E06627: Aldhelm, in his prose On Virginity, names *Scholastica (nun of central Italy, ob. c. 543, S01728), *Christina (martyr of Tyre and Bolsena, S00907), and *Dorothea (virgin and martyr of Caesarea, S01898) as exemplary virgins. Written in Latin in southern Britain, for the nuns at the monastery at Barking (south-east Britain), c. 675/686.
Creators: name: Dlambert
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2018
Subjects: History

description: Aldhelm, prose On Virginity, 47<br><br>Porro Scolastica ac Cristina simulque Dorothea apud Caesariam oriunda in provincia Cappadocia, licet dispari saeculorum serie sequestrentur, pari tamen integritatis tiara a Christo coronabantur. <br><br>Quarum prima sub confessionis titulo, licet cruentae passionis occasio defuisset, in consortio catholicorum laudabiliter degebat et in tam praecelso puritatis fastigio fulminavit, ut, cum unicus germanus, quem subnixis precibus unius noctis intercapidinem importune poposcerat, obtemperare per tinaciter reluctaretur, statim profusis lacrimarum fontibus serenitatem aetheris in procellarum turbines commutans et tonitrua fragore horrisono orbem trementem terrentia concitans simulque igniferas fulminum coruscationes eliciens mirum mundo spectaculum exhibu(er)it.<br><br>Secunda autem in tantum divinae caritatis faculis accensa , etiam antequam baptismi rudimenta susciperet, fuisse memoratur, ut statim ab undecimo aetatis anno fanaticae superstitionis contemptrix et supernorum decretorum cultrix extitisse narretur [...]<br><br>Tertiam vero cum Sapricius, orthodoxorum cruentus carnifex, non solum ad nuptias, sed ad nefandas quoque idolorum culturas et ineptas gentilium caeremonias cogere nequiret, confestim furibundus catastarum crudelitatem exercuit, lividas palmarum vibices exhibuit, torrentes lampadarum flammas applicavit. Duabus quoque feminis, quae nuper a fide naufragaverant et a Christi consortio apostataverant, eandem tradidit depravandam, sed versa vice earundem probrosas apostatarum cicatrices poenitudinis medicamento ita salubriter curavit, ut statim ordine praepostero doctricem propriam ad martirii palmam praecederent. Verum cum egrederetur crudele praetorium, Theophilo cum cachinnanti cavillatione flagitanti, ut de paradiso sponsi caelestis, ad quem se properare fatebatur, rata fructuum munuscula mitteret, quod cum calumniae gannatura prolatum, in veritate completum est. Nam pridemquam pateretur et cruentis mucronibus truncanda subderetur, tria mala cum purpureis totidem rosis ad eundem Theophilum distinasse describitur. Qui huius rei gratia propriae occasionem salutis adeptus rubicundis martirii sertis coronabatur. <br><br><br>'Next, SCHOLASTICA and CHRISTINA and at the same time DOROTHEA, who was born in Caesarea in Cappadocia, although separated by different periods of time, were yet crowned by Christ with the same diadem of purity.<br><br>Of these (three), Scholastica, under the title of a confessor, even though no opportunity for a bloody martyrdom presented itself, lived in a manner worthy of praise among the company of the faithful; and she shone at so high a peak of purity that, when her only brother, whom she had importunely entreated with earnest prayers (to stay) for the space of a night, was obstinately refusing to agree, by means of profuse fountains of tears she immediately changed the serenity of the sky into a stormy tempest; and, arousing thunder to terrify the trembling earth with horrific rumbling, and at the same time eliciting fiery flashes of lightning, she displayed a marvellous spectacle to the world.<br><br>The second, Christina, is said to have been kindled with the flames of divine love to such an extent that even before she received the rudiments of baptism, that she is said to have been a despiser of fanatical superstition and a worshipper of heavenly decrees right from the eleventh year of her life [...]<br><br>When Sapricius, a bloody butcher of the faithful, failed to compel the third virgin, Dorothea, not only to marriage but also to the wicked worship of idols or the foolish ceremonies of the heathen, immediately the raging maniac inflicted the savagery of the scaffold, laid on the livid bruises of fists, applied the burning flames of torches. He also gave (Dorothea) over to be corrupted by two women who had recently shipwrecked their faith and who has apostasized from the fellowship of Christ; but instead Dorothea so wholesomely healed the shameful wounds of these apostate women with the medicine of penitence, that at once, in a reversal of the proper order, they precede their teacher to her own palm of martyrdom. But when she left the cruel place, and Theophilus demanded with a jeer of laughter that she be sure to send him small gifts of fruit from the paradise of her heavenly groom, to whom she said she was going, what was requested with a snarl of malice was fulfilled in reality. For, well before she suffered (martyrdom) and was given over to be carved up with bloody swords, she is said to have sent three apples with as many crimson roses to this Theophilus. As a result of this action, Theophilus, seizing the occasion for his own salvation, was crowned with the scarlet garlands of martyrdom.'<br><br>Text: Ehwald 1919, 300-302. Translation: Lapidge and Herren 1979, 113-15.