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Today, 30 June, is the feast of ... * Martial, bishop of Limoges (c. 250) - an eleventh-century vita claims that he was one of the seventy-two disciples of Jesus; Last year Daniel Williman added: It was Bernard Gui OP who tried to make a complete list of the original disciples, and he certainly included Martial; but the 11th-century vita, almost certainly by Ademar of S. Martial, made him much more: a relative of S. Peter, converted out of the tribe of Benjamin by the preaching of Jesus, it seems Martial would have been an apostle but for his young age. The Limousin popes of Avignon, led by Clement VI, relied on the apostolic legend and embroidered it further. In the S. Martial chapel of the palace at Avignon, one sees Jesus instructing the Twelve at Capharnaum, using young Martial as a living example of humility, "Unless you become like this little one ..." * Bertrand, bishop of Le Mans (623) - was particularly concerned with the planting of vineyards in his diocese * Erentrude, virgin (c. 718) - in the early eleventh century, emperor St Henry attributed his cure from illness to her intervention * Theobald or Thibaud of Provins (1066) - travelled with another noble, Walter, to Reims, Suxy (Ardennes), forest of Pettingen (Luxemburg), Compostela, Rome and other Italian holy places before settling in Salanigo, near Vicenza * Arnulf of Villers (1228) - a Cistercian lay-brother known for his mortifications and penitential exercises; in later years he suffered from St Vitus's Dance, and while scourging himself he would laugh and dance Martinus Cawley is preparing an English translation of Arnulf's life. It will appear in Cistercian Publications (perhaps it already has?) For more information about Arnulf see: Martinus Cawley, "Four Abbots of the Golden Age of Villers," *Cistercian Studies Quarterly* 27.4 (1992): 299-327. ************ Carolyn Muessig Department of Theology and Religious Studies University of Bristol Bristol BS8 1TB UK [log in to unmask] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%