medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (2. September) is the feast day of:
Justus of Lyons (d. 390) First a deacon in Vienne, Justus became bishop of
Lyons in 350. After 31 years in office, though, he decided he had had
enough and fled secretly to Egypt, where he became a monk. When his loyal
flock hunted him down, he refused to return to Lyons.
Castor of Apt (d. 420) Castor was a native of Nimes. He and his wife
separated to join religious houses, and C. founded a monastery at Manauque,
and was then drafted as bishop of Apt.
Hieu (d. c. 657) Credited as the first nun of Northumbria, Hieu was veiled
by Aidan and became abbess at Hartlepool. She later moved and founded a
new convent, later called Healaugh after her.
Agricola of Avignon (c. 700) Agricola, the patron saint of Avignon, may be
a case of saint-creation when a city became more important; his tale is
documented only from the fifteenth century. He is supposed to have been a
monk at Lerins for sixteen years, then succeeded his father as bishop of
Avignon in 660. He founded a daughter house of Lerins in Avignon, and also
a nunnery.
Lolan (d. 1034?) Lolan was a bishop in Scotland, perhaps at Kincardine
near Stirling. Legend made him a fifth-century missionary from Galilee.
William of Roskilde (d. 1067) William was an Englishman, chaplain to King
Cnut, who made him bishop of Roskilde, Denmark. Wm. was a successful
missionary, and stood up bravely to King Sweyn Estridsen's anti-Christian
policies after Cnut's death.
Margaret of Louvain (d. 1225) A popular saint without official
canonization, Margaret, nicknamed "the humble," was a maidservant at an
inn. The inn was raided by robbers, who murdered M's employers and
abducted her. They killed her, too, when she refused to marry one of
them---resolved instead to become a Cistercian nun (at least according to
Caesarius of Heisterbach).
Brocard (d. 1231) Brocard succeeded St. Berthold as superior of the
Frankish hermits on Mt. Carmel. It was he who asked the patriarch Albert
to draw up the Carmelite rule, thus creating the religious order.
[Martyrs of September] (blessed (d. 1792) Not medieval, but I thought
others might find this as interesting as I did when I ran across it. This
is a group of 191 martyrs massacred by the Parisian mob on September 2 and
3 in 1792. They had been imprisoned for refusing the oath to support the
civil constitution of the clergy. They included three bishops, 124 secular
priests, and miscellaneous religious. 95 of them were killed at the
Carmelite church, 72 at the Vincentian seminary, and 21 at St. Germain des
Pres. They were beatified in 1926. It makes me feel rather better about
the French Church in revolutionary times.]
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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