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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

On Tuesday, September 20, 2005, at 9:43 pm, Phyllis wrote:

> Today (21. September) is the feast day of:
>
> Matthew (1st cent.)
> Matthew is the patron of Salerno, which claims to have his relics.

M.'s Translation (BHL 5694b; tenth-century) tells us that Breton sailors
brought his body to Armorica in the time of Valentinian III (so in the
fifth century) during the reign there of a (legendary) king Solomon.
Solomon was murdered, whereupon Valentinian sent a mighty fleet to
destroy the Breton kingdom.  When, having achieved its ends, the Roman
invasion force sailed home it brought with it Matthew's remains.  These,
however, were stolen and wound up in Lucania, where they were given a
pious burial in a newly constructed church; over time the latter become
ruinous.  In 954 the remains were discovered still reposing therein near
the Lucanian town of Paestum in what was now Salernitan territory.
Housed briefly in the cathedral of Capaccio, they were soon moved to
Salerno itself on the order of its prince, Gisulf I, and reinterred in
that city's cathedral.  As all _regnicoli_ know, Matthew has been in
Salerno ever since.

Unless, of course, he has been in Kyrgyzstan all along.  See
http://www.mirabilis.ca/archives/000157.html
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/08/29/35577.html
and especially
http://www.ipvnews.com/apostle.html

In 1076 the principality was conquered by Robert Guiscard and in the
years that followed Salerno became in effect the capital of his now
enlarged duchy of Apulia.  In 1085, under the auspices of archbishop
Alfanus I and with Guiscard's active assistance, Salerno got a new
cathedral (its present one), dedicated to Matthew and consecrated by
the exiled Gregory VII.  Matthew (who could believe otherwise?) is
buried here; so are Gregory, Alfanus, and Robert.

Various views of this famous monument, including its mosaic of Matthew
displaying his gospel, are here:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~classics/rome2003/updates/week3_4/oct16.html
and here:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/4893/cattedra.htm
A view of the belltower from inside the atrium is here:
http://www.davidgreer.ca/photo/cruise/20020707/salerno01.jpg
and an aerial view of the entire complex is here:
http://www.scuolamedicasalernitana.it/foto/duomo.jpg

On the Translation of St. Matthew, see Baudouin de Gaiffier,
"Hagiographie salernitaine: la Translation de S. Matthieu," _Analecta
Bollandiana_ 80 (1962), 82-110.  Among the poems of the aforementioned
Alfanus I, better known in literary studies simply as Alfanus of
Salerno, are several for the feast commemorating this event (6. May; not
in the online Italian-language version of the new Roman Martyrology); in
the edition of Lentini and Avagliano these are nos. 58-62.

Another medievally significant Matthaean site is Pisa's church of San
Matteo, whose eleventh- and twelfth-century facade along the Arno is
said to be the work of artisans from Apulia:
http://www.stilepisano.it/immagini4/pages/Pisa_foto_hires%20(11)_JPG.htm
The adjacent former Benedictine monastery now houses Pisa's Museo
Nazionale di San Matteo, with rich collections devoted to central and
later medieval ceramics, painting, and sculpture.  A few highlights from
its holdings are reproduced here:
http://tinyurl.com/9f3z9
and here:
http://www.pisa.turismo.toscana.it/AptGalileo/TourPisa/SanMatteo.asp
Reproductions of others may be found via a Google Images search for
["San Matteo" Pisa].  The museum's own site (not for older browsers or
for the seriously Italian-challenged) introduces its collections at
rather greater depth:
http://www2.alfea.it/DOC/adu-009/index.vurt

Best,
John Dillon
(last year's post, revised)

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