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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Crockett" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, August 18, 2003 11:23 AM Subject: Re: [M-R] [[M-R] saints of the day 18. August] > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > that tears it. > > two well throwing-downs in one day is one too many, so i can't resist. > > Phyllis Jestice <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > >Florus, Laurus, Proculus, and Maximus.... The local authorities did not > approve, and threw all four down a dry well. > > >Hugh of Lincoln (Little).... was a nine-year-old boy who was murdered and > thrown down a well. > > > whence commeth this curious custom ? > > throwing down a well could be a particularly painful and lengthy form of > execution, i suppose (and one well suited for a would-be martyr) ; and it > could serve to hide the body of an already martyred martyr. > > but it also had the effect of poisoning the well (provided it were not a "dry" > one), and this *could* have been a motive behind the insidious Jews of > Lincoln's act --but, doing that to a well currently in use would blow the > cover on one's Evil Deed, if the thought was to hide the body. > > "Eh, Bill, this water taste a bit dodgey to you, or what?" > > "Yep, it must be some more of that Ritual Murdering goings on by > you-know-who." > > etc. > > i'm put in mind of the "Puits des Saints Fort(s?)" [now] in the crypt of > Chartres cathedral, which got its name following the sack of the city by the > Norsemen in the 9th c., when they made a few martyrs and threw them down a > [pre-existing] well in the church. > > perversely, the effect of that was, not to poison the well, but rather to > sanctify the water and make it into a holy pilgrimage site. > > seems like there's more to this well-throwing-down business than meets the > eye, at first glance. > > best to all from here, > > christopher > > ********************************************************************** > To join the list, send the message: join 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: leave 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/lists/medieval-religion.html > > ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join 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: leave 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/lists/medieval-religion.html