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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (1. March) is the feast day of: 1) David of St Davids (d. 589/601?). D. (Dewi) is the patron saint of Wales. His cult was already established by the eighth century but we have no Vita until the eleventh, when the standard account (BHL 2107; by Rhigyfarch ap Sulien) was written. D. is presented as a monastic founder, as the preeminent bishop of Wales, and as a saint of a stature at least equal to that of St. Patrick and certainly greater than that of St. Gildas. His abbey at Vallis Rosina (also Mynyw, latinized as Menevia) came to be known as D.'s House (Tyddewi) and was the nucleus of medieval and modern St Davids (Pembrokeshire). An exterior view of the cathedral of St Davids: http://tinyurl.com/2gfr48 A series of views (exterior and interior) starts here: http://vi.uh.edu/pages/david/david1txt.html And the cathedral's website is here: http://www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk/ 2) Swithbert (d. 713). S. (Suitbertus, Suidbert) was a Northumbrian coadjutor of St. Willibrord in his missions, elected bishop by his colleagues when W. had gone on to Rome for papal approval of their campaign and consecrated on a return trip to England by St. Wilfrid of York, then in Mercia. After serving as apostle to Bructeri, a people who in Roman times were in southern Westphalia, he founded a monastery on an island in the Rhine where he spent the remainder of his life (according to Bede, in great austerity). S.'s immediately posthumous cult is attested by his entry, under today's date, in the Calendar of St. Willibrord. The island upon which S. erected his monastery was called Werda. Later, with imperial patronage, it became Kaiserswerth. No longer an island, it is now part of Düsseldorf. Some views of its Basilika St. Suitbertus, where S.'s presumed relics are preserved, are here (in the menu across the top, click on "Kirche"): http://www.st-suitbertus-kaiserswerth.de/index1.htm Other views: http://www.duesseldorf.de/denkmalschutz/grafik/m32.jpg http://tinyurl.com/yrjjw6 S., as bishop, on the seal of his monastery: http://www.gerresheim.net/Siegel/html/suitbertus.html 3) Leo Luke of Corleone (d. late 9th/very early 10th century?). Have you prayed for your godfather today? Last year's post on this less well known saint of the Regno is here: http://tinyurl.com/297sm4 Best, John Dillon ********************************************************************** 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