St Charlemagne

Today is the appointed feast day for St Charlemagne. You did n't know he was a saint?

He was canonized by the Anti-Pope Pascal III at the behest of the Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) on December 29th 1165 and despite being elevated by an Anti-Pope enjoyed a modest cult in the middle ages - particularly in the area around Aachen, but in other parts of Germany as well. He was certainly esteemed by the Holy Roman Emperors as their saintly patron, in a way analogous to the respective devotion to St Edward the Confessor, St Stephen of Hungary, St Olav of Norway, St Weneslaus of Bohemia and later St Louis in France.

 

The Emperor Charlemagne shown as saint with a blue nimbus.  

This panel of 1479 originates in the cathedral of Trèves or Trier. It is now in the church of St Mary in Shrewsbury- south aisle of nave, easternmost window.

Image: Gordon Plumb on Flickr.

Note the red pileus (biretta) of the donor. In my post Another red pileus I comment about this type of headdress as shown in another of these German panels in Shrewsbury as I do also in Conferring the Diaconate.

There is an English glass figure of St Charlemagne of the period 1500-17 in the clerestory of the nave of Fairford church in Gloucestershire.

The Holy Coat of Trier

From April 13 until May 13 the Holy Coat of Trier - believed to be the seamless garment worn by Our Lord and for which the soldiers cast dice (John 19, 23-24) - will be on display at the cathedral in Trier where it has been venerated as a relic since at least the end of the twelfth century. As a relic it was the most prized possession of the Electoral Archbishopric of Trier, a see which claimed a particular status within the Church from its having once been one of the capitals of the Western Roman Empire.

This year's exhibition is to commemorate the first such public display in 1512 at the request of the Emperor Maximilian I.

Image:argophilia.com

There is an account of the Holy Coat and of another claimant to be the seamless robe -that of Argenteuil in France - as well of Eastern Orthodox claims here and the article from the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia, which has more details as to the history of the relic, can be read here. An article from the New York Times from the time of the 1891 display, with a description of the Holy Coat can be read here.

The Holy Coat of Trier

Image:annatextiles.ch

Another red pileus

One of the regular contributors to the Medieval Religion discussion group is the Rev. Gordon Plumb, who provides superb photographs of medieval stained glass, some of which I have reproduced in other posts. Amongst the images he posted on her feast day of St Agatha was this panel, now in St Mary's Shrewsbury, but originally from the Trier region.

Donor kneeling before St Agatha with above St Bartholomew,
St Peter and St James
Nave, north aisle, central window

Image: Gordon Plumb on Flickr

What really caught my eye was the donor, identified by Gordon Plumb as Everard von Hohenfels, who held various positions in the cathedral at Trier from 1470 until his death in 1515 - or more particularly his headgear. He appears to be wearing, in addition to his surplice and cassock, a rather splendid red pileus.

Last year when I posted about the St Vincent Panels in Lisbon, which date from the 1460s, a friend asked me in the comments box about the red pileus he is shown wearing with his dalmatic.

Image: Wikipedia

I could offer no certain explanation, but wonder if it is a fifteenth century equivalent of a modern monsiegnorial or canon's biretta - St Vincent as the immediate deacon of his bishop, Everhard von Hohenfels as a senior figure in the cathedral at Trier. Some of the lay figures in the St Vincent panels are wearing similar head coverings. Given the location of Trier and the possible Burgundian influence on the St Vincent paintings it may reflect Netherlandish practice in the later fifteenth century.

Given that together with aother friend we once upon a time spent may happy hours considering whether medieval bishops actually wore green galeros (as in their heraldic form) maybe I should keep my eyes open for instances of the red pileus. It is a rather natty item.