medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (31. January) is also the feast day of:
Geminian (Geminiano) of Modena (d. ca. 396). Though almost nothing is
known for certain about the historical G., it is probable that he was
the bishop Geminianus who took part in a north Italian synod in 390
under the presidency of Ambrose of Milan. From the early Middle Ages
onward he has been patron of the Emilian city of Modena (initially sole
patron, he now shares honors with the 12th-century lay saint Homobonus
of Cremona). An early Life (ca. 900; modelled on that of Zeno of
Verona) and an expanded Longer Life (now thought to be of the mid-11th
century) are both quite unreliable.
In the final decade of the 9th century, when Modena was under threat of
attack from Hungarian raiders, someone composed one of the monuments of
early medieval Latin poetry from Italy, the so-called "Song for the
Watchmen of Modena" (incipit: _O tu qui servas armis ista moenia_)
preserved in Modena's famous Archivio Capitolare, whose website, BTW,
is here:
http://www.tsc4.com/archiviocapitolaremo/
In the same manuscript, and of approximately the same date, are two
versions, probably drafts of a work undergoing revision, of a Latin
verse prayer to G. seeking his protection against the new scourge of the
Hungarians just as he had (legendarily) saved Modena's inhabitants
during the time of Attila (incipit: _Confessor Christi, pie dei
famule_). These together with the poem previously mentioned are known
as the _Carmina Mutinensia_ and are extensively discussed by Aurelio
Roncaglia, "Il 'Canto delle scolte modenesi,'" _Cultura neolatina_ 8
(1948), 5-46 and 205-22. Peter Godman has an English translation of the
"Song for the Watchmen of Modena" in his _Poetry of the Carolingian
Renaissance_ (London: Duckworth; Norman: Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1985)
at pp. 325 and 327 (facing text on pp. 324 and 326).
In 1099 work began on Modena's present cathedral, dedicated to G. and
today the cynosure of Modena's Piazza Grande, a UNESCO World Heritage
site. In this panoramic view the cathedral is the second building on
the left:
http://www.in-sieme.it/impegno/siti2/modena1.htm
Some exterior views:
http://tinyurl.com/ct9y8
http://www.softest.com/pictures/0404Italy/Full/imagepages/image305.html
http://www.softest.com/pictures/0404Italy/Full/imagepages/image308.html
http://tinyurl.com/a86el
http://www.softest.com/pictures/0404Italy/Full/imagepages/image310.html
http://tinyurl.com/cq2ns
http://www.softest.com/pictures/0404Italy/Full/imagepages/image314.html
http://www.softest.com/pictures/0404Italy/Full/imagepages/image317.html
A plan of the cathedral:
http://tinyurl.com/bkpv4
Interior views:
http://tinyurl.com/9culj
http://www.hulsen.net/images/EmRom14-Mod04.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/dfsw3
Two pages of details of this cathedral's famous sculptures are here:
http://tinyurl.com/8hrgn
On 30 April 1106 G.'s remains were brought here and interred in the
crypt, where they remain today:
http://go.supereva.it/europamedievale/gallery23/pages/m13.htm?p
http://scuole.monet.modena.it/cavour/comcalv/cripta.jpg
But he doesn't look too healthy:
http://ilnuovo.redaweb.it/seconda.php?key=11933
And on 7. and 8. October of the same year Paschal II, in the presence of
the cathedral's great patron, Matilda of Canossa, and of various
ecclesiastical dignitaries, conducted a solemn recognition of G.'s
remains and then consecrated the cathedral's high altar. The cathedral
itself was consecrated in 1184 by Lucius II. Among its liturgical
treasures is the very fine rhymed late 12th- or 13th-century Office for
G. edited by Giuseppe Vecchi in his "S. Geminiano nella lirica della
liturgia modenese," _Miscellanea di Studi Muratoriani_ (Modena: Aedes
Muratoriana, 1951), pp. 524-38.
The best recent work on G. in his Modenese context is that of Paolo
Golinelli. See especially his _"Indiscreta sanctitas". Studi sui
rapporti tra culti, poteri e società nel pieno Medioevo_ (Roma: Istituto
storico italiano per il Medio Evo, 1988; = its _Studi storici_, fasc.
197-98), pp. 55-101, and his "San Geminiano e Modena. Un Santo, il suo
tempo, il suo culto nel Medioevo," in _Civitas Geminiana. La citta' e il
suo patrono_ (Modena: Panini, 1997), pp. 9-33 and plates 5, 12-16, and
35. English-language consideration of G. as civic patron will be found
in Diana Webb, _Patrons and Defenders: The Saints in the Italian
City-states_ (London: I. B. Tauris, 1996), esp. pp. 46-47, 124-25, and
216-19. G.'s cult spread widely in northern Italy (e.g. to Tuscany,
where the town of San Gimignano is named for him). A good survey is
provided by Maurizio Calzolari, "Edifici di culto intitolati a San
Geminiano in Italia nel Medioevo," in _Civitas Geminiana_ (cit.), pp.
205-20.
The Fitzwilliam's page on its Simone Martini (and workshop) altarpiece
of saints Geminian, Michael, and Augustine (ca. 1319) is here
(enlargement is at bottom):
http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/opac/catalogue_detail.php?priref=635
Best,
John Dillon
(a post from 2004, revised)
**********************************************************************
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
|