medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (12. March) is also the feast day of:
Bernard of Carinola (d. early 12th cent.). Today's less well known
saint of the Regno used to be known as Bernard of Capua, thanks to his
entry in the pre-2001 RM, which read: "Capuae sancti Bernardi, Episcopi
et Confessoris." There is no evidence that he died anywhere other than
at Carinola, which has his presumed remains, and -- contrary to what the
RM's wording might suggest to incautious readers -- none that he was
ever bishop of Capua. B. is first recorded with certainty in 1101. We
know very little about him: his probably fourteenth-century Vita (BHL
1205) is largely uninformative, while the dates and other details of his
translation of St. Martin of Monte Masssico (one of the saints of
Gregory the Great's _Dialogues_) to his newly built cathedral at
Carinola in northern Campania (two versions: BHL 5602, 5604) are thought
to be inventions of the Cassinese historian and forger Peter the
Deacon. We last hear of him in 1104 in a donation of Richard II of
Capua to Sant'Angelo in Formis.
The Vita does tell us that, before he became bishop of Carinola, B. was
Richard's chaplain at Capua when R.'s father Jordan (d. 1090) was
prince and, that when he did become bishop, Jordan's brother Jonathan
was governor of Carinola (presumably as count, though the Vita is not so
specific). These dignitaries were of the family of Rainulf Drengot
sometimes referred to (esp. when differentiating them from the
Hautevilles) as the "Aversa Normans". The bishops they appointed tended
to be Norman; it is supposed, therefore, that B. too was probably
a Norman. He was remembered as the bishop who built Carinola's
cathedral and who brought the remains of St. Martin to it.
Inscriptional evidence suggests that the cathedral was begun in 1100 and
finished in 1108 or 1109; B.'s death is commonly put in the latter year.
Carinola's ex-cathedral (in 1818 the diocese was merged into that of
Sessa, now Sessa Aurunca) of Santa Maria and San Giovanni Battista was
built just off the Via Appia on land said to have been donated by
(count) Jonathan. The site included a paleochristian funerary chapel,
which latter since at least the fourteenth century has been included
within the cathedral's fabric. I've been unable to find any decent,
Web-accessible views of its decor or, for that matter, of that of the
cathedral itself, which has frescoes and reliefs from the twelfth
century (or late eleventh, if you accept Peter the Deacon's dating and
discount the later inscriptions). A plan of the building (whose
history is complicated) and an expandable view of its Renaissance
pronaos, showing the three original portals (not entirely in their
medieval state), are here:
http://www.cesn.it/patrimonio_architet/campania/carinola.htm
When B.'s cult originated is unclear. It is attested to at Capua in the
fourteenth century and in the fifteenth B.'s presumed remains at
Carinola were solemnly translated to a place of honor in his cathedral,
where they were laid to rest in the re-used late antique sarcophagus
shown in these two thumbnails:
http://tinyurl.com/o2o7f
http://tinyurl.com/gbltr
The fenestella in the sarcophagus was carved in 1760. In 2003 a
medieval burying ground of undetermined extent, initially dated to ca.
1000-1400, was discovered in front of the (ex- )cathedral. The presence
of the paleochristian funerary chapel suggests that there was also a
late antique necropolis in the immediate vicinity (perhaps this has been
established and I just haven't seen a report of it).
Though B. seems no longer to be listed in the RM, the diocese of Sessa
Aurunca continues to remember him on this day. For his hagiographic
dossier, other source material, and further discussion, see Amalia
Galdi, _Santi, territori, poteri e uomini nella Campania medievale_
(Salerno: Laveglia, 2004; Schola Salernitana. Studi e Testi, no. 9),
esp. pp. 153-72 and 248-52.
Best,
John Dillon
PS: Part of the tradition implies that before the construction of B.'s
cathedral the diocese was centered on nearby Ventaroli (CE). Two
illustrated, Italian-language pages on the latter's "romanesque" church
of Santa Maria in Foroclaudio are here:
http://utenti.lycos.it/carnet/carinola/ventaroli.htm
http://www.cesn.it/patrimonio_architet/campania/ventaroli.htm
and a front view of this structure is here:
http://tinyurl.com/z9jk6
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