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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture According to Eusebius of Caesarea (_Historia ecclesiastica_, 3. 18. 4), Flavia Domitilla (d. 96?), a niece of the Roman consul Flavius Clemens on his sister's side, was exiled to the island of Ponza along with many other Christians during the fifteenth year of the principate of Domitian (81-96). We know from Suetonius (_Vita Domitiani_, 15), who was much closer in time and physical space than Eusebius to events in Rome in these years, that the consul in question, who was a member of the emperor's extended family, was executed in 95 for failing to recognize the gods of the state and that he had a wife named Domitilla. The often well-informed early third-century Cassius Dio (_Historia romana_, 67. 14) agrees that the executed consul's wife was named Domitilla, says that she was Domitian's niece, and has her exiled to the prison island of Pandateria (today's Ventotene; like Ponza, one of today's Isole Pontine off the coast of mainland southern Lazio). It is not clear whether there were two exiled Domitillas or whether Eusebius got some of his details wrong. The Roman cemetery of Domitilla, often associated with her, may very well take its name from another person of this name. The late antique legendary Greek Passio of Sts. Nereus and Achilleus (BHG 1327; Latin-language offshoots at BHL 6058, etc.), who were buried there, makes Domitilla one of its characters and has her martyred by fire at Terracina along with female companions named Theodora and Euphrosyne / Eufrosina. Her commemoration on 7. April is not attested before the martyrology of Florus of Lyon in the ninth century. St. Ado of Vienne and Usuard of Saint-Germain also placed her under this day in their martyrologies. In 1595 Domitilla's name was added to the Roman Calendar celebration on 12. May of Sts. Nereus, Achilleus, and Pancras of Rome. Dropped from the Roman Calendar in its revisions promulgated in 1969, she is commemorated on 7. May in the revised Roman Martyrology of 2001. Some period-pertinent images of St. Flavia Domitilla: a) as depicted (her baptism) in an earlier fourteenth-century copy of the _Legenda aurea_ in its French-language version by Jean de Vignay (ca. 1326-1350; Paris, BnF, ms. Français 185, fol. 231v): http://tinyurl.com/27nxqqs b) as depicted (in the miniature at right: her martyrdom) in an earlier fourteenth-century copy of books 9-16 of Vincent of Beauvais' _Speculum historiale_ in its French-language vision by Jean de Vignay (ca. 1335; Paris, BnF, ms. Arsenal 5080, fol. 123r): http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b7100627v/f251.item.zoom c) as depicted (at right; at left, St. Agnes of Rome) by Andrea di Bonaiuto in a later fourteenth-century diptych (ca. 1365-1370) in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence: http://tinyurl.com/zsad2mo d) as depicted (in the miniature at left: her martyrdom) in a later fourteenth-century copy of Vincent of Beauvais' _Speculum historiale_ in its French-language version by Jean de Vignay (ca. 1370-1380; Paris, BnF, ms. Nouvelle acquisition française 15941, fol. 17r): http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8449688c/f41.item.zoom e) as depicted (in an initial 'A': preaching; below and to the left: her martyrdom) in the later fourteenth-century martyrology and obituary of the abbey of Notre-Dame des Prés in Douai (ca. 1376-1400; Valenciennes, Bibliothèque de Valenciennes, ms. 838, fol. 82r): http://www.enluminures.culture.fr/Wave/savimage/enlumine/irht5/IRHT_092243-p.jpg f) as twice depicted in a late fourteenth-century copy of the _Speculum historiale_ of Vincent of Beauvais in its French-language version by Jean de Vignay (1396; Paris, BnF, ms. Français 313, fols. 114v, 129r): 1) being blessed by pope St. Clement I (fol. 114v; miniature at left): http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84557843/f234.item.zoom 2) preaching (fol. 129r): http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84557843/f263.item.zoom g) as depicted (in the miniature at right: with either St. Nereus or St. Achilleus) in an early fifteenth-century copy of the _Legenda aurea_ in its French-language version by Jean de Vignay followed by the _Festes nouvelles_ attributed to Jean Golein (ca. 1401-1425; Paris, BnF, ms. Français 242, fol. 115r): http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8426005j/f245.item.zoom h) as several times depicted in a later fifteenth-century copy of Vincent of Beauvais' _Speculum historiale_ in its French-language version by Jean de Vignay (1463; Paris, BnF, ms. Français 50, fols. 358v, 370v): 1) at lower left: being blessed by pope St. Clement I (fol. 358v): http://tinyurl.com/26byca6 2) upper register at center and right: preaching, then in prison; lower register at left: her martyrdom (fol. 370v): http://tinyurl.com/hb96c33 Best, John Dillon ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: subscribe 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: unsubscribe 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/medieval-religion