medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Lions and tigers and bears, O my!
--JD
________________________________________
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Erica Obey <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2016 7:50:41 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] FEAST - A Saint for the Day (June 25): St. Tigris
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
This has to be my favorite post ever,
Erica
http://www.ericaobey.com
Coming in September, The Lazarus Vector
-----Original Message-----
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious
culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Dillon
Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2016 1:34 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [M-R] FEAST - A Saint for the Day (June 25): St. Tigris
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
As is fairly well known, the Christian sanctoral firmament includes not a
few individuals whose names signify one or another large carnivore: there
are are many Wolves (e.g. Lupus of Anjou, Lupus of Lyon, Lupus of Soissons,
and Lupus of Troyes), Bears (e.g. Ursus of Aosta, Ursus of Ravenna, and
Ursula with her thousands of virgins venerated at Köln), Leopards (Leopardus
of Osimo, Leopardus of Rome, Pardus of Larino), and Lions (e.g. Leo of Bova,
Leo of Catania, Leo Luke of Corleone, and several popes St. Leo). But there
seems to be only one Tiger: St. Tigris (d. later 6th or earlier 7th cent.,
supposedly; in French: Tigre, Thècle). St. Gregory the Great recounts (_In
gloria martyrum_, 13) how, at an unspecified time, a woman who had made an
oath to procure a relic from the limbs of St. John the Baptist left
Maurienne for a place that had the body of this saint. Having reached her
destination and having been informed by locals that no such relic was to be
had, she remained there for close to three years, praying before John's tomb
that her wish be granted. Finally, when she was weak from fasting, a shining
thumb appeared over the altar. Recognizing this as a divine gift, the woman
took the thumb, put it in a small reliquary of gold, and returned home. Thus
far Gregory, who then quotes Luke 11:8 on the value of perseverance and who
goes on to relate how later three bishops collected from this relic drops of
a blood onto a cloth which latter they then divided amongst themselves.
An early tenth-century narrative of the founding of the cathedral of
Maurienne, the so-called _Auctoritas Moriensis_, names this woman Tigris and
tells a more detailed version of the story in which the saint's tomb is
located at Sebaste and the acquisition of the thumb is said to have taken
place in the reign of king Guntram (561-592), who used the relic to sanctify
his newly built cathedral dedicated to St. John the Baptist (its town is now
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne). In his later eleventh-century chronicle Sigebert
of Gembloux summarizes Gregory's version (so Tigris is not named here) and
dates the acquisition of the thumb and the production of the blood relics to
613. In his thirteenth-century chronicle Albert of Stade calls the woman
Thecla. She has a traditional cult in Maurienne with a feast on this day
(i.e. the one immediately following that of the Nativity of St. John the
Baptist) documented at least as far back as 1251. Today is also her day of
commemoration in the Roman Martyrology.
Tigris' relic of St. John the Baptist on display in the cathedral of
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne:
http://tinyurl.com/2czuvpx
An illustrated, French-language page on the cathedral itself (largely
eleventh-century):
http://tinyurl.com/748ms2n
Best,
John Dillon
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion
|