medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
John,
One might also point out that in the 7th-century mosaics of St. Demetrius in his church in Thessaloniki, he is dressed as an aristocrat rather than a preacher.
Cheers,
Jim
________________________________________
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of John Dillon [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: October 28, 2012 9:01 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] Feasts and Saints of the Day: October 26
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On 10/27/12, I wrote:
> Demetrius of Thessaloniki (d. 304 or 305, supposedly).
>
> Collections of Demetrius' miracles are numerous and begin in the seventh century. His earliest Passiones are attested from the ninth century: an account in Photius' _Bibliotheca_ (cod. 255), the anonymous Passio BHG 496, and the latter's translation into Latin by the later ninth-century Anastasius Bibliothecarius (BHL 2122; Anastasius' version of the Miracula is BHL 2123; an English-language translation of the Anastasian versions is here <http://143.239.128.67/milmart/BHL2122.html>). These accounts make Demetrius an itinerant preacher martyred at Thessaloniki on the orders of an irate emperor Maximian who had just seen the military saint Nestor of Thessaloniki (27. October in eastern-rite churches) slay his favorite gladiator in the arena. Demetrius' tenth-century expanded Passio by St. Symeon Metaphrastes (BHG 498) connects the two by having Nestor call publicly upon the God of Demetrius. An anonymous Passio attested from the eleventh century (BHG 497) for the first time makes him an aristocrat and a military commander. From the eleventh century onward Demetrius is increasingly but by no means uniformly portrayed as a military saint, a construction symbolic of his recurring role as defender both of the faith and of specific polities within Christendom (e.g. Thessaloniki, Bulgaria, Serbia). Herewith a few visuals:
>
Two small points by way of clarification: in a couple of incidents recounted in the early Miracula Demetrius does appear as a soldier. And he is so represented in ivories from at least the _tenth_ century onward.
> D. (at right; at left, St. George of Lydda) as depicted in the earlier fourteenth-century frescoes (betw. 1335 and 1350) in the chapel dedicated to him in 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/94brbgv
> Detail view (D.):
> http://tinyurl.com/94brbgv
The first of those links is clearly wrong. It should have been this:
http://tinyurl.com/9r6jof9
Best again,
JD
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