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Dear colleagues, Peter Dinzelbacher, historian in Salzburg, has asked me about the custom witnessed by Petrarch at his arrival in Cologne (fam. 1,5), when on the evening of the day of St. John the Baptist he saw the women of Cologne gathering at the Rhine and washing their hands and arms in the river, an old custom explained to Petrarch as an annual ablution intended to wash away the calamities of the coming years. Dinzelbacher would be interested to find literature dealing with this custom or with Petrarch's account thereof. I have to admit that I don't know of anything specific, but will have a chance on Tuesday to check some bibliographies. In the meantime, if you happen to have any pointers, I would be grateful to receive them (and would forward them to Dinzelbacher). Thanking you in advance, Otfried ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Otfried Lieberknecht, Schoeneberger Str. 11, D-12163 Berlin phone & fax: ++49 30 8516675, E-mail: [log in to unmask] Homepage for Dante Studies: http://members.aol.com/lieberk/welcome.html Listowner of Italian-Studies: http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/italian-studies/ Listowner of Medieval-Religion: http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%