medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I can't recall if Dulcie Gannett provided us with a post for 19 May, so -- for old time's sake -- I thought I'd post the feast day message sent to the list exactly ten years ago by Carolyn Muessig.
George
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Today, 19 May, is the feast of ...
Pudentiana and Pudens, martyrs (first or second century)
Calocerus and Parthenius, martyrs (304): Two eunuchs occupying the post of
*praepositus cubiculi* and *primicerius* in the household of Tryphonia,
the wife of the Emperor Decius. They were professing Christians and, with
the outbreak of persecution, they suffered martyrdom rather than offer
sacrifice to the gods.
Are there other eunuch saints?
Alcuin, abbot (804): Often referred to as "the schoolmaster of his age".
Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury (988): Patron of goldsmiths, jewellers
and locksmiths. In 959 Dunstan went to Rome to receive the pallium and was
appointed papal legate by Pope John XII. With this authority and with the
help and support of two prelates (Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, and
Oswald, Bishop of Worcester and Archbishop of York) and of King Edgar,
Dunstan re-established ecclesiastical discipline in England and restored
most of the great monasteries which had been destroyed during the Danish
incursions. However, rather than being remembered as "one of the makers of
England", owing to his dexterity as a metal-worker, Dunstan is often
remembered by an eleventh-century legend. The legend states that Dunstan,
with a pair of blacksmith's pincers, seized the nose of the Devil who was
trying to tempt him.
Celestine V, pope, AKA Peter of Morrone (1296): Butler writes: In all
papal history no figure is more pathetic than that of Peter of Morrone,
the aged hermit who, after a pontificate of five short months, voluntarily
abdicated, and died virtually a prisoner in the hands of his successor
(Boniface VIII). His unprecedented act of resignation has been variously
judged: it has been lauded by some as proof of humility, while it has been
severely condemned by others - notably by Dante, who placed the pathetic
old man in the vestibule of his *Inferno* for having basely made "the
great refusal."
What do our Celestinan experts say? Was Peter of Morrone's act heroic or
cowardly?
Ivo of Kermartin, lawyer (1303): Lawyer and saint, a seeming oxymoron that
was put into verse:
Sanctus Ivo erat Brito,
Advocatus, et non latro,
Res miranda populo.
[St Ivo was a Breton and a lawyer, but not dishonest, an astonishing thing
in people's minds.]
Augustine Novello, lawyer and Hermit of St Augustine (1309): Yet another
lawyer saint! Res miranda populo.
--
George Ferzoco
University of Leicester
University Road
LEICESTER LE1 7RH
UNITED KINGDOM
tel +44 (0)116 252 2654
fax +44 (0)116 252 3633
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