medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On 02/17/13, George FERZOCO wrote:
> Dear Gaie,
>
> Thanks for your interesting (albeit, as you say, grisly!) query to the list.
>
>
> There may possibily be information of use in studies of the death and relics of Thomas Aquinas. I have read that at some point after his death in 1274 at the Cistercian abbey of Fossanova, the monks boiled Thomas's remains; apparently their aim was to have the bones alone. I remember hearing that this was so the monks could hide these relics more easily, rather than keep Thomas's big body around. It may well be that odour had something to do with it, of course. The boiling was done either immediately after death (which I doubt), or at a time in the early 1300s, when moves were made to get a canonization process going.
>
>
> Perhaps someone familiar with Thomas's relics could chip in?
Somewhat similarly, according to matter from his canonization trial reproduced in the _Acta Sanctorum_, on the Sunday following his death in 1282 (at Ferento in northern Lazio) Thomas Cantilupe (Thomas of Hereford) was accorded a funeral at the monastery of St. Severus outside relatively nearby Orvieto. Later in the same year his heart and his skeletal remains were brought back to England. According to this note on the website of the cathedral of Hereford <
http://tinyurl.com/asvg2fl>, Thomas' excarnation took place by boiling before the funeral and it was only fleshy matter that was interred.
Perhaps someone more familiar with the hagiography and relics of this Thomas could chip in as well?
Best,
John Dillon
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