medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
-----Original Message-----
From: Jones, Dr G.R. [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 07 March 2001 12:40
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Rosa Mundi
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Sorry, Rob! Like most things in life, my problem is not really as simple as
it seems. Paul's quite right to the extent that my initial aim was, and
continues to be, to sort out why I should have found so many uses of *Rosa
Mundi* as an epithet applied to St Katherine. (Are you out there, Katherine
Lewis?!! Do you have a take on this?)
Yes, I'm here! But I'm not sure that I have anything terribly
insightful to say on the subject. This is not an aspect of
devotion to her that I've come across and it doesn't relate in
a clear cut way to any other elements of her life/cult with
which I'm familiar. I suspect it's partly a reflection of
her great popularity and status as a powerful intercessor.
And also of the appropriateness of applying Marian epithets
to her. St Katherine and Mary were often closely linked, in literary,
documentary and visual sources, particularly in the fifteenth century when
accounts of Katherine's mystical marriage to Christ (at which Mary served as
K's godmother) were quite widely
circulated in England. For instance, in his version
Capgrave explicitly says that Katherine is second only
to Mary in 'the davnce' of saints. In addition, Capgrave
says that Katherine possesses all of the privileges/
special powers which are found only singly in other saints-
a formulation that he has taken from the Golden Legend.
So 'Rosa Mundi' is perhaps just another way of expressing her
special, arguably unique status among saints?
Katherine
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Dr Katherine J. Lewis
Lecturer in History
Dept. of History
School of Music and Humanities
University of Huddersfield
Queensgate
Huddersfield HD1 3DH
Direct line: 01484-472447
Email: [log in to unmask]
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