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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Dear All Just for the record, the dedications of surviving and lost churches honouring one or the other Pancras in England are as follows: Seven in Devon: Countisbury, Exeter, Pancrasweek, Pennycross, Rousdon, Widecombe in the Moor, Withycombe Raleigh; in Somerset, West Bagborough; in Dorset, Alton Pancras; in Hampshire, Winchester; in Sussex, Arlington, Chichester, Lewes; in Kent, Canterbury, Coldred; in Middlesex, St Pancras, St Pancras in Soper Lane; in Lincolnshire, Wroot. The map you can find at <https://docs.google.com/presentation/pub?id=1NRtef9HncZVZWx02wJvqIsh2rgbReskYxFzPkrV40_k&start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000> emphasises the non-random distribution of these parochial dedications (in red). Non-parochial cases (in blue) include the chapel between the two churches at Winchcombe (Gloucestershire) which Steve Bassett has interpreted as a mausoleum for the murdered early ninth-century Mercian prince Cynhelm (Kenelm) - see his article in The Antiquaries Journal 65:1 (March 1985). The best analysis of Pancras dedications which I've heard was by Chris Lewis at the Leeds conference in 2004. His principal conclusions were in favour of 'a very early cult' (including St Pancras on the Fleet - pointing out, as John Blair has done, the extrreme rarity of hagio-toponyms in England) and that most dedications were at churches 'newly built late in the Anglo-Saxon period or after the Norman conquest'. In respect of the West Country concentration he noted the possession of relics of the Roman Pancras at Exeter, Glastonbury and Bath. He did not, however, discuss whether it is at all possible that some of the dedications were refreshed, if not inspired, by the close relationship between English and Sicilian elites in the twelfth century. Only a close examination of manorial lordships and/or local feast days would provide a clue as to whether Frances Arnold Forster's conclusion in favour of the Sicilian Pancras in the West Country (followed by Bond) was at all well founded, or merely, in Chris Lewis's opinion, 'specious'. Best wishes Graham ****************************************************************************** Dr Graham Jones, St John's College, Oxford OX1 3JP Senior Research Associate, Oxford University School of Geography ****************************************************************************** ________________________________________ From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Genevra Kornbluth [[log in to unmask]] Sent: 08 July 2012 21:51 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [M-R] Feasts and Saints of the Day: July 8 medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Thanks, John! On 7/8/2012 11:52 AM, John Dillon wrote: > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > The railway station is named for the former civil parish in which it was built. That parish in turn took its name from the ecclesiastical parish of St Pancras whose homonymous church (now St Pancras Old Church) though greatly rebuilt seems to be originally of the later eleventh century. As far as one can tell, this church has always considered its titular to be Pancras of Rome. > > There seems to have been an ancient (i.e. pre-Conquest) church of a St. Pancras in London and the assumption is that the aforementioned church replaced it. Ancient dedications in England to a St. Pancras are usually thought to honor Pancras of Rome (12. May), whose cult was favored by St. Augustine of Canterbury. The evidence for that view is summarized in the third paragraph here:<http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/8th-may-2009/18/saint-of-the-week>. While it is true that some saints venerated in late antique Campania were also venerated in Anglo-Saxon England (these are thought to have come in with the mission of Sts. Hadrian of Nisida and Theodore of Tarsus) and that the only Pancras in the earlier ninth-century Marble Calendar of Naples is at 8. July and thus will be Pancras of Taormina, it's not clear that Pancras of Taormina was venerated either in Campania or in England as early as the late sixth and seventh centuries. One straw in the wind here is the very early eighth-century so-called Calendar of St. Willibrord (Paris, BnF, ms. Latin 10837), written in an insular hand at the Anglo-Saxon missionary establishment at Echternach: its only Pancras is at 12. May and thus will be Pancras of Rome. On the other hand, Francis Bond, _Dedications& Patron Saints of English Churches_ (London, 1914), asserts in a chart on p. 326 that there were ten ancient dedications in England to Pancras of Taormina (whose feast day he gives as 3. April, though it is not clear whether this is really from early calendars or instead from the pre-2001 Roman Martyrology). Using the index to this book I have not been able to locate any discussion in support of that assertion. > > Best, > John Dillon > ********************************************************************** 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 ________________________________________ From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Genevra Kornbluth [[log in to unmask]] Sent: 08 July 2012 21:51 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [M-R] Feasts and Saints of the Day: July 8 medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Thanks, John! On 7/8/2012 11:52 AM, John Dillon wrote: > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > The railway station is named for the former civil parish in which it was built. That parish in turn took its name from the ecclesiastical parish of St Pancras whose homonymous church (now St Pancras Old Church) though greatly rebuilt seems to be originally of the later eleventh century. As far as one can tell, this church has always considered its titular to be Pancras of Rome. > > There seems to have been an ancient (i.e. pre-Conquest) church of a St. Pancras in London and the assumption is that the aforementioned church replaced it. Ancient dedications in England to a St. Pancras are usually thought to honor Pancras of Rome (12. May), whose cult was favored by St. Augustine of Canterbury. The evidence for that view is summarized in the third paragraph here:<http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/8th-may-2009/18/saint-of-the-week>. While it is true that some saints venerated in late antique Campania were also venerated in Anglo-Saxon England (these are thought to have come in with the mission of Sts. Hadrian of Nisida and Theodore of Tarsus) and that the only Pancras in the earlier ninth-century Marble Calendar of Naples is at 8. July and thus will be Pancras of Taormina, it's not clear that Pancras of Taormina was venerated either in Campania or in England as early as the late sixth and seventh centuries. One straw in the wind here is the very early eighth-century so-called Calendar of St. Willibrord (Paris, BnF, ms. Latin 10837), written in an insular hand at the Anglo-Saxon missionary establishment at Echternach: its only Pancras is at 12. May and thus will be Pancras of Rome. On the other hand, Francis Bond, _Dedications& Patron Saints of English Churches_ (London, 1914), asserts in a chart on p. 326 that there were ten ancient dedications in England to Pancras of Taormina (whose feast day he gives as 3. April, though it is not clear whether this is really from early calendars or instead from the pre-2001 Roman Martyrology). Using the index to this book I have not been able to locate any discussion in support of that assertion. > > Best, > John Dillon > ********************************************************************** 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