Category Archives: History and Legends

100DaysOnTheWay, History and Legends, Travelogue

Les Vigneaux: the fresco of the vices and virtues

Leave a comment

A legend says that monsieur Carle, a very important man from Les Vigneaux, president of the provincial parliament of Grenoble, wanted to leave an indelible mark of his life in the memory of his fellow citizens. He decided to ask a young Italian painter to paint a fresco to decorate the southern facade of the church of Saint-Laurant: since he was firmly convinced of the fidelity of his wife Louise and of his own blamelessness, he picked the theme of the vices and virtues and charged his wife to watch over the works.

The beautiful Louise didn’t turn out exactly insensitive to the beauty of the young Italian and seduced him within a few days. Still not satisfied, an evening when her husband was in Grenoble, he took part in his place to a party at the house of the Lord of Rame. No need to say that, in the absence of her husband and of her lover, the Lord of Rame took care of the lonely woman.

Still not happy, on the next day, Louise went supervising the work of the painter with her new lover, rousing in the heart of the young painter a wild desire of revenge. So the fresco was completed with the portraits of Louise, in the shoes of Lust, monsieur Carle, in the roles of Anger, and the lord of Rame, with the appearance of Pride.

When the husband was back, he say the fresco and understood what had happened. In turn, he meditated revenge. After paying and sending away the painter, he made fast his wife’s mule for several days, and then he invited Louise to go with him to visit a village not far away. As soon as the thirsty mule came near to a creek, Louise lost control of the animal and it drag her into the water, drowning her.

The revenge of the betrayed husband was so consumed, and he got away by having a Mass said for the deceased wife in the church of Saint-Laurant.
20140528-181934-65974279.jpg

20140528-181935-65975119.jpg

20140528-181936-65976021.jpg

20140528-181933-65973409.jpg

20140528-182620-66380003.jpg

100DaysOnTheWay, History and Legends, Pilgrim, Travelogue

Prologue: from Home to the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio in Milan

Leave a comment

It is true that we live in Segrate only since 2012 and I do not really feel to be “from Segrate”, but I always say that I’m from Milan. It is true that I was born 500 metres from the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio and that I’ve always been bound to my diocese, which is particular, autonomist, innovative and often frowned upon… In short, the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, where the Archbishop who did not hesitate to scold the emperors rests, was the natural place from which to start my walk.

But… but… now I live here… and so? So, today I’ve walked from my home to the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio with Alessandro, my husband. It’s only a short prologue of 12 km and something more, but it was important. We went out of the door and we started walking on our Way. It was good and right to start it together, in the same way we will finish it, together, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean…

What did we see?

The Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio was built by Bishop Ambrogio from 379 to 386 AD: the Bishop wanted to dedicate it to the martyrs who suffered persecutions under the Romans and took the name of Basilica Martyrum. Only after the Bishop’s death, when his remains were buried under the main altar along with the remains of the Martyrs Gervaso and Protaso, the church was rededicated in his honor. The Basilica was rebuilt at the end of the XI century, according to the canons of the Romanesque, and the works were wanted by Bishop Anselmo, another great bishop of Milan. The new building maintained three naves and three apses, and didn’t have a transept.

The altar of Sant’Ambrogio is particularly ramarkable: it is a Carolingian masterpiece made in gold, silver gilt, enamels and precious stones. It lies just above the relics of the saints, placed under the altar itself and visible through a window on the back side. The altar was made by the Masters of the Stories of Christ (who decorated the front side), and the Master Vuolvinio (who decoradet the back side), between 824 and 859. The Basilica is, today, an isolated case of the Lombard Romanesque style, as other contemporary examples (such as the Cathedrals of Pavia, Novara and Vercelli are now destroyed or have undergone major transformations.

A curiosity: on a granite column, presumably Roman, inside the Basilica, stands Moses’ Snake, who escaped the inconoclastic wrath of King Hezekiah. It is a bronze sculpture (in the past it was believed to be the Moses’ original one) donated by the Emperor Basil II in 1007. Prayers are directed to the snake to ward off certain types of ailments and it is said that the end of the world will be announced by its descent from this column.

100DaysOnTheWay, History and Legends

Mortara: hence passed Charlemagne

Leave a comment

One of the first places that I will cross during my walk, will be Mortara, a town near Pavia, along the Via Francigena. Mortara history is rooted in the centuries, so much that the existence of the town is already confirmed in the IV century AD, when Gaudenzio, Novara bishop, wanted to build two chapels at its entrance: one was sacred to Saint Peter and the other to Saint Eusebius. The latter started working as a parish for Mortara. Both chapels were built at about 1,5 km from the town and soon became an important stop for those on their way to Rome, or back home to northern and western Europe. Many important people passed from here: in 440 the future pope Leo, in 494 Saint Epifanio, in 574 pope Stephen II, in 575 pope Paul I, and, in the spring of 773, the Frank Ambassy coming back from the meeting with pope Adrian I.

The church of Saint Albino in Mortara

 

Not long after the passage of this group, the church of St. Eusebius finally came in History: on October 12, 773, in fact, just near the two chapels of St. Peter and St. Eusebius,  took place the final battle between the Franks led by Charlemagne and the Lombards guided by their king Desiderius. The battle was extremely bloody and both sides suffered heavy losses, but the Franks triumphed over the Lombards. Despite the victory, however, two of the Paladins of King Charles lost their lives: Amelius d’Auvergne, the king’s cupbearer, and Amicus Beyre, the royal treasurer.

Charlemagne ordered that they should be buried with all the honors, each under the altar of one of the two chapels: Amicus under St. Peter and Amelius under St. Eusebius. The next day, however, the remains of Amicus and Amelius were found both under the altar of the chapel of St. Eusebius, one beside the other. And so, the church of St. Eusebius passed into legend.

Charlemagne and his Paladins: miniature on parchment (XV century), National Library, Turin.

Afther these miraculous events, father Albinus, monk and adviser of Charlemagne, expressed his desire to found a monastery to be aggregated to the church of St. Eusebius, and the king gave it rich donations. The guesthouse of St. Eusebius was well adapted to accomodate the students of Albinus who settled here and took their vows when he became bishop of Vercelli. At his death, in 801, Albinus asked to be buried next to the two Paladins. The monks, all of Frankish origin, dedicated their monastery to Saint Albinus from Angers and adopted the rule of St. Augustine, while enjoying extensive autonomy. St. Albinus, from that moment until today, always remained a popular stop for pilgrims.

 

In the spring of 1999, two sarcophagi were discovered just below the altar of the church of St. Albinus, during the works for its restauration. One of them, as well as being consistent with the dating to the Carolingian period, contained the remains of a man of great prestige, buried with his legs crossed, according to custom adopted by the ecclesiastics of high rank and, later, by the knights of the Temple. Even today, the walls of the apse of the Romanesque church of St. Albinus, bear the engravings left by many pilgrims who found refuge here.