Hi George,

I'm not entirely sure the Joan of Arc case fully matches your request. My sense of her recognition by the French Republic is for her contribution of heroism and military leadership and I see little or no official recognition or connection with anything to do with sainthood, canonization or cannon law, or even Christianity, for that matter.

The one case that most perfectly answers your request is of course the Holy See. By virtue of its recognition with permanent observer status at the United Nations, it is a country, and as an absolute monarchy, its system of governance is nothing if it is not cannon law. Considering some 82 out 266 (over 30%) of its leaders over the centuries have been canonized or otherwise declared saints, I can think of no other case that better matches your request. But somehow, I don't think that is quite what you had in mind.

However, if you allow that deification is one step beyond mere canonization, then I can think of at least one case that exceeds the criteria of your request. I shudder to think of what may have crossed the mind of Pope Francis as he made his way across the Capitol's Rotunda on his way to address, as a recognized Head of State, a joint session of Congress on 24 September 2015. For above his head on the ceiling of the Rotunda is a fresco with the congressionally approved title of The Apotheosis of Washington. I see no need to dwell, in this discussion group, on the meaning of Apotheosis. If its Greek derivation is not clear enough, you need only consider Washington's placement in the fresco at the center of the likes of Minerva, Neptune and Mercury. It is historically clear that Congress gave informed consent to this work, its subject and its title by virtue of its act of appropriation and payment of $40,000 to Constantino Brumidi who completed the work in 1865. The work performed by bureaucrats in considering Brumidi's proposals for this fresco, including review of earlier designs and sketches, negotiation of changes and details in the contract, all done in support of obtaining congressional approval, is evidence that the approval of Congress was fully informed. The whole story, with full color and high resolution images is well documented here. Alas, I am unable to link in any intelligent way the processes of congressional appropriations to processes of canonization. The only similarity that comes to mind is the emptying of hell to fill up the ranks of the bureaucrats.

Cheers,

Richard J Legault

On Sun, Nov 8, 2015 at 5:59 AM, André-Yves Bourgès <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Hi Georges,

By clicking on the following link you will have the official act (July 10th 1920) making Joan of Arc patron of French Republic:
http://www.calvados.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/loi_Jeanne_d_Arc.pdf

Best from

Andre Yves Bourges

2015-11-08 3:08 GMT+01:00 George Ferzoco <[log in to unmask]>:

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Thank you very much, Karl and Tom, for your help! If anyone else has further information in this regard, I'd be grateful if you could share this.

I have another question regarding canonization. This time, it has more to do with its effects. I wonder if there is any tangible trace of canonization — the process, or the effects of a canonization — in the legal system of a country. The only thing I can possibly think of is when a country might adopt a canonized saint as its official patron saint. For example: I've tried to find, without success, whether Joan of Arc was ever made patron of France by an act of the French legislature or a decree of the French president.

Anyway, if anyone knows of any dovetailing or correlation of canonization and national legal system or national laws, I'd love to learn from you about this. Thank you.

Best wishes, George

On 6 Nov 2015, at 15:32, Thomas Izbicki <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Leopold's canonization is discussed in;

Contested canonizations : the last medieval saints, 1482-1523

Author: Ronald C Finucane

Publisher: Washington, D.C. : Catholic University of America Press, ©2011.

Institutional support (an order for example) & money are treated.

Tom Izbicki

From: "Karl Brunner" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Friday, November 6, 2015 9:20:03 AM
Subject: Re: [M-R] canonization and money

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Oh, I know that there was much money under way to promote the Austrian margrave Leopold III. († 1136) Some came from the monastery Klosterneuburg, some from the Hungarian king Mathias Corvinas, who then had parts of Austria in his hand – and nothing from the emperor, the Habsburgian Friedrich III. Leopold was canonized 1485.
Yours
Karl

> Am 06.11.2015 um 14:08 schrieb George Ferzoco <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Dear medieval-religion colleagues,
>
> Lately the media have reported, relative to 'Vatileaks', on funds tied to postulators in charge of administering canonization processes. This made me wonder if we have historical records tied to payments made by supporters of a medieval cause for canonization. I do know, for example, that the French king Philippe le Bel paid for the expenses related to the canonization process (c.1306-1313) of Peter of the Morrone / pope Celestine V (d.1296). Do any of you know of earlier (or indeed, later medieval) records for payments of this sort?
>
> Thanking you, as ever,
>
> George
> **********************************************************************

Author:	Ronald C Finucane
Publisher:	Washington, D.C. : Catholic University of America Press, ©2011.