble Calendar of Naples. He is especially associated with the following places in today's Caserta province: Castel Volturno (whose ninth-century bishop Radipert is recorded as having been buried at an altar containing Castrensis' remains), Capua, and Sessa Aurunca. Castrensis is the leading figure in the synthesizing and highly legendary eleventh- or twelfth-century _Vita sancti Castrensis_ (BHL 1644-1645), which brings together twelve saints from southern Italy and makes them all Africans who in the fifth century escaped Vandal persecution, made their way in an unseaworthy vessel to Campania, and died there in various places. A twelfth-century mosaic illustrating two of Castrensis' miracles is part of the decor of Sicily's Monreale cathedral (nave, west wall): http://tinyurl.com/djppyy Since at least the late sixteenth century the cathedral has laid claim to Castrensis' (putative) relics. Alleged to have been brought there in 1182 and to have been placed in the new cathedral's then sole altar, these were translated in 1596 to its present Cappella di San Castrense. A Benedictine convent dedicated to Castrensis was founded at Monreale in 1499; its church, expanded in the eighteenth century and still retaining the original dedication, now serves a local parish. Castrensis (in Italian, Castrense or Castrese) is the principal patron of the archdiocese of Monreale as well as the patron saint of Monreale (PA) and, in Campania, of Castel Volturno (CE), Marano di Napoli (NA), and Sessa Aurunca (CE). Castrensis' image in the much degraded frescoes of the Grotta dei Santi at Calvi Risorta (CE) may be made out here (left-hand column, second view; labelled as Fig. 10): http://www.cattedrale-calvirisorta.com/imgrottasanti.htm Castrensis has given his name both to one of Campania's many locally developed varieties of apricot, the San Castrese, and to a Sicilian pastry, the _biscotto castrense_, supposedly first made by the sisters at his convent at Monreale. Gobnait (sixth century) A native of Co. Clare, according to tradition, the Irish Gobnait had to flee her home to avoid being caught up in a feud. She went at first to the Aran Islands, where she built a church. An angel told her, however, that the "place of her resurrection" (where she would be buried) was not there, but at the place where she would find nine white deer grazing. Gobnait set out in search of this site, founding monastic communities along the way, including the church of Kilgobnet* (near Dungarvan). Eventually she settled at Ballyvourney (Co. Cork), and established a religious house with the help of St. Alban. G. was known as a skillful bee-keeper. Her pilgrimage is still alive today. [Kil = "church or holy cell" + "Gobnet", her name] Caedmon (d. c. 680) Caedmon was a herdsman for the monastery of Whitby. A vision bestowed on him the ability to compose religious poetry. Abbess Hilda encouraged Caedmon, making him a monk and having him taught the Bible. He was the first Christian Anglo-Saxon writer of religious poetry; unfortunately, only nine lines one of his hymns survives, of deep spirituality, having been quoted by Bede. Gregory II (d. 731) Gregory was a native Roman who rose through the ranks from sub deacon to the pope's treasurer and librarian, then becoming pope in 715. He was involved in many building programs, such as the re-erection of a great part of Rome's walls, the construction of a hospital for old men, and the conversion of his late mother's house into the monastery of St Agatha. He got into trouble with the Byzantine emperor, Leo III, over both taxes and iconoclasm. The Lombard king, Liutprand, took advantage of the quarrel to invade the exarchate of Ravenna and besiege Rome - which was successfully defended, in part because G. had repaired the walls. Greg. also encouraged missionary work, most notably Boniface, liturgical reform, and accountability in his see. He blessed missionaries to German lands, including Corbinian and Boniface. Benedict of Aniane (d. 821) The "other" Benedict, whose central role was ensuring the dominance of the Benedictine Rule in Western Europe. Originally named Witiza, he was a Visigoth who served at the Frankish court until he was 20, serving King Pepin and his son Charlemagne as cupbearer, then becoming a Benedictine monk in 773. In 779 he founded the monastery of Aniane on his own estate in Languedoc near Montpellier. Starkly ascetic in his own practices, Benedict seems to have made propagation of the Benedictine Rule his life's work. Louis the Pious was very impressed by B of A, and in 817 had him preside over the council of abbots that imposed the Rule of Benedict and common customs on all monasteries in the Frankish empire. He seems to have been rather obsessed with uniformity. The Translation of St Frideswide. Often noted in Sarum Calendars, but there is no Sarum Mass or Office. Adolf of Osnabruck (d. 1224) was a Westphalian noble whose family got him a canonry at Cologne. But he resigned to become a Cistercian, and went on to be bishop of Osnabruck in 1216. He was so famous for charity that he got the nickname "the almoner of the poor." Adolf Hitler was named after him. happy reading, Terri -- Math Problems? Call 1-800-[(10x)(13i)2]-[sin(xy)/2.362x]. [log in to unmask] ********************************************************************** 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