medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>Today (15. December) is the feast day of:
>Christiana (Nina, Nino) (d. c. 340?)
St Nino is important on several levels. She is Georgia's female patron saint (her male counterpart of course is George), and as such hers is one of, if not the most popular names for Georgian girls. While Rufinus describes her only as a captive among the Georgians, a text of the 8th/9th centuries, which brings together two or three separate traditions, presents her as a high-born Jew and involves her with the supposed preservation by Georgia's Jewish community of Christ's coat, rescued from Calvary on the day of Crucifixion. She thus further represents a conversion tradition in eastern Georgia coming ultimately from Jerusalem via Mesopotamia and/or Asia Minor (both Nino and George are linked with Cappadocia), and probably influenced by Persian hegemony, while that of the country's western, Black Sea region, is firmly Byzantine.
Graham
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Dr Graham Jones
Lecturer in English Topography
University of Leicester
Centre for English Local History
Marc Fitch Historical Institute
5 Salisbury Road
Leicester LE1 7QR
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)116 252 2764
Fax: +44 (0)116 252 5769
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Web pages: http://www.le.ac.uk/elh/grj1
-----Original Message-----
From: Phyllis Jestice [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 15 December 2002 00:24
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [M-R] saints of the day 15. December
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (15. December) is the feast day of:
Christiana (Nina, Nino) (d. c. 340?) Christiana was a Christian girl,
captured and brought to Georgia as a slave. She impressed people with her
devotion and thaumaturgic powers, including a cure of the queen of Georgia.
She ended up teaching the king about the "new religion," after which he
sent to Constantine asking for missionaries. This story was reported by
Rufinus in c.403; there are doubts about its historic accuracy.
Silvia (Silviana) of Constantinople (d. c. 420) Silvia was regarded as one
of the most learned women of her time. She was active in combatting
heresy.
Offa of Essex (d. c. 709) Offa was son of King Sighere of the East Saxons
and Osith. O. became king in c. 707---Bede says he was a popular ruler.
But in 709 he forsook his marriage and abdicated. He went to Rome, where
he became a monk and died soon afterwards.
Paul of Latros (d. 955) Paul was a hermit in the Latros mountains of
Anatolia, honred as a councillor and helper of people in need. Like so
many hermits, he ended up getting fed up with the stream of visitors he
attracted and fled to the island of Patmos---but he returned soon. A major
monastery developed around Paul's hermitage.
John Discalceat (d. 1349) John was a stonemason who became a Franciscan
and a priest. He won fame for his asceticism as pastor of a church in
Rennes, where he carried out his duties barefoot (thus his nickname). He
died of plague.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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