Sources for St Leonard
I once asked someone to support a truly sweeping 'web' statement about St
Leonard with an original source or indeed sources, but nothing was ever
forthcoming.
I'll try and unearth the link which as I recall was impeccably academic. The
statement related to Leonard's association with forests (I know the gist of
his 'vita' but no primary source) which was used to support an interaction
between church dedication and the nature of the surrounding landscape i.e.
that churches in forested areas were dedicated to St Leonard.
It seemed overly eclectic. Leonard had the good fortune to be a popular
french saint at a time of great norman expansion; thus he was a regular
dedicatee
as normans developed their new english estates. Thus the association could
be deemed fortuitous rather than descriptive. The latter wouldn't really
explain St Leonard's Hospital in York, say.
It strikes me this is a good audience to ask for a source... perhaps Dr
Spice is wrong?
I'd also be interested in any clear link with the normans - why did they
like him so much?
Thirdly does this indicate 'cultural imperialism'? Obviously with a
monotheistic culture like Christianity you can't change the deity people
worship, but you can change the saints. What is the definitive reference
for this?
Regards,
John A.W. Lock
----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Spice <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, September 20, 1999 6:50 AM
Subject: Re: St Albert
> St Albert: Bill East tells us it was a madman and Paul Chandler tells us
it
> was the Master of the Hospital who assasinated the saint.
> Paul Chandler also tells us that Bill has the "wrong" story and he has the
> "right" story. How do we know which is the "right" (i.e. historically
> accurate) story? What sources were used? Are there such things as primary
> sources for the lives of obscure saints?
> Maybe the lesson here is to be careful about any un-referenced "facts" you
> read on the net. Due to the ease of "publishing on the net", maybe the net
> is nothing more than gossip or hearsay?????
> Dr. Paul Spice
>
>
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