Oral magic, folklore and tradition / by B.R. Townend.

  • Townend, B. R.
Date:
1938
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Oral magic, folklore and tradition / by B.R. Townend. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    42/48 page 40
    THE MARTYRDOM of St. Apollonia. Reproduced from a coloured woodcut of 1473 in the University Library, Basle. This abstract idea was hardly sufficient to satisfy the minds of the masses, and as a result the tombs of saints became popular places of pilgrimages, their statues became holy things and relics of them took on a special sanctity and effi¬ cacy as tangible and visible intermediaries which could be invoked to help the sufferer. The relics were particu¬ larly important, and any church which possessed such a thing was assured of revenues from pilgrims from all over the Christian world. It is to be feared that unscrupulous people deliberately forged many of these relics. In the case of St. Apollonia there are scat¬ tered throughout Europe many more teeth supposed to be hers than the normal thirty-two. Several man¬ dibles are said to exist, in fact there are supposed to be two in Cologne ! Briefly, the story of St. Apollonia is as follows: — In the year a.d. 248, the millenium of the Roman State was cele¬ brated. Patriotic feeling ran high together with a wave of enthu¬ siasm for the might of the old Roman gods, and as a result suspicions were aroused against the growing strength of the Christians, who shunned these old gods as if they were evil spirits. The populace, incited by the priests, turned on the Christians, Their houses were broken into, their valuables stolen, and what could not be used was trodden in the dirt. Eusebius, the ecclesias-
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3