The Rev Gordon Plumb has posted on the Medieval Religion discussion group aseries of photographs of stained glass images of St Vincent of Saragossa, whose feast day it is today.
St Vincent , who died in 304, was a deacon and the first Spanish martyr. He was trained by Valerius, bishop of Saragossa. Of his martyrdom there is no doubt, though there is considerable uncertainty about exactly how it occurred. Prudentius is our first witness and Augustine attests that the cult was known all over the Roman Empire. According to the ancient Legend, he suffered under the edicts of Diocletian and Maximian. At first imprisoned and kept short of food, he refused to sacrifice and was then racked, roasted on a grid, imprisoned and put into the stocks. He died as a result of his sufferings. He is often shown as a deacon holding a palm, or else suffering on the grid.
Angers, Cathédrale Saint-Maurice, Bay 121, Martyrdom of St Vincent, c.1180:
and detail of Vincent's body protected by crows:
Vincent being flogged:
Vincent being visited by angels in prison:
Vincent on the grill:
Death of Vincent:
Vincent and Valerian before Decius:
Oxford, St Peter in the East (now the library of St Edmund Hall), North Chapel, North window, right-hand light, part of deacon holding palm (St Vincent of Saragossa): This glass was given by Vincent Wycking, Vicar in 1433.
Heydour, St Michael, nV, 2a-3a:
Harpley, St Lawrence, wI, D2, Vincent and Ledger:
Gordon then sent an additional number of images of St Vincent as follows:
Panel in the Collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum showing Vincent being burnt on the rack from Saint-Germain-des-Près, Paris of c.1240-45.
The church was originally dedicated to St Vincent, later being rededicated to St Vincent and St Germanus. On this window see Mary B. Shepard in Gesta, Vol. 37, No, 2, 1998.
Further panels in the Metropolitan Museum, New York can be seen here:
Bourges Cathedral, Bay 12, St Vincent of Saragossa window, with facility to see excellent images of each panel by clicking on the window outline. To get to Bay 12 click on the appropriate box in the general plan of the Bourges windows:
In previous years I have posted about this martyr saint and his images in St Vincent, in Another red pileus, in Conferring the Diaconate and in St Vincent of Saragossa.
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