medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (9. July) is the feast day of:
Anatolia and Audax (d. c. 250) Anatolia was a Roman girl. Jerome tells
that both she and her sister Victoria were martyred after rejected suitors
denounced them to the authorities. Audax was a Roman soldier, converted by
Anatolia while she was in prison, and martyred with her.
Zeno of Rome and Companions (d. c. 300) Zeno seems to have been the
spokesman of the Christians who had been enslaved and set to work on a new
set of public baths at the order of Diocletian. According to tradition,
they were all massacred after they finished the job. The Roman Martyrology
says there were 10,204 of them, which seems excessive even for hagiography.
Patermutius, Copres, & Alexander (d. c. 363) Copres was an Egyptian
hermit. He converted the notorius robber Patermuthius, who also became a
hermit. The two are supposed to have been martyred along with the
converted soldier Alexander at the order of Julian the Apostate. Their
martyrdom is dubious, since Julian never visited Egypt, and doesn't seem to
have killed his Christians at long distances.
Gorinchem martyrs (d. 1572) A little late for this list, but the martyrs
of Gorinchem (or Gorkum) are the big event of the day. Nineteen priests
and religious were hanged by Calvinists---eleven Observant Franciscans, 2
Praemonstratensians, 1 Dominican, 1 Augustinian canon, and 4 secular
priests. This happened after the town was captured by rebels against
Spanish rule of the Netherlands. The victims were offered liberty in
exchange for denying papal primacy and the Real Presence in the eucharist
but refused and were hanged.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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