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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today, September 3, is the feast of: Mansuetus/ in French, Mansuy of Toul (?) is the legendary protobishop of Toul (Meurthe-et-Moselle). His later tenth-century hagiographer Adso of Montier-en-Der says in his Vita et Miracula of Mansuetus that he was an Irishman who in Rome became a disciple of St. Peter, that he evangelized in Toul, and that St. Martin of Tours had prayed at his tomb. But Mansuetus’ cult really seems to begin in the tenth century when it was promoted by Toul's bishop St. Gerard I, who founded a monastery dedicated to Mansuetus and who commissioned the aforementioned work of Adso. The latter, not altogether surprisingly, presents Mansuetus as a model bishop. A head said to be his is still kept in Toul's cathedral of St. Stephen. In the diocese of Nancy and Toul Mansuetus is now celebrated on September 4, thanks to today's Memorial for pope St. Gregory I. Vitalian "of Capua" (?) This less well known saint has a cult rooted in Campania with an important extension in southern Calabria. The Epternach recension of the (pseudo-)Hieronymian Martyrology enters under today a Vitalian martyred, it would seem, in Samnium: in Caudis Vitalianus. If Caudis signifies ancient Caudium, the location would be in the vicinity of today's Montesarchio in Campania, on the Via Appia between Capua and Benevento. That this Vitalian, whose commemoration today in the RM essentially reprises his entry in the (ps.-)HM, had an early medieval cult elsewhere in Campania is established by the early ninth-century Marble Calendar of Naples, where a St. Vitalian is commemorated on September 3. A Vitalian thought to be identical with today's Vitalian has a brief, legendary Vita (BHL 1254; mid-twelfth-century at the earliest) that makes him a bishop of Capua whose enemies sewed him up in a leather sack and threw him into the sea (rationalizers suppose that he will have been thrown into the river Garigliano and washed downstream), whence with divine aid he rowed all the way to Ostia (!). According to this account, Vitalian, forbearing to recompense evil with evil, then returned to Capua. Later, he settled on Monte Partenio (near today's Avellino), founded an oratory dedicated to the BVM, and finished his days there. Thus far the Vita. If you're up on your medieval Campanian toponomastics, you may recognize the site of Vitalian's oratory as that of today's Montevergine, whose famous abbey was founded in the first half of the twelfth century. As Vitalian is absent from the earliest diocesan calendar of Capua (also late twelfth-century), his episcopal association with that city in either its ancient or its central medieval and modern location could be an invention of the Vita. Within the diocese of Capua, though, a church dedicated to Vitalian is already recorded from 1113: this is presumed to have been a predecessor, at the same site, of today's eremo di San Vitaliano at relatively nearby Casola di Caserta. Vitalian appears under July 16 in the twelfth-century Beneventan martyrology of Santa Maria del Gualdo and in later medieval calendars from Capua. By the early fourteenth century Vitalian was being honored in Catanzaro in Calabria, whose cathedral contains putative relics of him that seem to have come directly from Montevergine. The frequently repeated view that he was translated thither at the behest of Callistus II in connection with his transfer to that city in 1122 of the see of Taverna (ancient Tres Tabernae) is possible but not established. Vitalian is the patron saint of Catanzaro and, in Campania, of the medievally attested San Vitaliano and Sparanise. TAN (aficionados of body-part relics, please note): The hoofmark-like indentation in this stone at Sala di Caserta in Campania has been interpreted since at least the eighteenth century as having been made by the ass on which Vitalian was riding when he journeyed from Capua to found the oratory mentioned in the Vita: http://tinyurl.com/36yt9a Phoebe (first century) - at end of letter to the Romans, Paul says: 'And I commend you to Phoebe, our sister, who is in the ministry of the church that is in Cenchrae, that you receive her in the Lord as becometh saints and that you assist her in whatsoever business she shall have need of you'. The Bollandists refute the allegation that she had been Paul's wife. Basilissa of Nicomedia (d. c300) was born in Nicomedia. At the age of nine she was martyred. She is supposed to have withstood torture so bravely that she even converted the governor of the city to Christianity. Her cult developed especially in Constantinople. Macanisius/Aengus MacNisse/Oengus Mac Nisse (514) was an early Irish saint and bishop, reputed to be a disciple of Patrick. He became a hermit at Kells and later bishop of his own clan in that district. Notable in his late legend is the story that Macanisius had such high respect for the scriptures that he always carried his gospel book on his shoulder, hunched up or on all fours. He made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Rome, after which he founded a church and monastery. For the convenience of his monks, he miraculously changed the course of the river Curi. He also saved the life of the child who was to become St Colman of Kilruaidh. Gregory the Great (3 Sep 590) – feast of his consecration as pope. (Modernly his primary feast day, to move it out of the Lental season). See Mar 12 Simeon Stylites the Younger (d. 592 or perhaps 596 or 597) was one of the most famous pillar-sitting saints after Simon Stylites the Elder. This Simeon was born in Antioch in c520. Already as a child he was fascinated by stories of the elder Simeon, and at the age of 12 he himself began pillar-sitting. Simeon changed his pillar and location several times, until in 551 he got on a very high pillar in Antioch, where he remained until his death. Because of the many miracles Simeon worked, the hill on which his pillar stood was known as "mons admirabilis." A monastic community grew around Simeon and his pillar - Simeon giving advice from above and his mother Martha organizing and overseeing the building. He stayed on that pillar for 45 years; a great basilica was built around him while he was still sitting there. In total, he lived on a pillar for 68 years. Remaclus (d. c673) The "Apostle of the Ardennes", Remaclus was an Aquitanian who entered religion at Luxeuil and was subsequently abbot of Solignac. In about 650 he founded, at the behest of king saint Sigebert III, the double monastery of Stavelot (Stablo) and Malmédy in what was then Austrasia and today is in southeastern Belgium. Laid to rest at Stavelot, he was canonized (locally, of course) some ten or fifteen years after his death. By the middle of the ninth century he had obtained a reputation for miraculous cures that achieved imperial recognition from both Louis the Pious and Lothar II and that led, shortly before the latter's visit to Stavelot in 862, to a compilation of Miracula that continued to grow over the centuries. From this time through to the dissolution of 1794 Stavelot was a major pilgrimage site and the capital of an independent ecclesiastical domain within the empire. How much evangelizing Remaclus actually accomplished in the Ardennes is unknown. But his cult does bring together several themes that recur with some frequency on this list. One of these is of course pilgrimage. Here he is on a twelfth-century pilgrim's badge now in the Musée communal de Huy: http://www.musee-huy.be/photos-html/B07.html Related to this, through his cures, is the topic of holy wells, etc. The Miracula record a blind woman's recovery of sight after drinking water from St. Remaclus' well. This, plus the fact that Stavelot and Malmédy are in an area of mineral springs (Malmédy is not far from Spa), has led to the attribution of some of the latter to activity on Remaclus’ part. Finally, according to legend, Remaclus is one of those saints who put to work for him a wild beast that had previously caused harm. In this case, the animal was a wolf that had killed the ass Remaclus had been using to transport materials for the building of his monastery at Stavelot; he made it replace the ass as his beast of burden. The wolf became Remaclus’ attribute in art and also formed part of the arms of the prince-abbots of Stavelot. He had a wide cult in Belgium. In the diocese of Namur Remaclus is now celebrated on September 4, thanks to today's Memorial for pope St. Gregory I. A view of Remaclus' shrine now in the église Saint-Sébastien at Stavelot (1268; photo from its appearance at the Belgian pavilion at Expo 67 [the 1967 World's Fair at Montréal]): http://tinyurl.com/6p67zw Aigulf of Lerins (d. 676) was a native of Blois, born c625. According to legend, he became a monk at Fleury at age 26 and was sent on a mission of holy Theft - to find and pilfer the relics of St. Benedict of Nursia from Montecassino. He was later sent to be abbot of Lerins, with the specific goal of converting the monastery to Benedictine observance. Some of the brethren didn't take kindly to this though, and took (or had taken by soldiers) Aigulf and four other monks to an island off Corsica and murdered them. Hereswith (d. c690) was a Northumbrian princess, the sister of Hilda. After she was widowed, she spent the second half of her life as a nun in the convent of Chelles, which she entered in c647. Balin (7th century) When Colman left England and went to Iona after the Synod of Whitby, the Saxon Balin and three brothers accompanied him. They finally created an English monastery in Co. Galway, Ireland. Hildelitha / Hildilid, abbess of Barking, virgin (c717) while a young Anglo-Saxon princess, she went to France where she took the veil. She returned to England to aid her sister St Ethelburga in running the new convent at Barking (and succeeded her as abbess). St Aldhelm dedicated to her a metrical treatise on virginity, Bede clearly admired her, and St Boniface mentioned that she had confided to him a vision she had experienced. Cuthburga, abbess of Wimborne, widow (c. 725) was a novice under Hildelitha at Barking. She later founded (together with her sister St Quenburga) the abbey of Wimborne, where no men were allowed to set foot Chrodegang/Godegrand of Seez (d. mid 8th century) was bishop of Seez in the middle years of the 8th century. He went on a pilgrimage for several years, leaving the governance of his diocese to relatives in his absence - they had him murdered when he returned, so Chrodegang is regarded as a martyr. He was highly venerated throughout Normandy and in Paris. John of Perugia & Peter of Sassoferrato (blessed) (d. 1231) In 1216 Francis of Assisi sent these two friars to preach to the Muslims in Spain. They worked in the area around Valencia for some time, but were finally seized in a mosque at Valencia and beheaded. Guala, bishop of Brescia (1244) was a disciple of Dominic and one of the first Dominicans. Very soon after his profession, he became prior of Dominican houses in Bergamo, then Brescia, then Bologna. Guala played an important part in shaping the cult of Dominic, because he had a vision of Dominic being drawn up to heaven by Christ and the Virgin Mary (which he discovered afterwards had occurred at exactly the time that Dominic died). He became bishop of Brescia in 1228, and was most notable for his skill as a negotiator between all the warring factions that plagued Italy at that time. He resigned in 1242, entered the Vallombrosan monastery of San Sepulcro, and spent the last two years of his life as a hermit. The third antiphon at Lauds in the office of Dominic refers to Guala’s vision of Dominic: 'Scala caelo prominens fratri revelatur, per quam pater transiens sursum ferebatur' - and when it was first sung, after Dominic's 1234 canonization, Guala himself presented this antiphon. Andrea da Borgo San Sepolcro (1315) - Andrea Dotti joined the Servites after hearing St Philip Benizi preach. Himself a great preacher, he predicted his death day. Even though in good health, he was found dead where he had been praying on a rock where he would often preach to his brethren. Happy reading, Terri Morgan -- “The nice thing about studying history is that you can always find people who are a lot weirder than you are.” – Delia Sherman ********************************************************************** 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