medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

On Thursday, August 4, 2005, at 9:59 pm, Phyllis wrote:

> Today (5. August) is the feast day of:

> Emygdius (d. 304)  Emygdius (Emidius) is widely venerated in Italy 
> for protection against earthquakes.  His cult is also alive and 
> well 
> in San Francisco and Los Angeles.  His acta tell that E. was a 
> German convert

There are two versions of E.'s quite legendary Passio, both edited by
Serafino Prete in his _La Passione di S. Emidio di Ascoli.  Introduzione
-- Testo -- Commento_ (Ancona: Editrice Studia Picena, 1972; Fonti e
Studi, no. 1).  The briefer of these, called Recensio 2 because it was
discovered later, is dated by Prete to the eleventh century; the longer
one (Recensio 1; already printed in the _Acta Sanctorum_; BHL 2535), is
generally dated to the thirteenth or perhaps early fourteenth century. 
In the earlier version (BHL 2537), E. is not said to be a convert.    

 who visited Rome, where he went into a temple of 
> Aesculapius 
> and smashed the cult statue.

It's perhaps worth noting that E. is a healer and that Asclepius (to 
use, as do both versions of the Passio, the standard medieval form of 
this name) was the chief Roman god of medicine.  Both versions of the 
Passio are quite explicit about E.'s divinely granted healing powers 
superseding vain belief in the efficacy of this pagan deity. 


  The bishop protected E by ordaining 
> him 
> and sending him off to evangelize in the area of Ascoli Piceno.
> He 
> and three companions were beheaded during Diocletian's persecution.

E. is a cephalophore (Recensio 2, cap. 16; Recensio 1, cap. 31).  In 
the earlier version he walks a fifth of a Roman mile carrying his head 
in his hooded cloak ('byrrus'); in the later version this distance is 
increased to a third of a Roman mile.

E.'s cult is attested to from the late ninth century onward in eastern 
Sabina and in Picene territory and is thought to have been diffused by 
the imperial abbey of Farfa, where the author of Recensio 2 may have 
resided; the author of the later version, Recensio 1, seems to have 
been a cleric of Ascoli Piceno.  E. and his companions repose in an 
ancient sarcophagus in the crypt of his cathedral at that city; the 
inscription on its cover (_Cum sociis aliis Emindius hic requiescit_) 
has been dated to the eleventh or twelfth century.   

The cathedral of Ascoli Piceno:
http://www.rinascita.it/rinascita_web/pag_ascoli/foto_ascoli/duomo.jpg
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/8fae3
has been rebuilt so often that there is little medieval left to see in
its fabric other than transept and the domed presbytery with its three
apses (the latter said to go back to the eighth century).  A nearby
inscription dates its two side towers to the twelfth century.  Some
sections of the originally eleventh-century crypt still have their
original columns and capitals:
http://www.rinascita.it/rinascita_web/pag_ascoli/foto_ascoli/duomo%20interno.jpg
TinyURL for this:
http://tinyurl.com/9bczx

The city's chief "romanesque" monument is the adjacent polygonal baptistery:
http://www.deagostiniedicola.it/ARTICOLI/Mercatini/Mercatino%20di%
20Ascoli%20Piceno/images/big-battistero.jpg
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/dqz72
http://www.rinascita.it/rinascita_web/pag_ascoli/foto_ascoli/battistero.
jpg
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/cgff8

Interior view:
http://www.rinascita.it/rinascita_web/pag_ascoli/foto_ascoli/battistero_
int.jpg
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/96ylt

The "gothic" church of San Francesco (1262-1371) is certainly worth a 
look, though the colored glass in its windows is quite modern:
San Francesco, side and apses:
http://www.docushare.it/mediasoft/piazze/images/rinascimentale111.jpg
TinyURL for tis: http://tinyurl.com/bsybf
http://www.italiantourism.com/images/prew_2100000066254.jpg

San Francesco, portal:
http://members.aon.at/claudias-fotoreisen/hp/44%20Ascoli%20Piceno%
20Chiesa%20San%20Francesco.JPG
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/8jtph
  
The later fifteenth-century Venetian artist Carlo Crivelli lived for 
some years in Ascoli Piceno.  His Polyptych of Sant'Emidio:
http://www.arengario.net/momenti/momenti51.html
is mounted in the cathedral's Cappella del Sacramento (Chapel of the
Holy Sacrament):
http://members.aon.at/claudias-fotoreisen/hp/37%20Ascoli%20Piceno%20Dom%
20San%20Emidio.JPG
TinyURL for this: http://tinyurl.com/d4ehz

A personal favorite of mine has long been his Annunciation with 
Sant'Emidio, in the National Gallery, London:
http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/c/p-crivell2.htm
A fuzzier reproduction, but perhaps making visible more details, is here
(expandable .jpg):
http://www.bramarte.it/400/img/cri1.jpg

> 
> Margaret the Barefooted (d. c. 1395)  Margaret was born to a poor 
> family of San Severino.  She married at age 15 and seriously 
> annoyed 
> her husband by not only helping beggars but going barefoot to be 
> more 
> like them.  After some years, the abusive husband died and M. 
> spent 
> the rest of her life praying and doing charitable works. 

For "San Severino" read "San Severino Marche", distinguishing this town
in the Marche's Macerata province from such others San Severinos as
Mercato San Severino (SA), San Severino di Centola (SA), and San
Severino Lucano (PT).  Another Picene saint, she's also known as
Margaret of Cesolo.

Best,
John Dillon

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