 |
 |
On Tue, 11 Jun 1996 10:04:08 +0100 (BST) Sophie Oosterwijk wrote: > From: Sophie Oosterwijk <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 10:04:08 +0100 (BST) > Subject: Re: FEAST 8 June > To: [log in to unmask] > > > Today, 8 June, is the feast of ... > > > > * Maximin d'Aix (first century?) > > - one of Jesus's seventy-two disciples, he left Palestine after > > the Ascension with Mary Magdalen, Martha, Lazarus, Mary Cleophas, Mary > > Salome and others in order to evangelize Provence; the head of Mary > > Magdalen is still supposed to be in the church dedicated to Maximin > ... although the church of Ste Madeleine in Vezelay, France, owed its > fame to its claim (from the 11th century on) that it held the relics > of Mary Magdalen - a claim discredited already in the Middle Ages. > > > * William, archbishop of York (1154) > > - scenes from his life are in the stained glass windows of York > > - canonized in 1227 by pope Honorius III > One cannot help but feel that William owed his elevation to sainthood > less to his own life and character than to need of York Minster to > have its own local saint buried on the spot. After all, York was > rather unlucky in having various sainted (arch)bischops such as Chad, > Bosa, John of Beverley and Wilfrid all buried elsewhere, thus missing > out on a profitable pilgrimage trade. Or am I being cynical? > > Sophie Oosterwijk > Dept of the History of Art > University of Leicester Not at all: note the date of his canonisation, 1227. York was envious of Canterbury, who now had its very own archbishop-martyr enshrined within its cathedral: a big draw for pilgrims and an excellent source of revenue. William's only recorded claim to sanctity (at least while he was alive) was, that as he was returning to York with his entourage, the Ouse Bridge collapsed under him, and some of his companions fell into the river. William prayed for them, and they reached the bank safely. If you really wanted to be cynical, you could say that this was because they could swim; or because the river is not very deep, and would have been even shallower in those days. These rationalist considerations made no impression on the canons of York, who knew a good thing when they saw it. Oriens. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%