medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On Monday, June 19, 2006, at 3:44 am, John Briggs wrote, apropos
Gervase and Prostase:
> Presumably they weren't done away with in 1969 because Rome didn't
> want to
> upset Milan?
Paul VI didn't wish to be seen as a Protase inhibitor?
Seriously, though, their cult was widespread, old, AND vouched for by a
major figure in the early history of Latin Christianity. Hence the
change in emphasis in G. and P.'s laterculus in the RM from this (taken
from a "1749" version that includes Albertus Magnus, canonized in 1931):
"At Milan, the holy martyrs Gervase and Protase, brothers. The former,
by order of the judge Astasius, was scourged with leaded whips for so
long that he expired. The latter, after being scourged with rods, was
beheaded. Through divine revelation their bodies were found by St.
Ambrose. They were partly covered with blood, and as free from
corruption as if they had been put to death that very day. When the
translation took place, a blind man recovered his sight by touching
their relics, and many persons possessed by demons were delivered."
See:
http://www.breviary.net/martyrology/mart06/mart0619.htm
to this (my translation from the online Italian-language version of the
new RM):
"At Milan, saints Gervase and Protase, martyrs, whose bodies were
recovered by St. Ambrose and placed on this day with great solemnity in
a new basilica built by him."
See:
http://tinyurl.com/o3acg
Herewith some expandable views of Milan's Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio:
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/3b933/
After the recognition of 1871, a new resting place was commissioned for
the bodies of the three saints. Completed in 1874, it's in
Sant'Ambrogio's crypt, with A. in white flanked by G. and P. in martyr's
red:
http://tinyurl.com/r5otc
And here's Ambrose flanked by G. and P. in a fourteenth-century
sculptural array in Milan's nearby Ambrose Gate ('Pusterla di
Sant'Ambrogio'):
http://tinyurl.com/nlvf7
http://www.chieracostui.com/costui/lettini/docs/edscheda.asp?ID=122
In 1871, five other cities protested that _they_ had the remains of G.
and P. Loudest among these seems to have been Breisach am Rhein in
Baden-Wuerttemberg, whose Stephans-Muenster, seen here:
http://halle.kalender.de/pics/daily/great/image_093.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/q95cd
houses this late fifteenth-century silver shrine containing supposed
relics of the city's two patron saints:
http://tinyurl.com/m8y7r
Best,
John Dillon
**********************************************************************
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
|