medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Poisson de mai?? Today's notice of Fruminius and Piniolo reprises, with the omission of its first two paragraphs and of its final one, a spoof sent by Ann Ball on 28. January 2004 <http://tinyurl.com/3o624jx> and deriving from _The Watley Review_, a venue expressly "dedicated to the production of articles completely without journalistic merit or factual basis". This particular story's comedic intent is obvious from the headlines for "Related Stories" at the foot of the page on which it appears:
http://www.watleyreview.com/2004/012704-3.html
As someone who in a conference presentation has called Alexander VI "of blessed memory" in order to see whether the audience were paying attention (it wasn't), I suspect the presence here of a similar probe to guage our alertness. And of course, to gently pull our collective leg.
Best,
John Dillon
On Monday, May 2, 2011, at 5:15 am, Terri Morgan sent:
> Yesterday, May 1, was the feast of:
> One week after Easter: At issue is the very unusual sainthood of
> Fruminius and Piniolo, twin brothers from Valencia who were martyred
> in 842. The brothers were apparently jointly assigned a single
> sainthood, in an unprecedented decision that remains unique in the
> annals of the Catholic Church. “The problem was that while Fruminius
> and Piniolo were popular local figures, their behavior was
> questionable," said Junsho Furushi, professor of religious studies at
> Loyola College. "Similar to Saint Francis in his youth. It was unclear
> whether either was quite worthy of canonization on his own, so this
> compromise was arrived at by Pope Gregory IV." Under the terms of the
> joint sainthood, the brothers take turns holding the mantle of
> sanctity. Each year, a week after Easter, in the church where their
> relics are interred in Valencia, two specially constructed statues are
> used to roll dice to see who will be saint for the coming year. A
> gilded wooden halo is then attached to the statue of the winner until
> the beginning of Lent the following year. "They were notorious
> drunkards, womanizers and gamblers," said Father Sergio Estaban, who
> has been responsible for the ritual for the past eight years. "That's
> their problem right off the bat. They set the tone for the parish, I'm
> afraid."
>
> The annual balanceo de los dados, or "rolling of the dice," has
> been a Valencia fixture for centuries. A festival has sprung up around
> the event, replete with high-stakes wagers on whether Fruminius or
> Piniolo will take the "prize" for the coming year. Violence is not
> uncommon. But the final straw came in 2003, when a riot broke out in
> which 23 people were hospitalized following Piniolo's upset win over
> the heavily-favored Fruminius.
>
> "That's when we really decided to take another look at this
> arrangement," said Cardinal Bernquist. "I mean, come on. Saints should
> not inspire assault and battery. I don't care how much money the
> church stood to win."
>
> The de-sanctification marks one of the first times that a saint
> whose historical authenticity is not in question has been removed from
> the Vatican's list.
>
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