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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (16. October) is the feast day of: Lullus (d. 786). The Anglo-Saxon L., also known by the English-language forms of his name 'Lul' and 'Lull', was a friend and missionary collaborator of St. Boniface, whom he succeeded as bishop of Mainz and whose accomplishments he subsequently did much to preserve. Hence he is often referred to Lullus of Mainz. His formation as a monk of Malmesbury, together with William of Malmesbury's early twelfth-century interest in his abbey's connection with the Bonifatian project, have also led to his being called Lullus of Malmesbury. It seems a particularly German thing to call him Lullus of Hersfeld, though hardly an inappropriate one considering that he founded this once important abbey and that he remained its abbot throughout his episcopate (later, archiepiscopate) at Mainz. L. was buried in the abbey church and it was there that his canonization occurred in 852 when his remains were moved to the abbey's then new basilica. The abbey's town, today's Bad Hersfeld in northeastern Hessen near its border with Thüringen, celebrates him as its founder and patron saint. Its Lullusfest, which takes its origin in the events of 852, proclaims itself Germany's oldest civic celebration. For a recent account of L., of his role in promoting the memory of St. Boniface, and of his own later memory, see James Palmer, "The 'vigorous rule' of Bishop Lull: between Bonifatian mission and Carolingian church control", _Early Medieval Europe_ 13 (2005), 249-27. The text of the same scholar's sympathetic evocation of L. in a recent BBC "Legacies" programme is available here: http://tinyurl.com/ylhjx6 The twelfth-century abbey church at Hersfeld (which latter officially became Bad Hersfeld only in 1949) survived the dissolution of the monastery but not the Seven Years War, when (in 1751) the French first used it as a powder magazine and then set it afire. A plan of the structure is here: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Dehio_I_42_Hersfeld.jpg Views of the ruin: http://tinyurl.com/ych8qx http://www.konradlipphardt.homepage.t-online.de/hefruine.jpg http://tinyurl.com/ybdq67 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Stiftsruine_Hersfeld.jpg http://tinyurl.com/yed8tv On the grounds of the former abbey is a belltower known as the Katherinenturm. This houses the Lullusglocke, said to have been cast in 1038 and to be Germany's oldest dated church bell. Various views are here: http://tinyurl.com/t9qez http://tinyurl.com/y42889 http://www.konradlipphardt.homepage.t-online.de/hefkatha.jpg http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Lullusglocke.jpeg A view of Bad Hersfeld's statue commemorating L. is here: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Lullus_standbild_hersfeld.jpg Best, and to all a happy Lullusfest, John Dillon (last year's post lightly revised) ********************************************************************** 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