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Today, 25 May, is the feast of ... * Urban I, pope and martyr - although the Roman Martyrology says Urban is buried along the Via Nomentana, scholars today feel the tomb is really located in the cemetery of St Callistus, on the Via Appia * Dionysius, bishop of Milan (c. 360) - was among those who supported Athanasius when most were against him; died in Cappadocia, and St Basil arranged for return of his remains to Milan * Zenobius, bishop of Florence (c. 390) - principal patron of Florence; friend of Ambrose of Milan; resuscitated five dead persons * Leo or Lye, abbot (c. 550) - saints Hilary, Martin of Tours and Anastasius of Orleans appeared to him to announce the date of his death * Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne (709) - among the first scholar-saints of England; wrote a treatise on virginity for men and women, *De virginitate*; he knew Greek. * Gennadius, bishop of Astorga (936) - invoked by Spaniards against fever; renounced bishopric to return to monastic life * Gregory VII, pope (1085) - although the Reform of the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries takes its name from him, in the realm of canon law it has been argued that he had almost no effect whatsoever. When I first posted this message, I asked if you agreed with this. Michael Haynes gave a definite no and in response James Brundage gave this reply: _Pace_ Michael Haynes, the late lamented John Gilchrist made precisely that argument in "The Reception of Pope Gregory VII into the Canon Law (1073-1141)," _Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung fr Rechtsgeschichte_, kan. Abt. 59 (1973) 35-82 and 66 (1980) 129-229. I must admit, however, that I, too, initially found Gilchrist's conclusions difficult to accept; so much so that a few years later I made a search to see how much of Gregory's thoughts about marriage and sexuality had found its way into the received canonical collections. And, lo and behold, there was almost nothing, as I rather shame-facedly had to report in "Sexuality, Marriage, and the Reform of Christian Society in the Thought of Gregory VII," _Studi Gregoriani_ 14 (1985) 69-73. Gilchrist's argument was clearly right. JAB * Claritus (1348) - his wife left him to join Augustinian nuns of Florence; he went there as servant; his shrine would give off an odour whenever one of the nuns was about to die ***************** Dr Carolyn Muessig Department of Theology and Religious Studies University of Bristol Bristol BS8 1TB UK phone: +44(0)117-928-8168 fax: +44(0)117-929-7850 e-mail: [log in to unmask] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%