medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On 11/26/11, Terri Morgan wrote:
> Petros / Peter Martyr of Alexandria (d. 311)... He is said to be the last martyr killed in Alexandria.
When in 2004 Phyllis Jestice wrote something similar John Briggs reminded us of the pagan martyr Hypatia (d. 415) and I followed up with a reminder of St. Proterius, the pro-Chalcedonian patriarch of Alexandria killed by monophysites in 457 (along with six of his clergy whom I should have mentioned then as well). One could also adduce the Alexandrian martyrs under Constans I (337-350) commemorated in the RM under 21. March. Though Peter is traditionally the last martyr of Alexandria _killed under pagan emperors_, even that is dubious. Peter was killed towards the outset of a renewed persecution that claimed other martyrs in Alexandria. These are commemorated with him in his entry in the current RM; in the pre-2001 RM they had an entry of their own on the same day, immediately following that for Peter.
Orthodox churches celebrate Peter on 24. or 25. November. In the church of Rome he is commemorated on 24. November (Byzantine rite) and 25. November (Roman rite). Last year's notice of Peter (under 25. November; no. 2 at <http://tinyurl.com/78o5mwe>) has a bit more factual information about Peter and about his hagiography, the latter including the vision he is said to have had of a young Christ with a rent tunic foretelling the Arian schism. That notice also had links to a number of medieval portrayals of Peter. Herewith a few more:
Peter as depicted in a late twelfth-century fresco (1199) in the church of the transfiguration of the Savior at Nereditsa near Veliky Novgorod:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3414/3446558003_12436e97d2.jpg
Detail view:
http://tinyurl.com/7gz5kdy
Peter's vision as depicted in the earlier fifteenth-century frescoes (betw. 1406 and 1418) in the church of the Holy Trinity at the Manasija monastery near Despotovac (Pomoravlje dist.) in Serbia:
https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/handle/1811/40931
Peter's vision as depicted in a late fifteenth-century fresco (early 1490s) by Philippos Goul in the church of the Timios Stavros tou Agiasmati at Platanistasa (Nicosia prefecture) in the Republic of Cyprus (in this portrait Peter's portrait is remarkably -- and probably designedly -- similar to the standard portraiture of Peter the Apostle):
http://tinyurl.com/7472qzg
Peter's vision (at right, through the arch; does anyone have a better view?) as depicted in an earlier fifteenth-century fresco (1527) by Theofanis Strelitzas-Bathas (Theophanes the Cretan) in the katholikon of the monastery of St. Nicholas Anapafsas in the Meteora district of Greece's Trikala prefecture:
http://tinyurl.com/6sc35j7
> Alypius / Alyphios the Stylite / Stylianos of Pahplagonia
Paphlagonia, of course. And for 'Alyphios' read 'Alypios'.
> Alypius at upper left (St. Mercurius at lower right) as depicted in the earlier (1335-1350) frescoes in the narthex of the church of the Holy Ascension at the Visoki Dečani monastery near Peć in, depending on one's view of the matter, either the Republic of Kosovo or Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija: http://tinyurl.com/ycgb8ln
>
For further medieval depictions of Alypius the Stylite see last year's notice (no. 2 at <http://tinyurl.com/87ozt2o>). A better view of his thirteenth-century mosaic portrait in Venice's basilica di San Marco is here:
http://geolocation.ws/v/L/4623233842/saint-alipius/en
> Nikon Metanoite (d. 998) was born c930 in Pontus (Armenia). As a youth he ran away from his wealth family to join a monastery, where he spent 12 years in penance and prayer. His superiors then sent him out as a missionary, first to Armenia, then to Muslim Crete and Greece. The theme of all his preaching was penance, beginning each of his sermons with the word 'Metanoeite' (repent!), from whence came his nickname. He founded a monastery near Sparta, where he spent the last years of his life.
>
Pontus, an historic region of Asia Minor extending along much of the southern coast of the Black Sea, is not in Armenia (and never has been). At the time of Nikon's birth, and for several centuries before that, it was part of the Byzantine theme of Armeniakon. Nikon's own late tenth-century Testament, forming part of his founder's typikon for the monastery near Sparta, may be read in English translation here: <http://tinyurl.com/d3ez8bd>. His perhaps originally mid-eleventh-century Bios exists in two forms (BHG 1366 and 1367). It's been edited synthetically and translated by Denis F. Sullivan as _The Life of St. Nikon: Text, translation and Commentary_ (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1987).
Nikon "Metanoieite" as depicted in the earlier eleventh-century mosaics (restored between 1953 and 1962) in the katholikon of the monastery of Hosios Loukas near Distomo in Phokis:
http://eikonografos.com/album/albums/uploads/osios%20loukas/52.jpg
> Simeon of La Cava (d. 1141) From 1124 until his death, Simeon was abbot of the Benedictine monastery of La Cava near Naples. During his lifetime the monastery became famous, and Simeon himself was highly regarded by Pope Innocent II and King Roger II. His cult was approved in 1928.
>
Simeon's cult was approved at the level of Beatus. For a bit more about him see his notice under Nov. 16 (Simeon's day of commemoration in the RM): <http://tinyurl.com/7y7dsrt>. The territorial abbey of the Most Holy Trinity at Cava de' Tirreni (to give Simeon's abbey its full name) is a lot closer to Salerno than it is to Naples.
Best,
John Dillon
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