Holy people in the towns

Umiliana and Raimondo were people who came to be reverenced as saints

during their lifetimes. Neither of them was canonized and made a

saint. These accounts of their lives were written by people who knew

them. Both accounts are very good evidence for social experience and

religious values in the thirteenth-century towns.

They differ by class and gender: Umiliana was the daughter of a rich

banker, while Raimondo probably started out as a shoe repair man.

Reading questions:

How did each of them view marriage and family? How did they try to

live a holy life? Both saints were venerated by some people but attacked

by others. How and why?

The last two readings, Sacchetti on modern saints and Salimbene on

Albert the wine carrier, provide us with currents of skepticism and

mockery: what did these authors think of local saints?

this year occur or brentator, in Cremona.In -red the cuceptiue

miracles of a man named Albt-rl, who was a winc carrier,

In chat same year took place the deceptive miracles of a man from Cremona named Albert, a man who had been a wine carrier [portator], a wine drinker [potator] and indeed also a sinner [peccalor). After this man's death, according to common report, God performed many miracles in Cremona, Parm�, and Re�gio: in Reg· gio in the Church of St. George and St. John the Baptist; m Parma m_ the chu'.ch

sat1mB€n€ oe aoam 513

wither away, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened." Yet whoever refused to take part in such celebrations was considered to be simply envious or even heretical. Because of this man Albert, some wicked men insulted the Friars }dinor and Preachers but

God quicklj "shewed them w be liars" who wished ta accuse them [Wisdom 10.14]. Some men of secular life said to _the Friars Minor ana Preachers with a loud

clear voice, "You think that nobody can work miracles but your own saints, bu; you ar� clearly deceived, as �as b':en made clear through Albert." But God quickly �lottea out the slander agamst his servants and friends by showing "them to be liars that had accused" them [Wisdom 10.14] and by punishing those who "lay a blot on the elect" [Ecclesiasticus 11.33]. For a certain man came to Parma from Cre1'.1ona bearing w�at he claimed to be a relic of chis saint Albert, that is to say, the httle t�e of the right foot; and all the citizens of Par!Da gathered together, _from the highest to the lowest, men and women, "young men and maidens … the old with th� younger" [Psalms 148.12], clerks and lay, and men of all religious Orders. Then lil a large procession, singing as they went, they carried that toe to the cathedral of Parma, the church of the Glorious Virgin. And when they had plac_ed the toe on the high altar, Lord Anseim of San Vitale, canon and vicar of the b.1shop, came forward and kissed it. But he smelled the stench of garlic and told the other clerks. Then they all discovered that they had been deceived and confounded, for their "relic" turned out to be a clove of garlic. And thus the

; Parmese w_e�� tricke� and mocked, because they _"walked after vanity, and are become vam lJerermah 2.5]. Moreover, since this man Albert was buried in a church in Cremona, the Cremonese wished to show that God would work infinite miracles through him, and so large numbers of infirm men came there from Pavia and the other parts of Lombardy that "they might be delivered from their infir­ mities" [Acts 5.15]. And many noble ladies came with their sons to Cremona from Pavia for devotional reasons, hoping to report the complete healing of their bodies,

of St. Peter, which is near Piazza Nuova. And all the brentatores, that 1s, the wme

carriers of Parma congregated in the church, and blessed was that man who could touch thein or give them something. Women did the same. And the people formed societies, parish by parish, and marched in procession through the streets to t�e

Church of St. Peter, where the relics of this man Albert were preserved. In their march they carried crosses and standards, and sang as they marched along. And they brought purple cloth, samite, canopies, and much money to the church. Later, the wine carriers divided all these things up among themselves. And when the parish priests saw this, they had this Albert painted in their c�urche� s� that they would receive better offerings from the people. And at that time, his image was painted not only in the churches, but also on many walls and porticoes of cities, villages, and castles. This, however, is expressly against the laws of th_e Church,

"-':, �.-, 'but "there was none that would answer" [Isaiah 66.4] a word, or "opened ihe mouth ·.1J . !'. · or made the least noise," Isaiah 10 [. 14 ). Thus Jeremiah 14 [.22] says: "Are ther; . .':�f · d::_:;,�- a�y among the graven things of the Gentiles that can send rain? or can the heavens

for no man's relics are supposed to be held in reverence unless he 1s first ap· proved of by the Church and written in the catalogue of saints; in si1_11ilar man· ner a man is not to be depicted as a saint before he has been canomzed by the Ch�rch. Those bishops, therefore, who allow such abuses to be practised in their diocese merit removal from office; that is, they should have the dignities of rhe c· episcopal office taken away from them. But there is_ nobody to con:ect those er· -s· rors and abuses. And so the words of Zachariah [ 11.17] are appropriate for every ·.,. bishop who allows such things to go on: "0 shepherd, and i�ol, that forsak�th ·,_ the flock: the sword upon his arm and upon his right eye: his arm shall quJte

:.:; . give_ show:rs?" Thus_ it is that a sinner or an infirm man goes badly astray by , .. c ·. camng aside true sames and by praying to one who cannot intercede for them {/ <:5 is written in the book of Wisdom, 13 ( .18-19): "For health he maketh supplica'.

;�:�· '-uon to the w�ak,. and for life prayeth to that which is dead, and for help calleth ·· · upon that which 1s unprofitable: And for a good journey he petitioneth him that � . cannot ".'alk: and for getting, and for working, and for the event of all things he

·_ .. ukcth him that 1s unable to do any thing."

Salimbene de Adam on Albert the wine carrier

HISTORY PAPER

C. Source: "Life of Raimondo, Life of Umiliana" Question: Compare Raimondo and Umiliana. In what ways were their religious values and practices a response to their circumstances?

Due: Sunday at midnight

A 1500 word essay based on the reading. Please use footnotes and a bibliography to cite your source.

– Reading is provided

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