medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (2. August) is the feast day of:
Rutilius (d. 250) Tertullian in his *On flight in
time of persecution*
tells that Rutilius was a Roman living in what is
now Algeria. When the
Decian persecution began, Rutilius ran for it, and
also bought an exemption
from sacrifice to be on the safe side. In time,
though, he was arrested
and died bravely for his beliefs (says Tertullian).
Stephen I (d. 257) Stephen was a Roman of noble
family who became pope in
254. He is most noted for his stand against
rigorists like Cyprian of
Carthage, who argued that baptism by heretics was
invalid. [Is this the earliest instance of "ex opere
operato vs. ex opere operantis" debate, or had this
been going on since the dawn of Christianity? MG] A
spurious legend tells that S. was beheaded while
seated in his chair while mass was being celebrated in
the catacombs.
Eusebius of Vercelli (d. 371) Eusebius was a
Sardinian who became bishop
of Vercelli in 340. His fame is based on two
points: encouragement of
monasticism, and work against Arianism. He was the
first western bishop to
place his cathedral clergy under a monastic rule.
In 355, E. was exiled
for refusing to consent to the exile of St.
Athanasius (that doughty
fighter against Arianism); when allowed to return to
his see by Julian, E.
fought to eradicate Arianism in the West.
Sidwell (?) May never have existed, but a good
story. Sidwell (Sativola)
was a Celt living in Devon. She won her position as
a virgin martyr when
her evil stepmother incited a group of reapers to
cut her head off and
throw her remains down a well. In art she's shown
with a scythe.
Etheldritha (d. c. 834) Etheldritha was a Mercian
princess, a daughter of
King Offa. She became a hermit on the Fen island of
Croyland, imitating
the earlier St. Guthlac. A monastery was later
founded there, with her
relics enshrined, but was destroyed by vikings in
870.
Peter of Osma (d. 1109) One of a surprising number
of Cluniac monks who
undertook the reform of the Spanish church in the
late 11th and early 12th
century. Peter, a native of Berry, was made
archdeacon of Toledo, then
bishop of Osma in Old Castile from 1101 on. He is
the principal patron of
Osma.
Thomas Hales of Dover (d. 1295) Not formally
canonized, despite efforts to
win papal approval for the local cultus. Thomas was
a Benedictine monk of
Dover, killed by French during a raid on the town
when he refused to tell
where the priory's valuables were hidden.
Dr. Phyllis Jestice
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