Bling up the bodies
QUESTION In 1578, a number of skeletons were found in the catacombs beneath Rome. Why did the Roman Catholic Church spend years, and great expense, covering them with jewellery? ThE entrance to the Coemeterium Jordanorum, on the Via Salaria, was discovered accidentally on May 31, 1578. The chamber was full of remains, dating from Christian persecution in the early centuries AD, when it was illegal to bury a body within the city.
The discovery was proclaimed a miracle by the Roman Catholic Church, which said the skeletons must have belonged to early Christian martyrs.
Martyrs’ relics were seen as important conduits for prayers from believers seeking their intercession for those on Earth. In Northern Europe, especially Germany, where the Protestant reformation was most fervent, Catholic churches had been plundered and vandalised and their sacred relics had largely been lost or destroyed, so this was a chance to replace them.
In the early 17th century, holy bodies became wildly sought-after treasures and churches and private individuals paid handsomely for them. Wealthy families sought them for their private chapels, and guilds and fraternities would pool their resources to adopt a martyr, who would become a trade’s patron saint.
To represent the splendours that awaited the faithful in the afterlife, each skeleton was decorated in the utmost finery. Skilled monks or nuns would prepare the skeleton for public appearance, and this could take up to three years, depending on the size of the team at work. Some skeletons were supplied with wax faces.
In the late 18th century, holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, a man of the Enlightenment, was determined to dispel superstitious objects from his territories and issued an edict that all relics lacking a definite provenance should be discarded.
Thus stripped of their status, many were destroyed and their finery removed. Some are still intact and on display, such as the ten in the Waldsassen Basilica in Bavaria, which holds the largest collection remaining. Many of these were dressed by a monk called brother Adalbart Eder.
St Gratian is decked out in a re-imagining of Roman military attire, including laceup sandals and shoulder, chest and arm guards, while St Valentinus wears a biretta and an elaborate deacon’s cassock to show DressedD dt to impress:i TheTh bejewelledb j ll d skeleton of St Valentinus in Germany his ecclesiastical status. Catacomb saints were often depicted in a reclining position, such as St Friedrich at the Benedictine abbey in Melk, Austria, who clutches a laurel branch as a sign of victory.
Another example is the skeleton of St Pancratius at Wil, Switzerland, who wears a full suit of armour, except that his face and ribs are exposed.
In Rheinau, Switzerland, is the richly adorned skeleton of St Deodatus, seated on a throne and holding a gold cup. A wax mask covers the upper half of the skull and a cloth wrap over the lower half is slit to reveal the teeth. It is quite creepy.
James christiansen, London N12. QUESTION I watched an original episode of Star Trek, in which William Shatner played ‘James R. Kirk’. When and why did he change his middle name to Tiberius? ThIS happened in the original series episode Where No Man has Gone Before when a tombstone was created for Captain Kirk by his best friend from the Starfleet Academy, Gary Mitchell.
Mitchell had been given God-like powers following an encounter with the energy barrier at the edge of the galaxy. This episode was actually the second pilot show for the series, NBC having rejected the first offering, The Cage, as ‘ too cerebral’. It introduced characters such as Sulu, Scotty and Kirk.
Later episodes used the name James T. Kirk and the error was not picked up for some time. Although it was, in fact, a simple continuity problem, creator Gene Roddenberry, if questioned on the topic, usually replied: ‘While Gary Mitchell had God-like powers, he was still a human and the mistake was his.’
There are many such goofs in the original Star Trek series. One of my favourites is in the episode Court Martial, when Kirk says the ship’s computer can be boosted to hear noises at one to the fourth power — which is still one.
chris Gornall, Preston. QUESTION Do Norwich City FC wear yellow in honour of Colman’s mustard? ThE football club’s nickname and colours have origins that have nothing to do with Colman’s mustard.
In the mid- 16th century, the Low Countries — modern- day holland and Belgium — were nominally under the control of the Spanish. Spain was a Catholic country antagonistic to the nascent Calvinist movement, and Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, the Grand Duke of Alba, was sent there in 1567 to quell their insurrection.
Alba’s harsh, repressive measures saw an exodus of Protestants to England at a time when Norwich was receptive to an influx of skilled Dutch weavers to its burgeoning textile industry.
By 1579, there were 6,000 settlers, representing more than a third of the city’s population of 16,000. The immigrants were known there as ‘the strangers’.
The Merchant’s house, which is now a museum, was their earliest base in the city and is still known as Strangers’ hall. Their expertise and the innovations they brought were pivotal in helping Norwich become famous for its textile industry.
With such a large proportion of the population being migrants, many cultural traditions were passed on, and the most visible of these was the keeping and rearing of canaries.
Norwich City FC was established in 1902, and for the early years of the club’s existence, they wore light blue and white halved shirts, and the team’s nickname was the Citizens. By 1905, the supporters were calling the club the Canaries, and in 1907 a new strip was introduced; a yellow shirt with green collar and cuffs embossed with a green canary.
For 27 years, between 1908 and 1935, Norwich City played at a ground called The Nest on Newmarket Road before relocating to Carrow Road.
Despite the long involvement of Colman’s with the city (it was established there in 1814), it did not become involved with the football club until 1997, when it sponsored the shirt for a couple of seasons.
Dean rogers, Mundesley, Norfolk.
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