medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (1. July) is also the feast day of:
Nicasio (Chamuto) Burgio (d. 1187). Local tradition documented from at
least 1347 onward and primarily genealogical in origin makes N. a
Hospitaller from Sicily who died for his faith in the Holy Land; the
standard story today (which seems to have taken shape in the early modern
period) is that he accompanied the grand master of the Hospitallers, Roger
des Moulins, to Palestine, was at the battle of the Horns of Hattin (4.
July 1187), where Roger was killed, succeeded Roger on the field as captain
of the remaining Hospitallers, was taken captive, and was one of the
Hospitallers executed at Ptolemais (Acre) in the battle's aftermath.
But Roger was killed at the battle of Cresson (1. May 1187; reliably
reported by two independent contemporary sources), leading one to wonder
when exactly, and under what conditions, N. really met his end.
The family promoting this story -- called de Burgio after their castle
of that name near Agrigento -- claimed descent from Chamut (Hammud) the
last Muslim emir of Castrogiovanni (today's Enna [EN]), whose defeat by
the Normans in 1087 and subsequent conversion to Christianity is
recorded by Geoffrey Malaterra. For problems associated with
genealogical claims regarding people of this name, see Alex Metcalfe,
_Muslims and Christians in Norman Sicily_ (London: Routledge, 2003), pp.
32-33. In the fifteenth century one of the de Burgio married the
heiress of Caccamo (PA) in north central Sicily and began the promotion
here of his family saint (already locally venerated in other parts of
Sicily). In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries N. enjoyed an
extensive cult centering on Caccamo. Whereas his patrocinio is
celebrated here on the last Sunday of August and on the Monday
following, his liturgical feast is today.
Two views of Caccamo are here, one showing the old town (which has kept
much of its thirteenth-century street plan) beneath the castle and the
other the castle itself:
http://www.netgalaxy.it/fotodicaccamo.htm
A modern representation of N., with Caccamo in the background, is here:
http://www.enrosadira.it/santi/n/nicasio.jpg
Another view of Caccamo provides a better impression of the local terrain:
http://sicilyweb.com/foto/pa/caccamo/caccamo22.jpg
Some other views (mostly of early modern structures and objects) are here:
http://www.siciliaedintorni.it/caccamo.htm
Note the early fourteenth-century arched bridge (a relatively late
example of a structural type whose most famous Sicilian instance is the
twelfth-century Ponte dell'Ammiraglio in Palermo):
http://www.siciliaedintorni.it/images/Q.jpg
But don't expect to see this bridge if you go to Caccamo today. Since
1994 it has been submerged under the waters of Lago Rosamarina, Sicily's
largest artificial lake.
Some views of the Castello Peralta at Burgio (N.'s family home) are here:
http://www.comune.burgio.ag.it/castello.htm
Best,
John Dillon
(last year's post, revised)
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