medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
At 05:00 PM 6/19/2003 -0700, Phyllis wrote:
>Today (20. June) is the feast day of:
>
>John of Matera (d. 1139) An Italian Benedictine, John found it hard to
>settle down. He spent some time with St. William at Monte Voragine, then
>became a popular preacher at Bari for a time. Finally J. founded a
>monastery at Pulsano (near Monte Gargano), which became the mother house of
>a new Benedictine congregation.
That is, St. William of Vercelli, Monte Vergine, and on the Gargano near
Monte S. Angelo. "Monte Voragine" ("Mount Whirlpool" or, metaphorically,
"Mount Glutton") is a lovely oxymoron, though.
Nor is it clear that John of Matera was ever at Monte Vergine. Depending
on whose Life (John's or William's) one follows, John EITHER first spent
time with William at Monte Laceno (near Bagnoli Irpino) +after+ William had
already founded the abbey of Monte Vergine and then went south with him
into today's Basilicata OR first met William when the latter had come to
visit him at Ginosa (near Matera) +before+ the founding of Monte Vergine
and did not see him again until their joint sojourn (with others) on Monte
Laceno. As Monte Vergine and Monte Laceno are both in Irpinia, it's
possible that the two have somehow been confused (these are, after all,
Irpine mountains, whereas some of us might favor Irpine valley locations,
e.g., Ariano Irpino, which is incredibly lush even in late
August). Anyhow, after the trip with William into the Basilicata, John
went on to Bari and later, as Phyllis notes, went up to the Gargano where
he ultimately founded his monastery at Pulsano.
Best,
John Dillon
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