medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (7. March) is the feast day of:
Perpetua and Felicity (d. 203) Perpetua was a noble Carthaginian
matron; Felicity was a slave. They were part of a group of
Christians put on trial, apparently because the governor was on a
short budget and had to provide impressive shows for the emperor's
birthday. They were sentenced to death in the amphitheater and put
up a good show. Much of their interest lies in the *Passio* of
Perpetua, the first part of which is generally agreed to have been
written by Perpetua herself.
Paul the Simple (d. c. 339) Paul left his wife when he turned 60 (a
late mid-life crisis) and joined Antony in the Egyptian desert.
Antony at first tried to discourage him with hard tests, but ended up
pointing to Paul as the ideal monk.
Ardo (d. 843) Ardo (originally named Smaragdus) became a monk at
Aniane under Benedict. A. became head of the monastery school and
succeeded B. as abbot. The town of San Ardo in California is *not*
named after Ardo; it was originally named "San Bernardo" but had its
name shortened because the postal service kept getting it mixed up
with San Bernardino. At least that's the story I got from an
Episcopalian vicar in San Ardo, who surely wouldn't have lied to me.
Theophylact (d. 845) Theophylact was educated at Constantinople and
became a monk there. He was named bishop of Nicomedia and became a
leader in the fight against iconoclasm. Emperor Leo resented
Theophylact prophesying against him and banished and imprisoned our
saint in a fortress in Caria (Asia Minor), where he remained until
his death thirty years later.
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