Pilgrimage and the Cult of St Katherine in Late Medieval England

Saints and their Legacies in Medieval Iceland

“…18 Finally, on account of certain monastic elements like indulgence, prayers, forgiveness of sins, and the unusual mention of the legendary first bishop of Aix-en-Provence Maximinus among the disciples who attended Mary's Dormition, Bogusław Kochaniewicz argued that the text might have been composed in a French Cistercian monastery toward the end of the twelfth century. 19 Whereas certain topoi and topographical details might be ascribed to specific oriental or, less convincingly, French traditions, it is demonstrated below that the provenance of the Latin manuscripts, the complete absence of ancient Greek translations, and the lack of any vernacular redaction prior to the early fourteenth century corroborate James' hypothesis that in its present textual form this version of the Latin Transitus was produced in early thirteenth-century Italy.…”

“…The Haukdoelir were central to the establishment and expansion of Roman Christianity in Iceland for almost a quarter of a millennium. 19 In light of this, Gizurr the lawspeaker and his kinsmens' dedication to Latin and the clerical arts is not difficult to understand.…”

“…These are presumably foreigners, although this is not made explicit. 19 The visitors present St Jón with a text, which includes a story of Jews desecrating Christ's image. The L-version of Jóns saga helga identifies the place as 'Bericho' or Beirut.…”

“…18 While scholars agree that AM 671 4to was written in Iceland, Widding called attention to the fact that the scribes who copied the All Saints sermon seem to have been influenced by Norwegian scribal practices, one to a greater extent than the other. 19 Linguistic and orthographic features often considered Norwegianisms that are found in the text include the loss of initial h before l ('lyða' [A], 'lute' [A, Q], although h is preserved before r in words of the hrein-group [C, D, M, O, P]); a preference for the spelling u-rather than o-for the privative prefix ('vsynelega' [C], 'vhreinna' [D]; 'udauðlegan', 'vtalegr' [J]; 'vvmrȩðilegan' [O] vs. 'osamvirðelegra' [B]); the form þí for the dative singular of the neuter demonstrative pronoun ('fyrir þí' [J] vs. usual 'þui'); frequent ea for ia in words like 'séalfr' ([E]; also 'sealfum', 'flytea' [A]; 'séa', 'séalfan' [G]); and gh for g after or between vowels ('likamlegha' [G]; 'ymisleghum' [H]; 'likamleghum', 'stundlegha' [J]; 'einkannlegh', 'dagh' [L]). 20 The significance of such in 'Ecclesia Nidrosiensis' and 'Noregs veldi': The Role of the Church in the Making of Norwegian Domination in the Norse World, ed.…”

‘The Rich and the Poor, the Lesser and the Great’

“…14 Contrary to claims made for other times and places, gender-specific complaints and cures rarely feature in these twelfth-century stories. 15 There is rather more compelling evidence, however, to suggest that some cults attracted pilgrims from certain social backgrounds, perhaps due to a cult's location or reputation. For example, while members of the aristocracy are conspicuous in the collection promoting the 'royal' Angevin cult of St James's Hand at Reading, the lesser known cult of Gilbert of Sempringham, tucked away in an obscure part of Lincolnshire, produced a collection mainly featuring local peasants.…”