medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I am dealing with a document that presents a small dating problem that I am hoping the list can help me resolve.
In the fallout from the St. Scholastica's Day riot at Oxford in 1355, the royal council issued an order to the townsmen of Oxford to pay a rather hefty fine (250L). The order was issued on July 17th, 1355, and the fine was to be paid before "the Monday after St James the Apostle next" (I have only the English translation published in the 19th century, rather than the original Latin text). What I am wondering is what day is being referred to here, given that there are two James the Apostles?
St James, son of Alphaeus, often identified with James the Less, has a saint's day of May 3rd.
St James, son of Zebedee, brother of John, called the Greater, has a saint's day of July 25th.
My guess is that the council is referring to James the Greater. They are giving Oxford just over 1 year from the date of the order, to pay the fine. Is it reasonable to assume that if a 14th century document just refers to 'St James the Apostle' without clarifying, then the more prominent James is the one being referred to?
Andrew E. Larsen
Marquette University
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