medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (15. March) is the feast day of:
Today (the ides) is of course the death day of Julius Caesar. Was there
ever any medieval attempt to give him any sort of "holy" status, in light
of the amazing reverence authors like Dante give him?
Longinus (1st cent.) Longinus is, according to tradition, the name given
to the soldier who stuck the spear in Jesus' side at the crucifixion.
Spoilsports point out that the name almost certainly comes from the Greek
"longche"---a lance. He is also identified with the centurion who declared
Jesus to be the son of God at the crucifixion. According to the Golden
Legend, Christ's blood cured L's blindness, whereupon he left the army and
became a monk. Later brought to trial as a Christian, he was martyred
after prophesying the cure of the demonically-possessed governor who was
trying him.
Aristobulus (1st cent.) Aristobulus was one of the 72 original disciples;
he is mentioned in Rom. 16:11. Legend has identified Aristobulus as
identical with Zebedee; he is supposed to have evangelized Britain and been
martyred there.
Menignus the Dyer (d. 251) Menignus was a cloth-dyer of Perium on the
Hellespont. He had his fingers cut off for tearing down an imperial edict
against the Christians, and was later beheaded.
Matrona of Thessalonica (d. c. 350) According to legend, Matrona was the
servant of a rich Jew. Her mistress had her flogged to death, after
discovering that M was a Christian.
Zacharias (d. 752) Zacharias was a Calabrian Greek who was a deacon in
Rome and in 741 became pope. He is best remembered today as the pope who
established a detente with the Franks---an act with long consequences in
European history. Z. also translated Gregory the Great's Dialogues into
Greek.
Leocritia of Cordoba (d. 859) Leocritia was born to a Muslim family of
Cordoba. When she converted to Christianity, her parents drove her from
their home. The apostate then took refuge with St. Eulogius. Both L and
Eulogius were flogged and then beheaded.
Raymund of Fitero (d. 1163) Raymund was a native of Aragon who was first a
cathedral canon and then a Cistercian. He was sent to found a govern the
monastery of Fitero in Navarre. In 1158, when the Knights Templars
abandoned the town of Calatrava (New Castile), Raymund founded the order of
Calatrava to defend the city.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
[log in to unmask]
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|