Posthumous Miracles Research Articles

Metropolitans of All Rus’, Protectors of Moscow: the Veneration of Metropolitan Petr (14th–16th Century)

Abstract This article discusses the veneration of Metropolitan Petr of Kyiv and all Rus’ in 14th–16th century Moscow. It focuses on the shifting roles attributed to his tomb in the Dormition Cathedral, from locally developed veneration, to a source of ecclesiastical legitimacy. In the first section, I trace the cult’s development from the earliest hagiographical writings to posthumous miracles included in chronicle writing and artistic representations of Petr’s activity as an icon painter. The second section examines a possible attempt at ritual building for local appointments of metropolitans, after 1448, revolving around Petr’s tomb. I argue that Petr’s saintly image was purposely shaped over two centuries from a wonderworking saint to also a military protector of the city and a prototype of the legitimate metropolitan of all Rus’. Although his tomb did not receive a permanent place in enthronement ceremonies, in the 16th century it became synonymous with the seat of the metropolitan, and played a major role in the subsequent veneration of a correct line of ecclesiastical successors buried in its proximity.

ПЕРВЫЕ ИСЛАНДСКИЕ ОТШЕЛЬНИКИ В ЯЗЫЧЕСКОМ ОКРУЖЕНИИ: ПРЯДЬ ОБ АСОЛЬВЕ ИЗ "КНИГИ О ЗАНЯТИИ ЗЕМЛИ"

Despite the uniformity of the main body of the Icelandic Landnámabók the þáttr about Ásólfr alskik, a hermit of the initial period of the settlement of the island, varies greatly in its early redactions. In the manuscript Sturlubók, Ásólfr’s voluntary life as a hermit is motivated by his reluctance to have contact his pagan neighbours, and the miracles he performs are open to rational interpretation. In addition, this redaction does not emphasise Ásólfr’s nationality at all. A completely different picture is presented by the second redaction, Hauksbók. The text of the þáttr here is about three times longer. In particular, additional posthumous miracles and prophetic dreams led to the discovery of the hermit’s relics and their transfer to the church. Ásólfr’s family ties are specified in detail, and his Celtic roots are especially noted. Analysis of this version clearly demonstrates how important the role of Celtic and AngloSaxon Christianity was in the Christianisation of Iceland. This is probably why, according to the Hauksbók version, the text of Ásólfs þáttr is reproduced in all subsequent redactions of Landnámabók.

Преславно бо Господь прослави вѣрнаго раба своего»: чудеса в составе «Жития Михаила Ярославича Тверского

The paper examines the functioning of a symbolic microgenre as part of an Old Russian literary work of the 14 century — “The hagiography of Mikhail Yaroslavich Tverskoy”. Among the miracles presented in the text only one is intravital, all the rest are posthumous. They are arranged in a chain of successive episodes, united ideologically, thematically and by the object of the image. Most posthumous miracles happened when the murdered prince`s body has been moved from the Horde to Tver, mostly on the foreign territory. Therefore the purpose of their inclusion in the hagiography may be the desire to affirm the holiness of Mikhail Tverskoy and to convince his enemies and people who do not believe in his righteousness. Among the common and familiar miraculous motifs are the following: a body untouched by wild animals, a pillar of fire and a glow over the body, incorruptible relics. Besides the miracles which are performed directly over the relics and with the relics, unusual situations that cannot be rationally explained may also be considered as miracles. The author of the text, without being a direct witness of miraculous events, basing on eyewitness accounts retells them in detail, sometimes with explanations. Despite references to early Old Russian literary works and the use of familiar topos, the author of “The hagiography of Mikhail Yaroslavich Tverskoy”, thanks to the inclusion of miracles, manages to achieve a high degree of persuasiveness, to reveal his plan and reflect his assessment of what was happening in the Horde.

The style of the “Sermon on the Finding of the Relics of Metropolitan Alexy” by Patriarch Hermogenes

This article is devoted to the analysis of the style of the commendable word “Finding the honest and multi-healing relics of Metropolitan Alexy”. The Orthodox Church commemorates the uncovering of the relics of Moscow Metropolitan Alexy on May, 20. The Moscow Patriarch Hermogenes, the author of the eulogy, uses a system of figurative and expressive, stylistic and rhetorical means aimed at glorifying and exalting the Moscow Metropolitan Alexy as a saint of God, as well as the heavenly patron of Moscow. The main means of artistic expression used by the author are: syntactic (parallelism, comparative constructions, inversion, rhetorical exclamations), lexical (epithets, hyperbole, repetitions), and stylistic (antithesis, biblical quotations). In addition to these techniques, Hermogenes uses the onomastic aspect to convey the reality of ongoing events and the dynamism of actions, expressed by verbs, participles, the rhythmic organization of the text. The readers of the commendable word about the acquisition of the relics of Metropolitan Alexy are presented with a solemn and sublime work, where the focus is on a detailed description of posthumous miracles (healing, resurrection and the appearance of the saint to those who ask) that occurred at the tomb of St. Alexy. The emotionally expressive style used in the work allows Patriarch Hermogenes to present the sacred image of the holy ascetic, the saint of God.

The posadsky wife Matrona Kalistratova in the history of Church and book culture of the Kostroma region of the 17<sup>th</sup> century

In the article a source study of inscriptions on Cyrillic books of the 17th century was carried out, as a result of which it was possible to uncover a rare historical plot, the main character of which is one of the notable residents of the city of Soligalich at the time. We are talking about the book contributions of the posadsky wife Matrona Kalistratova, a wealthy owner of salterns аnd other property, that have survived to date. Her book donations, addressed to Soligalich and the nearby Gorodets monastery, made it possible to highlight some facts from Matrona’s biography and her role in the Church history of the Kostroma Region. It turned out that Matrona Kalistratova is one of the participants in the posthumous miracles of St. Abramius of Galich, which is reflected in the Life of the saint. It is the detailed inscriptions on her book contributions, which immediately attract attention due to their content among the preserved old printed books of the Kostroma Region repositories, that allowed us to draw undoubted parallels with the hagiographic text. Mutually complementing each other, the Life of St. Abramius of Galich, archival data and book descriptions clarified various details from the life of Matrona Kalistratova and her trace in the book culture of the Kostroma lands in the second third of the 17th century. The relatively large book contribution of the posadsky wife is a remarkable phenomenon in itself, as well as the fact that it became a commemoration that recorded the miraculous healing of the depositor on the relics of the saint.

Ruth J. Salter, Saints, Cure-Seekers and Miraculous Healing in Twelfth-Century England

Ruth J. Salter’s first monograph—and the inaugural volume in York Medieval Press’s new series on Health and Healing in the Middle Ages, edited by Peregrine Horden, Sara Ritchey and Linda Ehrsam Voigts (Series Advisor)—explores portrayals of illness/impairment and health in English miracle collections from the twelfth century. These collections were recorded by monastic communities to document the wonders performed by saints, whose relics (bones, clothing, blood, etc.) were in their possession and who, via these relics, could intercede with God on their behalf. Salter focuses on seven saints’ cults that are spread geographically across England: Swithun at Winchester, Dunstan at Canterbury, thelthryth at Ely, Modwenna at Burton-on-Trent, William of Norwich, Æbbe at Coldingham, and James the Greater at Reading. The miracle collections associated with all seven cults share a tendency to focus on local pilgrims, in contrast to, for example, the major twelfth-century cult of Thomas Becket at Canterbury, which had a much more international outlook. In her attention to smaller, local miracle collections, Salter moves away from earlier studies, like Ronald Finucane’s Miracles and Pilgrims (1977), which analysed over 3,000 posthumous miracles recorded throughout England. Instead, her methodology combines a statistical examination across collections with a close reading of ‘anecdotal comments’ (p. 91) in individual records. She asserts that, whilst miracle records conform to the various precedents of their genre (not least, that of the Bible), ‘no two accounts are the same, and many provide tantalising details of [an] individual’s personal experience of affliction and eventual miraculous recovery’ (p. 90).

Posthumous Miracles of the Saints in the Hagiographic “Postscripts” of the first half of the 17th Century

Posthumous Miracles of the Saints in the Hagiographic “Postscripts” of the first half of the 17th Century

Communities of Remembrance: Religious Orders and the Cult of Thomas de Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford (1275-82)

In the chronological list of posthumous miracles attributed to St Thomas de Cantilupe, bishop of Hereford (1275-82, canonized 1320), there are eleven explicit references to religious order in Britain. This article explores some of the themes of these miracle stories as recorded in the surviving contemporary account, Oxford, Exeter College MS 158, and examines their potential to inform our understanding of aspects of monastic life. These accounts allow historians to re-date or extend some abbacies of heads of religious houses, observe the performance of visitations and the care for the sick, and highlight how religious houses were vehicles for communal remembrance and could influence lay dedication to particular cult centres. In order to make these accounts accessible to a wide audience for future use, the article includes the monastic miracles in a fully transcribed and translated appendix with relevant historical notes.

Sanctioned Heterodoxy: Local Cults in Two Chinese Catholic Villages, 1900—Present

While ecclesiastic and state authorities in Europe largely abolished medieval cults of saints because of their “heterodoxy,” late-imperial and modern Chinese Catholic communities in Shanxi still promulgate local cults dedicated to women and men who are believed to have performed posthumous miracles or who represent heroic virtue. Although constrained beneath the scrutiny of imperial, ecclesial, and modern political ideas of “orthodoxy” and “heterodoxy,” two Shanxi Catholic villages, Dongergou and Liangquandao (Liuhecun), have managed to preserve and promote Sister Maria Assunta Pallotta and Father Wang Shiwei as contemporary versions of traditional local cults. One of the manifest characteristics of these two Chinese Catholic local cults is how they have been transformed by traditional Daoist cults and have successfully survived in a liminal space between “orthodox” and “heterodox.” Relying on archival materials from the former Taiyuan Catholic Diocese Archive, records held in Roman archives, and oral testimonies, intricate patterns of accommodation and resistance to political and church authorities can be discerned as means for these remote Catholic villages to construct identity and cultivate social cohesion.

Signes de sainteté et vecteurs de virtus dans les miracles posthumes du carme Albert de Trapani relatés aux XIVe-XVe siècles

Carmelite Albert of Trapani’s posthumous miracles are examined here on the basis of four recensions of his Vita, written between 1385 and the end of the 15th cent. Images of Bl. Albert are often mentioned as signs of his sanctity, as well as contributing to build that sanctity. Considered as carriers of the saint’s virtus, even though they may be located far away from his body (divided between Messina and Trapani), their importance remains nonetheless secondary respect to the widely diffused relics and the practice of drinking some water which has been in contact with them.

The Power of Deceased in Panel Paintings from Central Europe (c. 1474-1507)

The belief in the extraordinary power of a deceased saint was reflected by many late medieval images. The narratives about posthumous miracles were associated with rituals and other practices, important for the order of the society in the given period. One important group of images supported the cults of the relics (e.g. their miraculous finding or ritualized translatio) and of the grave (mostly healing miracles on this place). Nevertheless, the mediating rôle of saints in performing miracles did not require the actual presence of the relics. Some narratives about posthumous miracles supported the church rituals such as the Eucharistic cult or the sacrament of confession. The apparitions of saint could strengthen their authority in confrontation with secular rulers.

Physician and miracle worker. The cult of Saint Sampson the Xenodochos and his images in eastern Orthodox medieval painting

Physician and miracle worker. The cult of Saint Sampson the Xenodochos and his images in eastern Orthodox medieval painting

Wonderful to relate: miracle stories and miracle collecting in high medieval England

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)When contemplating texts about the saints, or hagiography, most people today undoubtedly think first of their lives, the specific details and circumstances of which seem essential to understanding their actual meaning to the people who have venerated them through the centuries. In her Wonderful to Relate , however, Rachel Koopmans demonstrates that what mattered most to people in high medieval England was a saint's supernatural interventions in their own world, that is, contemporary miracles. Without them, a previously cherished saint could suffer neglect; with them, a local cult center could form around the relics of a saint about whose life virtually nothing was remembered. Koopmans focuses on process: how did miracles stimulate the formation of a cult? Her forcefully argued and convincing answer: through the circulation of narratives, that is, the shaping of the miracle into a and the oral telling and re-telling of that story. Hearing of a source of miraculous power, people in need sought it out, and after their experience, they told their stories. The saint's cult grew. No matter what happened next, Koopmans wants her reader to remember the primacy of orality. To understand this better, she borrows the concept of the story from the social sciences, and in her first chapter insightfully analyzes one such medieval story. Insistent that some qualities of the oral survive in later written accounts, she does not shrink from describing other qualities that inevitably disappear, such as accompanying gesture, tone of voice, and so forth--in effect, performance, though she does not refer to scholarly work in the field of performance studies. Hovering over the book is nostalgia for the lost world of orality, the embodied experience of hearing and telling personal stories.This haunting world of orality forms only the pre-history for Koopmans's project, which substantively addresses the next phase. Some miracle stories had, of course, been recorded in texts, for the saints were modeled on Christ, and the evangelists included accounts of his miracles in the gospels. What is new in England from 1... to 1120, Koopmans convincingly demonstrates, is the purposeful gathering of posthumous miracles into books, written collections of stories documenting the interventions of dead saints in the lives of living believers. Thus, for what had gone unexamined, presumably viewed as an inevitable development, Koopmans offers a history. And it is the history of a rather overlooked literary genre, the miracle collection.Koopmans takes a new and distinct point of view by considering the miracle collection both as an entity and a genre. Where previous scholarship had tended either to focus entirely on one saint's dossier, including all miracles rather than those in a specific collection, or to analyze miracles by genre and period, Koopman insists on the value of treating each collection as a conscious creation and an example of a literary genre. …

Flower symbolism and the cult of relics in medieval Serbia

Flower symbolism and the cult of relics in medieval Serbia

The Miracles of Saint David: A New Text and Its Context

The passage of time has not been kind to materials related to the cathedral of Saint David's in Wales. In particular, few medieval liturgical texts used in the commemoration of Welsh saints have survived the vicissitudes of time and the ardor of Reformation zealots. In 1940 Silas Harris lamented the “complete destruction of the Menevian [Saint David's] service books,” and noted that “the almost total destruction of Welsh MSS and service books in the course of the centuries leaves a woeful gap” in our knowledge of the liturgical celebration of the feasts of Welsh saints. So thorough was the destruction of Welsh service books, according to Harris, that our current knowledge of the liturgy for Saint David derives largely from texts preserved outside of Wales. The destruction was nowhere more thorough than at the cathedral of Saint David's itself, two of whose bishops, William Barlow (1536–48) and Robert Ferrar (1548–53), were willing participants in the destruction. On 31 March 1538, Barlow wrote to Thomas Cromwell for instructions on how to dispose of certain of the cathedral's relics and “a worm-eaten book covered with silver plate” which he had confiscated. Some twelve years later, Barlow's successor, Bishop Robert Ferrar, following the king's command, “burnt all ye Martyrologies, portiforiums, & antient Mis-sales of ye Cathedral Church of Saint David, with their calenders, wherein were entered ye names of ye Bishops & ye days and years of their entrance & death or translation.” Later, in 1571, “certain ungodly popish books: as masse books, hympnals, Grailes, Antiphons, and suche lik” belonging to the cathedral, but which had been hidden away by a church sexton named Elis ap Howel, were seized by a “Mr. Chanter” (= the Precentor, Thomas Huett?), who “caused the said ungodly books to be canceled and torn in pieces in the Vestrie before his face.” Not everything was lost however. Owain Tudor Edwards's publication in 1990 of the services for Saint David's feast in the Penpont Antiphonal did much to close the “woeful gap” in our knowledge of the liturgical celebration of the feast of Saint David. Two more texts connected with Saint David's cathedral have recently come to light, preserved in BL MS Royal 13 C.i. The first of these, fivelecciones(lessons or readings) based on episodes in the life of Saint Nonita, the mother of Saint David (sixth century), the patron saint of Wales, was intended to be read at a service for Saint Nonita (or Non) on her feast day. These fivelecciones Sancte Nonite, consisting of a heading and thirty-eight lines of text, provide the only surviving material from an office for the feast of Saint Nonita. The second text, consisting of eleven accounts of posthumous miracles effected by Saint David between about 1215–29 and 1405, is the subject of this study.

The Miracles of Saint David: A New Text and its Context

The passage of time has not been kind to materials related to the cathedral of Saint David's in Wales. In particular, few medieval liturgical texts used in the commemoration of Welsh saints have survived the vicissitudes of time and the ardor of Reformation zealots. In 1940 Silas Harris lamented the “complete destruction of the Menevian [Saint David's] service books,” and noted that “the almost total destruction of Welsh MSS and service books in the course of the centuries leaves a woeful gap” in our knowledge of the liturgical celebration of the feasts of Welsh saints. So thorough was the destruction of Welsh service books, according to Harris, that our current knowledge of the liturgy for Saint David derives largely from texts preserved outside of Wales. The destruction was nowhere more thorough than at the cathedral of Saint David's itself, two of whose bishops, William Barlow (1536–48) and Robert Ferrar (1548–53), were willing participants in the destruction. On 31 March 1538, Barlow wrote to Thomas Cromwell for instructions on how to dispose of certain of the cathedral's relics and “a worm-eaten book covered with silver plate” which he had confiscated. Some twelve years later, Barlow's successor, Bishop Robert Ferrar, following the king's command, “burnt all ye Martyrologies, portiforiums, & antient Mis-sales of ye Cathedral Church of Saint David, with their calenders, wherein were entered ye names of ye Bishops & ye days and years of their entrance & death or translation.” Later, in 1571, “certain ungodly popish books: as masse books, hympnals, Grailes, Antiphons, and suche lik” belonging to the cathedral, but which had been hidden away by a church sexton named Elis ap Howel, were seized by a “Mr. Chanter” (= the Precentor, Thomas Huett?), who “caused the said ungodly books to be canceled and torn in pieces in the Vestrie before his face.” Not everything was lost however. Owain Tudor Edwards's publication in 1990 of the services for Saint David's feast in the Penpont Antiphonal did much to close the “woeful gap” in our knowledge of the liturgical celebration of the feast of Saint David. Two more texts connected with Saint David's cathedral have recently come to light, preserved in BL MS Royal 13 C.i. The first of these, five lecciones (lessons or readings) based on episodes in the life of Saint Nonita, the mother of Saint David (sixth century), the patron saint of Wales, was intended to be read at a service for Saint Nonita (or Non) on her feast day. These five lecciones Sancte Nonite, consisting of a heading and thirty-eight lines of text, provide the only surviving material from an office for the feast of Saint Nonita. The second text, consisting of eleven accounts of posthumous miracles effected by Saint David between about 1215–29 and 1405, is the subject of this study.

The Search for Idols and Saints in Colonial Peru: Linking Extirpation and Beatification

The Search for Idols and Saints in Colonial Peru: Linking Extirpation and Beatification

Surviving Poverty in Medieval Paris: Gender, Ideology, and the Daily Lives of the Poor (review)

Reviewed by: Surviving Poverty in Medieval Paris. Gender, Ideology, and the Daily Lives of the Poor Michael Goodich Surviving Poverty in Medieval Paris. Gender, Ideology, and the Daily Lives of the Poor. By Sharon Farmer . [ Conjunctions of Religion and Power in the Medieval Past.] ( Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. 2002. Pp. xv, 198. $35.00.) In recent years historians have discovered the value of medieval hagiography as an unrivaled source for social history and as a means of learning about such formerly neglected groups as children, the aged, the emotionally disturbed, the servant class, and urban workers. Going beyond the mere recitation of the symptoms of the disease or other difficulties faced by those who turned to the saint's cult for assistance or cure, a critical reading of the testimony of those who testified at canonization trials combined with other sources for social history has expanded our knowledge of popular culture, the social and political networks behind local cults, and the confluence of religion and politics. Sharon Farmer's latest book is a study of the cult of King Louis IX of France, based on the extant testimony and collection of his posthumous miracles. It opens up the world of women living on the margins in thirteenth-century Paris and St.-Denis. Thirty-six of the fifty-two miracles benefited the poor, mostly women. Such miracle stories [End Page 364] are among the few written historical records which bear testimony to the daily lives and struggles of vast sectors of the population. The urban poor constituted about half the population of Paris, and Farmer's work serves as a sympathetic prism through which we view this Parisian underclass. A large number were women who eked out a precarious existence as domestic servants, apprentices, unskilled day laborers, beggars, and recent immigrants. They were sometimes forced into prostitution to supplement their wages, dependent on an inadequate or nonexistent welfare system. Destitute young folk and the disabled crowded around the tomb of St. Louis in search of assistance. The record of miracles indicates suspicion of the testimony of poor women, and a clear preference for deponents drawn from the male elite. Women's position was further limited by the prevailing ideology which stressed their reproductive role and proper subordination to men. The productive labor of working-class women, often single, was often ignored, assuming that this was a male prerogative, despite their appearance in the tax rolls and membership in predominantly female gilds. Furthermore, moralists such as Humbert of Romans noted the penchant of peasant women for sorcery, profligacy, and sexual promiscuity. Female beggars were regarded with even greater suspicion. In a sharply hierarchical society, the propertied classes were looked upon by the clergy rather differently. A clear distinction was made between the "deserving poor" (e.g., the friars) and the "undeserving," who were morally suspect and less worthy of charity. Farmer suggests that members of the working poor and artisans were aware of the desperation faced by many in the crowded city and they demonstrated a great capacity for generosity and friendship, outstripping the wealthy. The hospices, hospitals, shelters, beguinages, convents, and other available services were barely adequate to meet the city's needs, although disabled workers and their families sometimes enjoyed the support of their employers. The stresses of sexual demands, emotional disturbance, grinding poverty, homelessness, disability, and disease faced by women of the subaltern classes are illustrated in Louis' miracles, one of the few avenues available for their alleviation. Farmer's work is a well-documented, highly thought-provoking record of the lives and experiences of persons too often left out of the historical narrative. She successfully makes maximum use of the few documents which have survived, and it is hoped that others will follow in her footsteps by exposing other miracle collections to the close, sympathetic, creative, and thorough reading of medieval hagiography undertaken by Farmer. Michael Goodich University of Haifa Copyright © 2005 The Catholic University of America Press

The Medieval Cult of Saint Dominic of Silos (review)

286ReviewsLa coránica 33. 1, 2004 Lappin, Anthony. The Medieval Cult of Saint Dominic of Silos. Leeds: Money Publishing, 2002. 445 pp. ISBN 1-90265391-2 The Medieval Cult of Saint Dominic of Silos is a formidable and comprehensive study on the cult and hagiographical life of Saint Dominic of Silos. Anthony Lappin's impeccable research has brought to the fore one of the most important religious figures of medieval Spain. The book is divided into two sections and ten chapters. In the first section, Lappiti focuses on the life and death of the saint and the subsequent twelfth-century hagiographical text, the Vita Dominici Exiliensis. The second section is devoted to an indepth discussion of the manifestations of the saint in the thirteenth century and bevond, focusing on Gonzalo de Berceo's IWe de Santo Domingo and other literary texts. Lappili argues that it is only through an examination of both the historical and the literary versions of the life of Saint Dominic that we will be able to appreciate a more complete picture of the saint. The first part of Lappin's book is composed of six chapters and focuses on Dominic's life and death and the Vita Dominici Exiliensis, a hagiographical work in Latin authored primarily by Grimaldus, a monk at Silos. In Chapter one, Lappili discusses the evolution of the text of the Vita Dominici. He meticulously records the chronology of the various manuscripts in order to make a strong argument for a tenninus ante quern of 1120. Bv drawing our attention to the textual variations among the interpolations in the manuscript , Lappin argues that there may have been as manv as ten different writers of books II and III of the l'ita and that these authors may have been motived in part by a desire to mold Dominic's reputation. In Chapter nvo, Lappin uses the biographical details included in the Vita to discuss Dominic's life. This chapter ends with the famous vision that Dominic experiences at his death: a supernatural experience, claims Lappin, that will define Dominic's sanctity; Lappin revisits the treatment of this vision throughout his book. In the remaining chapters of Part One, Lappin examines various aspects of Dominic's posthumous miracles: the Upes of miracles; who bore witness to these miracles; and their recurring motifs. Lappin finds, interestingly , that it was the laity, and not members of the clergy or monks, who were most likely to claim that a miracle had occurred through the intercession of Dominic. These lay folk, mainly pilgrims and often women, had a great impact on the wealth of the monaster)', and the dissemination of the cult of the saint. Chapters four and five focus on the two most important motifs found in Dominic's miracles: exorcism and liberation from capture. Lappin's theory La corónica 33.1 (Fall, 2004): 286-89 Reviews287 on demonic possession reflects current trends in the study of this subject, indicating that the exorcisms at Silos were a reflection of a population suffering from the after-effects of warfare. Like the "possessed" who were tried during the Salem witch trials, the afflicted, generally women, exhibited signs of extreme stress due to life on the frontier. Lappin supports the idea that the continued presence of demonic possession in Europe "affirms the values and power of the Church and maintains its authority" but refuses to believe that the monks encouraged this behavior simply to maintain control over the laity (163). Lappin claims, instead, that the tradition of exorcisms reflects the intersection between the desires of the people and the desires of the Church. The discussion on Dominic as the great liberator begins with the tale of Servandus and his rescue by Dominic from Muslim-held Medinaceli, about 200 kilometers from the church. It is this tale that transforms the cult of Dominic, both enlarging Dominic's role as miracle worker and bestowing upon him a "national" profile. Dominic not only figures in many miracle tales of escape, he also appears in Muslim folklore as a very real enemy, one with whom the embattled Moors felt they had to contend. Interestingly, Dominic's cult, which had fallen into decline at...

Venantius Fortunatus's Life of Saint Martin

VENANTIUS FORTUNATUS'S LIFE OF SAINT MARTIN By MICHAEL ROBERTS When Venantius Fortunatus agreed to the request of Radegund and Agnes to versify the Vita Sancti Martini (VSM, pr. 29-30), he was well aware that he was not the first to write such a poem. About a century earlier Paulinus of Périgueux had versified Sulpicius Severus's Life of Martin (Vita) and books 2 and 3 of the Dialogues (Dial.), which contained supplementary stories about Martin's life.1 Fortunatus cites Paulinus's poem in the introductory section to the VSM (1.20-21)2 and, as frequent parallels in language demonstrate, clearly knew his predecessor's work well.3 But, as successive scholars have noted, the two poems, though sharing the same subject matter, create a very different impression. The VSM is unusual in Fortunatus 's poetic corpus in its use of the hexameter and its narrative content. In this paper I will analyze the structure and style of Fortunatus's single venture into hagiographical epic in order to demonstrate the special qualities he brings to his narrative of the life of Saint Martin.4 I move from considering 1 Sylvie Labarre, Le manteau partagé: Deux métamorphoses poétiques de la Vie de saint Martin chez Paulin de Périgueux (Ve s.) et Venance Fortunat (vi' s.), Collection des études augustinennes, série antiquité, 158 (Paris, 1998), 19-20, dates Paulinus's poem to the 460s. Paulinus also versified, in a sixth book, a collection of posthumous miracles of Martin made by Bishop Perpetuus of Tours. Unless otherwise noted I cite Fortunatus's Vita Sancti Martini (VSM) from the edition of Solange Quesnel, Venance Fortunat, oeuvres: Tome IV, Vie de Saint Martin, Collection des universités de France (Paris, 1996), with occasional minor changes in spelling and punctuation. For books 1-8 of Fortunatus's poems I use Marc Reydellet, ed., Venance Fortunat: Poèmes, vols. 1 and 2 (Paris, 1994-96), and for books 9-11 and the Appendix the edition of Friedrich Leo, Venanli Honori Clementiani Fortunati presbyteri Ilalici opera poética, MGH, Auetores Antiquissimi (henceforth, AA), 4.1 (Munich 1881). Paulinus of Périgueux is cited from the edition of Michael Petschenig, Paulini Petricordiae quae supersunt, CSEL, 16 (Milan, 1888), 1-190, and Sedulius from Johann Huemer, ed., Sedulii opera omnia, CSEL, 10 (Vienna, 1885). Hereafter I will cite Labarre's book solely by the name of the author and the editions of Leo and Quesnel by the names of the editors. 2 Fortunatus here confuses Paulinus of Périgueux with Paulinus of NoIa. Gregory of Tours (Liber in Gloria Confessorum [GC] 108, Libri de virtutibus Sancti Martini [VM] 1.2) makes the same mistake. 3 For a list of textual parallels see Labarre, 247-51. Numerous other passages, as she says, display clearly the influence of Paulinus. 4 For the VSM as a hagiographical epic see Michael Roberts, "The Last Epic of Antiquity : Generic Continuity and Innovation in the Vita Sancti Martini of Venantius Fortunatus ," Transactions of the American Philological Association 131 (2001): 257-85. I will 130TRADITIO narrative structure, in the poem as a whole and in individual episodes, to a close analysis of style, concluding with a discussion of the function and distinctive features of the scenes in heaven with which books 2, 3, and the Martin portion of book 4 conclude. In so doing I will argue that the particular qualities of Fortunatus's poem, far from being extrinsic rhetorical flourishes , contribute to the poem's efficacy as an epic of meditation on Martin and his powers. Narrative Structures The VSM is in four books. Books 3 and 4 correspond to the second and third Dialogues of Sulpicius Severus; the only book division in Fortunatus's poem not corresponding to an equivalent break in the prose original occurs between books 1 and 2, which comes after section 18.3 of Sulpicius's prose Vita. Fortunatus signals this distinction by omitting an elaborate concluding section to book 1. Whereas in the other books he steps outside the narrative to praise in gorgeous terms Martin's virtues and paint a highly colored picture of the court of heaven, where Martin enjoys...