medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Sorry, George. I wish it were a case of Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, but it is
nothing so interesting. The mail appears to come from Charles because I've
never bothered to have an e-mail address of my own after I quit teaching,
and use his.
Bernadette
----- Original Message -----
From: "George FERZOCO" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 5:25 PM
Subject: Re: [M-R] Revival for baptism in saint's stories
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Hi Fran -- Following the suggestions made by Bernadette (whose e-
mails always seem to be from someone named Charles!) and by Dan, I
might suggest you look at the late medieval / early modern phenomenon
centered in France, known as the 'sanctuaire de [or 'a'] répit'.
Stillborn babies would be taken to such chapels or churches, and it
was believed that there the priest, by a ritual, would be able to
resuscitate the babies long enough to baptize them, before they
returned to their state of death (and of course to eternal life).
You might try looking for this book:
Gélis, Jacques. *Les enfants des limbes. Mort-nés et parents dans
l’Europe chrétienne*. Paris: Audibert, 2006. Pp. 96, with 7 maps and
15 illustrations.
Or, you could start by reading a review by Marie-France Morel at:
http://histoire-education.revues.org/index1357.html
There are also articles:
Didier, Jean-Charles. 'Un sanctuaire à "répit" du diocèse de Langres:
l'église de Fayl-Billot (Haute-Marne), d'après des actes notariés du
XVIIe siècle.' *Actes du 38e Congrès de l'Association bourguignonne
des Sociétés savantes, Langres, 23-24-25 juin 1967*. Langres: Société
historique et archéologique de Langres, 1969; pages 3-21.
Pahud de Mortanges, Elke. 'Der versperrte Himmel. Das Phänomen der
sanctuaires à répit aus theologiegeschichtlicher Perspektive.'
*Zeitschrift für schweizerische Kirchengeschichte* 98 (2004) 31-47.
Brix, Alain. 'Les sanctuaires à répit de l'ancien diocèse de Verdun.'
*Bulletin des Sociétés d'histoire et d'archéologie de la Meuse* 13
(1976) 73-82.
I can't but think that you will find in these works precedents taken
from hagiographical sources.
It's a fascinating topic -- good luck with your research!
Best wishes,
George
--
George FERZOCO
[log in to unmask]
On 15 Jun 2009, at 20:29, Charles Giguere wrote:
> Hello, Fran -
>
> Have you checked Stith Thomson's Motif-Index of Folk Literature? There
> is also a similar work on Irish or Celtic saints published maybe ten
> years ago by someone at McGill, but I can't remember either her name or
> the title. Another possible source is Bachmann- Staubli's Handwörterbuch
> des deutschen Aberglaubens.
>
> The only episode of the sort (although not about a baby) that I can think
> of off-hand is in the Life of Brendan of Clonfert, xxviii (in Bethada
> Náem Nérenn, ed. and trans. Charles Plummer, Oxford, 1922, p. 61).
> Brendan and his companions find the murdered body of a beautiful young
> woman. They bring her back to life; she asks for baptism and dies
> immediately after receiving it.
>
> Bernadette Giguere
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fran Altvater" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 2:19 PM
> Subject: [M-R] Revival for baptism in saint's stories
>
>
>> Hello--
>> I'm a long time lurker on the list and I'm hoping that some of you might
>> help me.
>>
>> I'm looking for baptism stories, particularly ones where the infant is
>> dying and either stays alive long enough to be baptized and then dies or
>> is explicitly described as recovering as a result of that baptism. My
>> guess is that they are a trope of saints' literature--either as a
>> foundation story for establishing how holy the saint is or as a result
>> of
>> the saint's performing of the sacrament--but any specific references
>> would
>> be of help.
>>
>> Thank you very much,
>> Fran Altvater
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