medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (15. May) is the feast day of:
Caesarea (?) There is a popular cult of Caesarea based on a cave
near Otranto (southern Italy). Legend tells that she fled there to
escape a threat to her virginity and stayed to be a hermit.
Dympna (Dymphna) (??) Relics (read "old bones") were found at Gheel
near Antwerp in the thirteenth century, and the legend of Dympna was
invented (doubtless in the medieval sense of "inventio") to account
for them. She was *of course* a princess, an Irish woman whose
father forced her to commit incest. So she fled (with a
priest,Gerebern), but dad caught up with them and killed them in
Belgium. Insane people are cured at D's shrine, which accounts for a
great mental hospital built in the thirteenth century at Gheel.
Rupert and Bertha (9th cent.) An unusual joint cult, Rupert was a
German noble and Bertha his mother. They became hermits on a hill
near Bingen (the Rupertsberg); Hildegard promoted their cult.
Adalgar (d. 909) A monk of Corvey, Adalgar became bishop of
Hamburg-Bremen in 889 and was an active missionary.
Nicholas the Mystic (d. 925) Not as interesting as he sounds.
Nicholas became patriarch of Constantinople in 906. He got his
nickname because he was the oldest member of the secret ("mystic")
council of the emperor. He was desposed and exiled in 906 because he
refused to allow Emperor Leo VI to marry for a fourth time, but was
recalled in 911.
Hallvard Vebjornsson (d. c. 1043) The patron saint of Oslo, Hallvard
was the son of a farmer and a cousin of the king of Norway. Legend
tells that a woman begged him for help and he was killed defending
her.
Isidore the Farmer (d. 1170) Isidore was a native of Madrid and
patron of that city. He and his wife (St. Mary Toribia de la Cabeza)
did fieldwork and gave the proceeds to the poor. He was canonized in
1622.
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