medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (4. August) is the feast day of:
1) Ia and companions, martyred in Persia (d. 362). Ia, a handmaiden of
the Lord, was one of numerous Christians taken prisoner by the forces
of the Persian king Shapur II during a raid on Roman territory.
Brought to Persia with other captives, she proselytized among the local
women, some of whose husbands then brought charges of sorcery against
her. I. was tortured, imprisoned, found guilty, tortured some more,
and finally decapitated. She has two surviving Greek Passiones (BHG
761, 762), both edited by Delehaye in his "Les versions grecques des
Actes des martyrs persans sous Sapor II", _Patrologia Orientalis_ 2,
pt. 4 (1907), 403-560, at pp. 453-73; the first of these has a Latin
translation edited by Delehaye below the corresponding Greek text.
Several no longer extant churches in Constantinople were dedicated to
I., most notably one near the Golden Gate restored by Justinian and
destroyed during the capture of the city in 1204. Representations of
her seem not to exist on the free Web. In lieu thereof, here are a few
perhaps less well known images of Shapur II:
http://www.livius.org/a/1/iran/coin_shapur_ii.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/fcfkv
as well as the famous victory relief at Taq-e Bostan (Iran), where a
figure usually identified as S. stands between Mithra and Ahura Mazda
and (along with Ahura Mazda) on top of a prostrate victim often
identified as the emperor Julian (d. 363):
http://www.livius.org/a/iran/taqebostan/relief2.JPG
In the last of the expandable images here one can get a better view of
the victim underfoot:
http://www.livius.org/a/iran/taqebostan/taqebostan2.html
2) Rayner of Cagli and of Split (d. 1180). R. (in Italian, Rainerio;
in Serbo-Croatian, Arnir) was a monk of Fonte Avellana and a friend of
St. Ubald of Gubbio. In 1156 he was elected bishop of relatively
nearby Cagli (in today's Pesaro-Urbino province in the Marche). In
1175 a dispute with his chapter led to R.'s being translated (kicked
upstairs?) to the archdiocese of Split in today's Croatia, then a
possession of the Roman Empire of the East. R. arrived in his new see
in 1177, attended the Third Lateran Council in 1179, and in 1180 was
back at Split attempting to regain some diocesan properties from
adverse possession by local Slavs (Croats). On 4. August of that year,
while visiting the territories in question, R. was stoned to death by a
crowd of people unhappy at being called usurpers. The cult that ensued
was confirmed in 1690 for the archdiocese of Split and was extended in
1819 to the then diocese of Cagli-Pergola.
R.'s Cagli was abandoned following a disastrous fire in 1287; the
present town is its replacement in a different location. Surviving
from R.'s day, though somewhat rebuilt, is the former abbey church of
San Geronzio at Cagli:
http://tinyurl.com/rt39p
http://tinyurl.com/mbo9r
At Split (in Italian, Spalato), the cathedral of Sv. Duje / San
Domnione occupies the building that was once Diocletian's mausoleum.
Most of its more striking appointments are from the centuries following
R.'s death. Herewith a few views:
http://www.pmfst.hr/razno/entropy/index_clip_image002_0003.jpg
http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/palace.exhibit/53.jpg
http://www.cromaps.com/uploads/pics/katedrala_split_cromaps.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/gdufj
http://www.st.carnet.hr/split/mauzolej.html
Best,
John Dillon
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