Medievalists.net It might seem like one of the more glamorous professions in the Middle Ages— as a priest you could run a church and offer moral leadership to your parishioners But here are a few drawbacks to being a medieval priest thirteenth-century globetrotting bishop Jacques de Vitry lists some of the ways to know your audience’s attention is wandering (or completely gone): Jacques also mournfully recalls his youthful days when each sermon he wrote or preached left him profoundly depressed A vision from the Nivelles beguine Marie d’Oignies told him his problem: he was stuffing too much theology into his sermons too confusing and far too boring for his listeners ecause women were not allowed to be priests communities of nuns and beguines needed a confessor and priest to say Mass (often the same person) Especially from the twelfth century onwards there is ample evidence of priests refusing to serve women’s monasteries and beguinages the Cistercian Order entirely barred the foundation of new women’s houses so their monks would not have to provide spiritual direction to women Although clerical celibacy had always been an ideal in the Western Church enforcement of the rule really began in the eleventh century actually stop priests from cohabiting with their girlfriends (“housekeepers”) and raising their own children Canon law at least forbade illegitimate sons from becoming priests This ban should have been a big problem for priests’ sons The stereotype that medieval sons followed their fathers into a family business and daughters married someone in the same profession has some merit to it—at least for the urban middle classes wealthy enough to own or be partners in an artisan business Priests’ sons should not have had that luxury leaving them in an awkward place when it came time to support themselves independently But the Church did allow illegitimate sons to obtain a special dispensation from their bishop and get ordained anyway Bishops ruling entire territories and rich priests saying Mass in elaborate churches were the exception had no handsome benefice to support themselves the local priest was often just whichever resident would accept the lowest salary from the lord we hear about priests hard-pressed to support themselves (and their families) in other ways one 15th-century German priest applied for relief from his parish duties citing a soldering accident that splashed lead into one of his eyes but it could also have been a blacksmithing mishap theologians at the University of Paris debated a pressing question: Say a priest is saying Mass and consecrates the Eucharist host but dies before he consecrates the wine If he comes back to life and finishes the consecration so the point was not actually that the priest was a zombie or even that this situation would ever happen The theologians were contemplating whether the consecration of bread and wine were both necessary for the entire Eucharist to become the body and blood of Christ or whether the two halves could occur separately Cait Stevenson earned her PhD in medieval history from the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of How to Slay a Dragon: A Fantasy Hero’s Guide to the Real Middle Ages. You can follow her on BlueSky @anyfourcastles.bsky.social We've created a Patreon for Medievalists.net as we want to transition to a more community-funded model We aim to be the leading content provider about all things medieval podcast and Youtube page offers news and resources about the Middle Ages We hope that are our audience wants to support us so that we can further develop our podcast and remove the advertising on our platforms This will also allow our fans to get more involved in what content we do produce Member Login Carcass is set to embark on their first European headlining tour in a decade The "Europa Rigor Mortis – Part 1 Tour" will see the British melodic death metal pioneers joined by Brujeria and Rotten Sound.  Find Carcass tickets here FR @ International Tattoo Convention02/02 Drachten Three centuries of coal mining shaped the landscape of Pas de Calais France and the company town that serviced it Surrounding the mining pits and slag heaps you’ll find a mid-19th century model village constructed as a modern ideal of living for working citizens the town design suffers from repetition and an exclusive focus on the grim task of mining local government was faced with a challenge: with 120,000 units the town represented a great opportunity for housing but extensive work was needed to turn the industrial-era cluster into a real architects Marc Brietman and Nada Breitman Jakov set these goals: The new design is a breath of fresh air for this industrial-era town “The reconstruction of Pas de Calais successfully integrates new housing by replacing unsuitable buildings with restored units in salvageable areas inserting new cross-streets into the overly long historic blocks.” wrote Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk about the project “A variety of housing types with a range of income levels including market rate and lower range subsidized housing add to the complexity and success of this project.” 500 new houses and 200 new apartments have been built The Mining Basin is defining itself into distinct districts and away from the industrial past the village was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site “The jury admired the ambition and complexity of this project the balance of selective preservation and new infill,” concluded Plater-Zyberk Sandwiched between a major research university and a network of diverse neighborhoods Kendall Square is an undistinguished cluster of office space intended to meet the demand for high tech jobs in Cambridge Born as a public housing tract on Milwaukee’s northwest side Westlawn was originally developed in the 1950s to provide affordable dwellings for families Sign Up Donate to the Congress for the New Urbanism today and you’ll be taking a stand for walkable neighborhoods donate But where can you ski within a 2-hour drive of Brussels If you’re looking to escape the city and enjoy the snow Here’s our selection of the five best ski resorts within two hours’ drive of Brussels a charming little hamlet east of Trois-Ponts (south of Liège) Val de Wanne offers the longest ski run in Belgium (1 km) the Mont des Brumes ski area boasts an 850 m ski run situated at up to 530 m altitude ⛄ Why go there? For the magnificent scenery of the Belgian Ardennes 📅 F rom December to the end of February 🎫 1-day package €25 (see all packages on the official website) the Baraque de Fraiture resort (province of Luxembourg) is Belgium’s 2nd highest point (652 m) and boasts 7 slopes ⛄ Why go there? Because it’s the highest slope in Belgium! 📅 Mid-December to end of March 🎫 1-day pass 14€ (see all passes on the official website) Three downhill ski runs and a toboggan run make up this friendly in the Hautes-Fagnes region (1h50 from Brussels) ⛄ Why go there? For its low prices! 📅 Mid-December to end of March 🎫 1-day lift pass 5€ adult excluding lifts and equipment (see all lift passes on the official website) the snowpark at Oignies-en-Thiérache (Couvin region) welcomes you on its soft white carpet in the heart of the great forest of the Viroin-Hermeton nature park part of a larger development in oignies, northern france, hérault arnod architectes has completed ‘le métaphone’, a concert hall which brings new life to the former coal mining town. after winning a competition to redevelop the site in 2005, the architects configured the plot around the theme of contemporary sound, with monuments of the past reprogrammed to provide for the region’s vibrant music scene. the scheme is reconfigured around the theme of contemporary sound and musicphoto © andrè morin the skin is made up of different materials: clear and unpolished glass, corten steel and woodphotos © andrè morin forming an expansive porch, the envelope extends outwards above the esplanade. underneath, the red control cabin emerges theatrically from the black façade. on the roof, the lattice of scales extends into a 600 square meter sheet of integrated photovoltaic cells. connecting the scheme, an overhanging stairway and terrace made from corten steel, completes the arrangement. a corten steel staircase connects the building’s façade photos © andrè morin the instrumental components of the design are developed with two principles of sound production: mechanical, with acoustic instruments controlled by electronic interfaces; or electroacoustic, with speaker drivers mounted on plates that become sound diffusing membranes. these plates are distributed on the perimeter of the building, creating an immense playing surface, which can produce a variety of timbres. internally, the hall is able to seat 500 people, while the walls are lined with wool felt: the background from which the red mass of the balcony emerges. additionally, a small office complex (BT01) has been introduced near the historic ruins. a cantilevered roof overhangs the existing structure, and is reflected in the façade of the new building. a bar inside the concert hallphoto © andrè morin the modular hall is able to seat 500 peoplephoto © andrè morin a small office complex features a cantilevered roof, overhanging the existing structurephoto © andrè morin monuments of the past have been reprogrammed to provide for the region’s vibrant music scenephoto © andrè morin ‘le métaphone’ in contextphoto © andrè morin surface area: TC1 – BT01: 1.385 sqm net floorspace TC5 – the metaphone®: 1.980 sqm net floorspaceTC2 – the registered hanging room complex: 3.536 sqm net floorspaceTC3 – the listed pithead complex: 3.793 sqm net floorspacetotal new buildings: 3.365 sqm net floorspacetotal refurbished building: 7.330 sqm net floorspace cost of worksBT01 : €2.000 million before taxthe metaphone® : €6.390 million before tax april 2013 with scenography, musical facades and landscape designthe registered hanging room complex : €7.900 million before taxthe listed pithead complex : €7.300 million before taxlandscape: €3.600 million before taxtotal cost: €27.200 million before tax timetable:winner of project definition 2005aps of the project 9-9bis june 2007TC1 – landscape design : realization between 2009 et 2013TC2 – the registered hanging room complex : work beginning september 2013 – delivery end of 2014TC3 – the listed pithead complex : work beginning end of 2013 – delivery in the beginning of 2015TC5 – the metaphone®: delivery may 2013 the metaphone ® is a registered trademark of hérault arnod architects happening now! partnering with antonio citterio, AXOR presents three bathroom concepts that are not merely places of function, but destinations in themselves — sanctuaries of style, context, and personal expression. Ghent Altarpiece closed | © JarektUploadBot/WikiCommons The Gospel Book of Hugo of Oignies | © Goodness Shamrock/WikiCommons every second Sunday of September in la Grande procession which was perpetuated in memory of the Virgin’s miraculous intervention in 1090 Saint Ursula Shrine | © Amadalvarez/WikiCommons Pieter Breugel The Elder, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus | © Coldcreation/WikiCommons Sign up to our newsletter to save up to $800 on our unique trips See privacy policy Peter Paul Rubens, The Descent from the Cross | © Spinster/WikiCommons The Baptismal Font of Saint Bartholomew’s (early 12th century) Our last wonder of Belgium takes us back to the Collegiate Church of Saint Bartholomew in Liège where the exquisite Baptismal Font of Liège is on full display produced elsewhere than in an atelier alongside the river Meuse the font’s programmatic five-scene ‘mini-comic’ on baptism delights the viewer The first two panels show John the Baptist preaching and baptizing early converts with all characters represented in profile stares directly at the beholder in the third panel before cutting back to a side view of two later baptisms: that of the philosopher Craton as well as of Cornelius the Centurion representing baptism’s power over the spiritual and the profane As with many of the other wonders on this list it is safe to say that this baptismal font is a powerhouse of art and history too often overlooked by the general public Baptismal Font of Saint Bartholomew’s | © ArsenG/WikiCommons all are portable objects requiring a nominal museum or church entry fee; after all the CGT does want to make a buck off of tourists This governmental organization has also been accused of having been too ‘politically correct,’ identifying three objects in each of the two large regions not visiting the Seven Wonders of Belgium would mean missing out on the very best of early Belgian art Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in November See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in October See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Spring See & Do Lesser-Known Summer Destinations to Visit in Europe See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in July Guides & Tips The Best Places to Travel in August Guides & Tips This Is Europe's Ultimate Road Trip Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in December See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Autumn Guides & Tips Beat the Crowds with these Alternative Summer Destinations See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Summer See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in September US: +1 (678) 967 4965 | UK: +44 (0)1630 35000 tripssupport@theculturetrip.com © Copyright 2025 The Culture Trip Ltd and Crusade: Toward a Context for Jacques de Vitry’s Relationship to the Early Beguines A Mirror for Medieval and Early Modern Studies: Selected Proceedings of the Newberry Center for Renaissance Studies (2012) Multidisciplinary Graduate Student Conference Jacques de Vitry (1165/70–1240) has been a familiar name in histories of the Beguines which were religious communities not living according to an established rule and not bound by traditional monastic vows Born at Vitry in Champagne sometime between 1165 and 1170 Jacques‘s clerical career took him to the University of Paris and then to the Crusader port of Acre (1217) where he served as bishop until his return to Europe in 1227 A close friend of Cardinal Ugolino of Ostia Jacques was appointed as cardinal archbishop of Tusculum near Rome after the latter was elected Pope Gregory IX 1240.1 His association with Beguines received prominent treatment in Herbert Grundmann‘s 1961 publication which argued for Jacques‘s foundational role on the basis of a single letter Grundmann argued that this letter was an official permission that made possible religious communities living without a rule Subsequent writers on the Beguines have avoided overplaying this alleged privilege acquired in August of 1216 Jacques continues to hover patriarchally over accounts of the foundation of Beguine institutions This paper seeks to clarify Jacques‘s privilege and its role in the Beguine movement in the first decades of the thirteenth century demonstrating how Jacques sought to appropriate Beguine spiritualities and institutions for the politics of crusade rather than pave the way for Beguine institutions by establishing legal protection for religious women Click here to read this article from A Mirror for Medieval and Early Modern Studies The Catholic church claims to be the original Christian church founded by the Apostle Peter after the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth (via "Saint Peter and the Papacy") That's a 2,000-year-old history and one the church doesn't take lightly Not only have Church leaders kept copious records over the millennia but they've also played the part of religious hoarders Especially when it comes to relics attributed to saints From withered hands to portions of mummified feet and jerkied hearts, these sacred objects can be off-putting. In "The Innocents Abroad," humorist Mark Twain comedically observed he'd seen enough of Saint Denis' bones in European cathedrals to "duplicate him if necessary." And as for nails from the Cross he hypothesized you could fill a keg with them For non-Catholics like Twain (and less traditional Catholics alike) these ancient vestiges of age-old tradition look like superstition at its most gruesome They beg the question: Why keep such macabre items? In "African Pentecostals in Catholic Europe: The Politics of Presence in the Twenty-First Century," author Annalisa Butticci explains as well as vehicles of the creation and circulation of social memory .. a source of considerable honor and pride." A couple of centuries ago drawing pilgrims from the four corners of the globe Here's what you need to know about the world's most macabre Catholic relics and where to find them He would go on to sainthood in the Oriental Orthodox which meant selecting choice body parts for preservation as relics Saint Camillus de Lellis started out as a professional gambler and soldier (via Britannica) a Roman facility for "incurables." (De Lellis had been a patient there after his leg developed an erupting ulcer the pope approved the priestly congregation he founded dedicated themselves to serving the hospitalized To distinguish the 12 members of the group they wore red crosses on their religious garb the Ministers of the Sick had ballooned to almost 300 members and he'd earned a reputation for laboring in the faith despite facing profound health issues To say that controversy surrounds the alleged foreskin of Jesus is an understatement, per Wired. Known as the holy foreskin or the holy prepuce, this leftover from the Messiah boasted hyper-incorruptibility, per CBC Radio Canada Incorruptibility refers to supernatural preservation of saintly flesh believers in the Middle Ages assumed his incorruptibility even greater than mere saints the faithful never doubted the ability of the infant's foreskin to survive for hundreds or even thousands of years Jesus' foreskin seemed to have the curious ability to reproduce More than 12 churches in western Europe claimed ownership of it during medieval times undoubtedly leading to confusion for on-the-go pilgrims Since relics made up the bulk of the tourist trade it's easy to see where the temptation came from Think of the draw the only physical remnant of the Savior following the Ascension brought Wired tells us the holy prepuce (and its 11 imposters) disappeared for 1,500 years. Eventually, it resurfaced in Calcata, Italy, throwing shade at Leo Allatius. (A 17th-century theologian, Allatius claimed the Lord's foreskin floated into the heavenlies, becoming Saturn's famous rings.) Soon, stories abounded about the many miracles attributed to the bit of flesh in Calcata But then another supposed foreskin showed up in France in 1900 the Catholic church declared the relic a taboo threatening to excommunicate anyone who breathed a word about it In the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin, you'll find a skull decorated with a sentimental spray of dried flowers, as reported by Atlas Obscura hand-painted lettering identifies it as none other than Saint Valentine's head Valentine remains one of the most universally popular saints both inside and outside the Catholic church the poesy-decorated relic remains one of the most romantic to be found in a Roman reliquary But like Jesus' foreskin, Atlas Obscura also notes the skull suffers from identity issues the Basilica di Santa Maria is but one of 10 places claiming to house Saint Valentine's mortal remains the faith boasts two Saint Valentines separated by approximately 1,500 years and identifying his remains gets even tougher Besides being the emblematic saint of lovers Saint Valentine also has associations with epileptics the church knows surprisingly little about the man's real life February 14th had become a day set apart to commemorate him Although Saint Valentine has more heads than ever thanks to overzealous relic hunters of the past he continues to inspire the celebration of love And there's something darkly alluring about his Italian-based (Maybe that's just the emo in us talking.)  Saint Anthony gained renown for his divine oratory skills, according to Atlas Obscura. Born in 1195 in Lisbon, Portugal, he left it all behind to join the Augustinian order at 15, as reported by Indian Catholic Matters he made his way to Saint Francis of Assisi's congregation he kept his fantastic speaking skills under wraps until asked to fill in for another speaker last minute After death in 1231 A.D., followers interred his body at the Church of Saint Mary in Padua, Italy, per Dr. Taylor Marshall devoted followers exhumed his body to move it to a basilica his body had succumbed to decomposition .. This sounds like the premise for the next Tom Cruise "Mummy" movie juicy member signaled one thing to medieval thinkers — saintly incorruptibility don't expect Saint Anthony's tongue to look particularly appealing (or do a lot of wagging) Adjectives like "desiccated" and "ancient" better suit it it's impressive if you're into that type of thing One of the big reasons for the attraction is Anthony's reputation as the patron saint of vanished items Pope Francis made waves in 2018 when he declared breastfeeding "the language of love" and openly invited mothers to feed their children in the Sistine Chapel, per National Public Radio (NPR) While contemporary people remain split today about their comfort levels with public breastfeeding Back then, everybody got behind it. Even church officials like Saint Bernard who claimed the Virgin Mary breastfed him in a religious vision (via Cambridge University Press) There are famous artistic depictions of the event known matter-of-factly as "Saint Bernard's Lactation." Flemish art infuses the whole scenario with a certain eroticism between the Virgin Mary's naked breast and milk streaming from it Some depictions even show the breastmilk transforming into light rays as if bridging the gap between the physical and spiritual With all this bizarre focus on the Madonna's breast milk, it's no wonder one of the most famous relics in Israel remains her breastmilk. Visitors to Bethlehem often tour the Milk Grotto, a cave allegedly transformed from red rock to pure white through contact with drops of Mary's breastmilk (via BBC) Believers say the cave contains healing powers and many people have claimed miracles at the site Infertile women say consuming the cave's white powder in a beverage leads to children the nuns who maintain the site sell conveniently-sized sachets of the stuff to tourists With Saint Francis Xavier, nothing better sums up his life and works than his arm, per "The Corpse: A History" by Christine Quigley church officials claim he baptized 100,000 individuals with that arm preserving it proved vitally important to his followers Tourists still flock to the withered member Writing for America: The Jesuit Review recollects seeing the saint's 465-year-old limb for the first time in a Holiday Inn's lobby and O'Brien described the multi-layered way it traveled in a heavy-duty reliquary housed within plexiglass and then carried in a tote-case of canvas "The sense of the ancient and the sacred struck me viscerally." O'Brien also expressed concern about how a western nation known for its secularist bent would receive the relic Genuinely surprised by the enthusiastic reception the body part heralded he came away feeling as if the saint still managed to exude a conciliatory presence uniting believers with a stronger sense of faith It's hard to get into the relic-chasing mindset if it falls outside of your cultural norms But perhaps O'Brien's explanation is among the best when trying to explain the attraction of these highly sacred and uncomfortably macabre objects today she came under the spell of the cult-like leader Conrad of Marburg nobody else could see the engagement ring but her Catherine of Siena led a life of great deprivation which likely contributed to her demise at 33 mirroring the wounds of the crucified Christ And it gets a whole lot weirder from there Eyewitnesses claim she levitated while praying But perhaps the most convenient miracle attributed to her involved communion she didn't even have to approach the altar for the wine and bread it supernaturally flew from his hands to her lips a mummified head viewable today at the Saint Dominic Basilica in Siena it remains tucked behind bars to deter would-be head thieves her desiccated right thumb has set up shop in a miniature shrine You've likely figured out that there was a whole lot of exhumation going on when it came to prominent Catholic burials. Maybe they never heard of the whole "Rest in Peace" thing. Take, for example, the tale of Saint Stephen, Hungary's first king, per Hungarian Spectrum his followers raised his body and moved it the reason for pulling his corpse was a desire to prevent "disturbances of the grave." Ha To the surprise of those relocating his corpse (Can we really call this a surprise?) Of course once the miraculous member saw the light of day church officials felt compelled to put it on display inspiring the man who guarded it to steal the relic (It'd be nice to ask Dante what level of hell he reserved for that guy.) church officials eventually found the hand and reunited it with the basilica Saint Stephen's member remained safe and intact But a variety of inconsistencies point to the fact it may not be Stephen's hand after all These include lack of a royal insignia ring or evidence it ever wore one The current tight-fisted hand also deviates from early depictions of the original which appeared on the coat-of-arms of the town of Szentjobb That depiction shows an open-handed member preserved to the elbow As Father Carota explains in Traditional Catholic Priest Catholicism has always emphasized principles such as modesty He links it directly to the level of respect women show for the Savior through the various steps of the Blessed Sacrament (e.g. But when it comes to the holy relics of saints Peter comforted and prayed with the young woman her prison-keepers attempted to burn her at the stake the plan failed due to divine intervention An earthquake occurred at the moment the flames of her pyre got lit inspiring the people to beg for an end to her tortures Tradition says she eventually perished in prison