medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Thank you all so much! A number of years ago I was researching Christina of
Norway (d. 1262) who was married to Philip of Castile and Leon. I found a
reference that he brought his wife from Paris a painting of our Lady of
Rocamadour. Since they were childless I thought it was likely that Philip
gave Christina this image so that she might pray to the Virgin for a son.
Recently, I was reading about a fourteenth- century Hungarian queen who
supposedly prayed for a son at every shrine in Europe. So I began wondering
to which shrines might she or for that matter any other high-born European
woman have travelled.
Thanks again for your suggestions.
Regards,
Marina Vidas
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Sent: 28-09-02 14:32
Subject: Re: [M-R] fertility/saints
Anne of Austria also made pilgrimages to the Holy
Tunic at Chartres Cathedral, both before conception and afterwards,
in thanksgiving, and as you wrote a couple of years ago, Marjorie,
she "must have prayed at every shrine in Europe!" And as Jo Ann
McNamara added to that discussion, "she blitzed every shrine and
every person with a reputation for holiness", having masses of relics
brought to her when giving birth. To add to what
Christopher has already contributed, Chartres' reputation for aid in
specifically royal childbirth extends at least as far back as the
birth of King Philip Augustus. In fact, there were four silver lamps
in the Chartres treasury that supposedly had appeared miraculously to
Isabelle de Hainaut, the wife of Philip Augustus, as she knelt in
prayer before an image of the Virgin in Chartres Cathedral, when for
the first time she felt a child stirring in her womb (the future
Louis VIII). By the 17th century, the canons were regularly sending
out "chemises" that had laid on the reliquary of the Holy Tunic for a
novena to expectant queens and dauphines. Aid in conception and
childbirth appears to have been a fairly widespread aspect of Marian
shrines all over Europe. By the 15th century, even images of the
Virgin and Child were considered, in fact, to have thaumaturgical
efficacy in encouraging childbirth, and they were regularly hung in
bedrooms for this purpose. This is such a fascinating topic that I
keep thinking that *someone* must have dealt with it in some
systematic manner, but I've had considerable difficulty in finding
studies on it. Anyone have references? Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
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