medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Today (9. October) is the feast day of:

Demetrius of Alexandria (d. 231)  Demetrius became bishop of
Alexandria in 188.  During his 43 years in office he made the
catechetical school famous, especially thanks to his choice of Origen
as director of the school.  (He later turned on Origen, condemning
him for preaching without being ordained, and then expelling him for
being ordained without D's permission).

Denis (Dionysius)  (d. c. 258)  Denis was born in Italy.  His
legendary account says that he and six other bishops were sent to
Gaul in 250 to convert people; D. became the first bishop of Paris.
He was arrested along with his priest and deacon (Rusticus and
Eleutherius, also commemorated today).  The three were beheaded, but
D. made a final point by picking up his severed head and carrying it
to the place he wanted to be buried (the site of St-Denis).  Another
layer of legend equated D. with Dionysius the Areopagite, the
disciple of St. Paul---and thus also with Pseudo-Dionysius the
Areopagite, the mystical writer.

Publia (d. c. 370)  Publia was a widow of Antioch (Syria).  She
established a community of women there, which won its great moment of
historical notoriety by singing Psalm 115 as Julian the Apostate was
passing by on his way to fight the Persians.  He took this as a
personal insult, according to the story, and swore to have them all
executed as soon as he got back from his campaign---from which of
course he never returned.

Andronicus and Athanasia (5th cent.)  Andronicus was an Alexandrian
silversmith.  He and his wife resettled in Antioch, but when their
children died decided to go to Egypt and become hermits.  The rather
odd legend tells that the two lived separately at Tabennesis,
Athanasia disguised as a man.  After twelve years, Andronicus met a
monk named Athanasius and the two went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem
together, afterwards going together to join a monastery near
Alexandria.  When "Athanasius" died, he left a note revealing that
"he" was really Andronicus' wife.  Andronicus died a week later, and
the two were buried together.

Gislenus  (d. c. 680)  Gislenus (or Ghislain) was a Frank who became
a hermit in Hainault.  He founded a monastery there, now called
St-Ghislain.  Legend made him into a native of Attica who became
bishop of Athens, resigned his see, went to Rome, and was sent to
Hainault.  Which seems needlessly complicated.

Gunther the Hermit (d. 1045)  Gunther was a noble German.  At the age
of fifty he decided to give up his worldly life and became a monk,
giving up most of his wealth to endow the monastery of Hersfeld
before joining Niederaltaich.  He went on to be abbot of Gollingen in
Thuringia (which he also endowed) but was so unpopular with the monks
that he ended up resigning.  Gunther soon became a hermit, building a
hermitage in Bohemia and apparently converting a lot of people with
his eloquence and holiness.

A modern saint: Louis Bertrand (d. 1581)  Louis was a native of
Valencia.  He became a Dominican and an outstanding preacher.  He
encouraged Teresa of Avila in her reform of the Carmelites, did an
impessive job caring for plague victims, and in 1562 went to Colombia
as a missionary.  He converted thousands, working especially to win
better treatment for the Indians.  He spent the last years of his
life in Valencia, training preachers and serving as prior of several
houses.  L. was canonized in 1671.

**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html