Saints and Sinners in Medieval England

Bible

Vulgate, translated by Jerome, requested by pope Damascus. Authorized version by the pope. NT from Greek text. OT from Biblical Hebrew, original Jewish Bible and Greek and Latin translations are also used.

Wergild

security as guarantee of good conduct

mystical marriage

a vision in which Christ tells a soul that He takes it for His bride, presenting it with the customary ring, and the apparition is accompanied by a ceremony; the Blessed Virgin, saints, and angels are present. Margery Kempe

Saint

One of those persons who are formally recognised by the church as having by their exceptional holiness of life attained an exalted station in heaven and as being entitled in an  eminent degree to the veneration of the faithful; a canonized person. In pre-reformation use, the term implies that the person so designated may be lawfully addressed in prayer for their intercession with God and that miracles have been wrought through their aid after death. The concept of Saints derives from the Roman custom of deifying their emperors in their death, because Christians saw God as their emperor/king, and they were willing to die for Him. Saints were immediately accepted into Heaven because they lived a Holy life in the earthly realm. There’s three types of saints: the martyrs, which are the ones killed for their faith; the biblical saints, which include the Virgin Mary, the Patriarchs, the Apostles, and the Archangels; and the Confessors, who earned sainthood because of a particularly holy life. 

Biblical saints

Saints who were originally in the Bible.

Martyrs

Saints who were killed for their faith. Red martyrdom — blood was shed. White martyrdom — martyr who died from e.g. deprivation in the desert.

Confessors

Earned sainthood because of a particularly holy life, e.g. bishops, priests.

Dies Natalis

The day of a Saint’s death.

Canonization

the process through which one becomes a saint

Body

the bodily remains of a saint, perishable

Translation

to move miracles to the place where relics are

Miracles

The biblical definition of a miracle would be something like this: “an event that involves the direct and powerful action of God, transcending the ordinary laws of nature and defying common expectations of behavior.”

Liturgical calendar

 the holidays of the Chrisitian calendar + the dies natalis

Litany

a list of saints (ora pro nobis)

Virgin spouses

Married couples of whom both spouses attain sainthood through holy life and martyrdom. All unhistorical, secondary vitae, written centuries after the events were supposed to have taken place. Arts vitae (to be read privately), rather than legendary vitae (to be read as part of a church service [mass]).

Unwritten law

Derives from customs (consuetudo) that were current among ancient Germanic tribes. Such laws were already described for the Germanic peoples by the Roman historian Tacitus in Germania. Local customs were never written down.

Gehenna

 place of torment for the wicked

Pandect

Complete Bible book. Rare, because it was too big.

Informational paradigm shift

Religious knowledge written down instead of oral. Religion was no longer local, but based on a Middle-Eastern legend. Focus shifts away from here and now.

Passio

the literary form appropriate for a saint who had been martyred for his/her faith

Vita

properly pertains to a confessor (that is a saint whose impeccable service to God constituted a metaphorical, not a real martyrdom. The saint is born of noble stock; his birth is accompanied by miraculous portents; as a youth he excels at learning and reveals that he is destined for saintly activity; he turns from secular to holy life (often forsaking his family) and so proceeds through the various ecclesiastical grades; he reveals his sanctity while still on earth by performing various miracles; eventually he sees his death approaching and, after instructing his disciples or followers, dies calmly; after his death many miracles occur at his tomb.’

Laws

written statements of enforceable social norms

Canon law

the rules and regulations that were issued by the Church; arranged religious life both in the world and in monasteries; penitential canons often stipulated the kinds of penance imposed on contrite sinners

Caedmon manuscript

Poems Genesis, Exodus, Daniel, Christ and Satan.

Third Heaven

Location of Paradise, where Biblical figures and saints reside.

Firmament

First layer of Heaven where God judges souls.

Angels

Recap humans deeds to God. Are sent with the souls of the just when they have to stand before God. Psychopomps escort newly deceased souls to the afterlife. Shine as the sun - closeness to God. Nine orders of angels. Humans created instead of the fallen tenth order.

Hell

Indo-European K’el: to cover. Hell is the instrument of divine punishment, the place from which life on earth can be attacked, the habitation of unrepentant sinners, the dwelling place of the devil. As most of the Hell is in Revelations, which was around the time there was a lot of  Hellenistic culture of the Middle East where these ideas from Greek Mythology have become ingrained in the culture. In the Apocalypse of Paul, Hell is described pretty much as what we’re used to for Hell. Lots of fire and people suffering, boiling river with fire and men and women immense to the knees or the hair (depends on how sinful you are) There are people who committed adultery, sodomy, bishops who do not perform the episcopies well. Basically not living according to Christian doctrine.

Book of Revelations

Greek mythology of Hell was ingrained in the culture when it was written. Bible as a mix of cultural thought.

Heaven

Indo-European h2ék’mon: heavenly vault. Apostolic church believed in series of Heavens. Kingdom of God. It was also considered a state of mind or a location or locations in the sky. In the Apocalypse of Paul, heaven is said to have lots of gold, brightness, clear water… as well as rivers of milk, honey, wine, oil… and being filled with perfection

Vision literature

Often near-death experience. Appears to die, glimpse of Heaven or Hell, returns to life, tells the dream. Dream as gateway to the afterlife. Vision literature has existed since pre-Christian times, and it tells the account of a dreamer. Examples from the Bible: Daniel or Joseph of Arimathea. Examples in Anglo-Saxon England: The Dream of the Rood. Vehicle for contemplation.

Dialogi

Dialogue between Gregory the Great and his understudy Peter, visions.

Visio Pauli

One of the most influential vision texts, many languages. Reworking of Apocalypse of Peter. INspired by II Corinthians 12.

Martyrology

Official registry of martyrs, following calendar.

Sanctorale

Fixed feast days of saints.

Temporale

Moveable feasts and feasts connected to Christ.

Corpus juris

Roman law, inspiration for the penitentials.

Penitentials

Used to get forgiveness from God via priest. Often impossible, more ceremonial and moral instruction for priests.

Hagiography

The writing of the lives of saints; saints' lives as a branch of literature or legend’ OED (cf. Greek ἄγιος, ἄγια). Basically the systematic and literary study of Saints.