HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Julian Emperor
HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Julian Emperor HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Julian Emperor
BIOGRAPHY 1000‒1350 375despite the severe disapproval of King Edward I. 60 Likewise in Italy,the continuing conflict between the Ghibelline allies of EmperorsFrederick Barbarossa and Frederick II and the Guelf supporters ofthe pope was played out in every Italian commune. This rivalryspawned a large number of saintly partisans of the Church, in whichthe bishop figured as the defensor civitatis. 61The rise of the city as a center of political and economic powerinvariably led to the proliferation of biographies in which urbanthemes were predominant. Lay merchants such as Giovanni of Meda(†1159), Raymund Palmerio of Piacenza (†1200), Godric of Finchale(†1170), and Gualfard of Verona (†1127) joined the ranks of foundingbishops as patrons of the city. 62 Typically, such saints gave upa life of wealth for the sake of asceticism, pilgrimage, and acts ofcharity. The canonization of the married merchant Homobonus ofCremona (†1197) by Innocent III in 1200 signaled a clear effort byRome to win back disillusioned lay urban dwellers from the snaresof heresy. Homobonus’s biography reports that after twenty years ofmarriage and the death of his father, he began to contemplate thebrevity of human life and the vanity of the world. 63 He then devotedhimself to prayer and fasting and began a life of charity, providingfor the poor and hungry. This parallels the life of the founder ofthe heretical Waldensians, Peter Waldo, who was inspired by thelegend of St. Alexis to give up his wealth, preach the Gospel, andminister to the poor. Waldo’s conversion illustrates how a legend,whose first redaction was in ancient Syriac and was rewritten inGreek, Latin, and in the local vernacular languages, could becomethe inspiration for a new sect.A patriotic note was voiced by the humanist Sicco Polenton(1376–1447), chancellor and archivist of Padua and author of thelives of the lay saints Helen Enselimini and Anthony the Pilgrim. 64He stated in the dedication of Helen’s biography to his son Lazarus60Miracula Simonis Montforti, ed. J. O. Halliwell, in The Chronicle of William Rishangerof the Baron’s War, in Camden Society Publications 15 (London, 1840), 67–110.61Golinelli (1994), 134.62Golinelli (1994), 125.63Vita Sancti Homoboni, ed. F. S. Gatta, in “Un antico codice reggiano su Omobono‘il santo popolare’ di Cremona”, Bolletino storico cremonese 7 (1942), 112.64“Vita beati Antonii Peregrini”, ed. S. Polenton, Analecta Bollandiana, 13 (1894),417–25.
376 MICHAEL GOODICHthat he had been asked to write the life by a member of the Franciscanorder and that he was proud that his own wife was a scion of theEnselmini family. 65 Such appropriation of saints by noble familieswas a common feature of late medieval Italian piety. Sicco struck apatriotic note by remarking that some historians may praise his nativecity for its antiquity (since it was built four hundred years beforeRome), its great defensive walls, its commodious waters, moderatewealth, the fertility of its fields, its architecture, both public and private,and other features. He prefers to list the many relics that arehoused in the city and its contado and to praise its saints. Sicco reportsthat in order to keep Julian the Apostate from destroying the relicsof SS. Luke and Matthew, they were spirited out of the city by boat.A similar patriotic theme is voiced by the author of the life of JohnGueruli of Verucchio: “O fortunate land of Rimini, in which sucha fragrance appears and the body of such a saint answers prayersdaily and performs such miracles among our people”. 66Sicco also raises the distinction between official and popular sainthood:Even if neither one has been approved by a judgement of the highpontiff, nevertheless, each one performed miracles and both may inthe opinion of the people be placed among the blessed. 67This same view is found in Canon John of Cremona’s life (ca. 1272)of the lay penitent Facio of Cremona:The fact that he can be called a saint you ought to know, becausethe church is dual, i.e., militant, which we are, and triumphant, whichis of the blessed. If not canonized in the church militant, one is canonizedabove in the church triumphant. 68The considerable archival material available concerning the Italiancommunes permits us to trace municipal regulations, council decisions,and confraternities related to local saints. In addition to the widespreadveneration of such figures as the Virgin Mary and ArchangelMichael, there was a growing preference for the locally bred saint.65Vita et visiones B. Helenae, ed. S. Polenton, in AA.SS, 4 November 2:412.66Turchini (1970).67Vita et visiones B. Helenae, ed. Polenton, 412.68John of Cremona, Vita Facii, in A. Vauchez, ed., “Sainteté laique au xiii e siècle:la vie de bienheureux Façio de Crémone”, Melanges d’Ecole française de Rome. Moyenâge 84 (1972) 13–53.
- Page 333 and 334: 324 AUGUSTO VASINA1000 to the early
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- Page 363 and 364: 354 MICHAEL GOODICHcentury, Matthew
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- Page 369 and 370: 360 MICHAEL GOODICHBecause our soul
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- Page 397 and 398: 388 PETER AINSWORTHaccount. The lea
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- Page 413 and 414: 404 PETER AINSWORTHHis descriptions
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- Page 425 and 426: 416 PETER AINSWORTHa large degree,
- Page 427 and 428: 418 BIBLIOGRAPHYA. I. Pini, P. Ross
- Page 429 and 430: 420 BIBLIOGRAPHYCorvey”. Pp. 875-
- Page 431 and 432: 422 BIBLIOGRAPHYBurke, P. (1991).
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BIOGRAPHY 1000‒1350 375despite the severe disapproval of King Edward I. 60 Likewise in Italy,the continuing conflict between the Ghibelline allies of <strong>Emperor</strong>sFrederick Barbarossa and Frederick II and the Guelf supporters ofthe pope was played out in every Italian commune. This rivalryspawned a large number of saintly partisans of the Church, in whichthe bishop figured as the defensor civitatis. 61The rise of the city as a center of political and economic powerinvariably led to the proliferation of biographies in which urbanthemes were predominant. Lay merchants such as Giovanni of Meda(†1159), Raymund Palmerio of Piacenza (†1200), Godric of Finchale(†1170), and Gualfard of Verona (†1127) joined the ranks of foundingbishops as patrons of the city. 62 Typically, such saints gave upa life of wealth for the sake of asceticism, pilgrimage, and acts ofcharity. The canonization of the married merchant Homobonus ofCremona (†1197) by Innocent III in 1200 signaled a clear effort byRome to win back disillusioned lay urban dwellers from the snaresof heresy. Homobonus’s biography reports that after twenty years ofmarriage and the death of his father, he began to contemplate thebrevity of human life and the vanity of the world. 63 He then devotedhimself to prayer and fasting and began a life of charity, providingfor the poor and hungry. This parallels the life of the founder ofthe heretical Waldensians, Peter Waldo, who was inspired by thelegend of St. Alexis to give up his wealth, preach the Gospel, andminister to the poor. Waldo’s conversion illustrates how a legend,whose first redaction was in ancient Syriac and was rewritten inGreek, Latin, and in the local vernacular languages, could becomethe inspiration for a new sect.A patriotic note was voiced by the humanist Sicco Polenton(1376–1447), chancellor and archivist of Padua and author of thelives of the lay saints Helen Enselimini and Anthony the Pilgrim. 64He stated in the dedication of Helen’s biography to his son Lazarus60Miracula Simonis Montforti, ed. J. O. Halliwell, in The Chronicle of William Rishangerof the Baron’s War, in Camden Society Publications 15 (London, 1840), 67–110.61Golinelli (1994), 134.62Golinelli (1994), 125.63Vita Sancti Homoboni, ed. F. S. Gatta, in “Un antico codice reggiano su Omobono‘il santo popolare’ di Cremona”, Bolletino storico cremonese 7 (1942), 112.64“Vita beati Antonii Peregrini”, ed. S. Polenton, Analecta Bollandiana, 13 (1894),417–25.
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