Marian Devotion Week 5, Lecture 4

Questions How was devotion to Mary similar and different to the cults of other saints? Compare and contrast Christian, Jewish, and Muslim interpretations of Mary. How were non-Christians treated in Marian stories? Was the reconquest of Spain a Crusade?

Mary, mother of Jesus Born c. 18 BCE, Galilee. D. c. 41 CE. In Christian doctrine: –A very special saint –Source of Christ’s humanity –Dormition vs. Assumption

Oldest Image Identified as Mary Madonna and Child wall painting, Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome Third century CE

Basilica of Sta. Maria Maggiore, Rome (est. 420s)

The Nestorian Controversy (Constaninople, 5 th c.) Image: Floor mosaic of Mary as Theotokos, Church of Panagia Angeloktisti, Cyprus. 6 th cen. Archbishop Nestorius: Theotokos inappropriate Christotokos ok Empress Pulcheria: Dedicated virgin Pro-Theotokos Council of Ephesus, 451

Mary as Protector of Constantinople Image: A modern example of a Virgin Hodegetria icon Procession of icon around the walls saves the city (multiple times!) A relic of Mary’s clothing brings military success

Palace-Chapel of Charlemagne, Aachen, France Dedicated to Our Lady

Last Judgment (Notre Dame de Paris, 1220s-30s)

Virgin of La Sainte-Chapelle, Paris Ivory statuette, c. 1250s-60s

Mater Dolorosa and Mediatrix Jaroslav Pelikan ( ) 12 th -13 th century views of Mary: –“Sorrowful Mother” Reflects a Gothic sensibility –“Mediator” Link between the divine and the flesh Intercessor between God and man

Pietà (Vesperbild) Wood statuette, German, c. 1330

Bernard of Clairvaux ( ) Promoted Cistercian veneration of Mary Praised Mary as Mediatrix in hymn and sermon Promoted dogma of Immaculate Conception of Mary Experienced miracle, 1146

The Lactation of St. Bernard

Jaroslav Pelikan: “There was a close correlation between subjectivity of the devotion to Mary as the Mater Dolorosa and objectivity of the doctrine of Mary as the Mediatrix.” Mary through the Centuries, 1996

Non-Christian Veneration of Mary Alexandra Cuffel, professor of Jewish Studies at Ruhr-Universität Bochum Tales of Mary helping Muslims and Jews have an agenda

Jewish Attitudes toward Mary “Rare and generally negative” Son of parthenos  son of Panthera Solomon bar Simson, 1100s –Jesus = “offspring of promiscuity”

Muslim Attitudes toward Mary Maryam, mother of Isa –19 th surah of the Qur’an praises her Virgin birth by the command of Allah— offspring is a human prophet –“It does not behoove God to have a son.” A good and righteous girl

Maintaining Separation Latin European tales: Muslims helped by Mary convert Near Eastern pilgrim lit: Muslims helped by Mary stay Muslims (but praise Mary) Agenda: Mary as universal intercessor; Christianity’s eventual victory over Islam –Jews are more insidious and probably a lost cause

The Spanish Reconquista

Reconquista 1085: Castile captures Toledo 1140: Aragon unifies with Barcelona : Formation of Portugal 1212: CRUSADE! –July 16: Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa 1236: Fall of Cordova Repoblación Granada

How the Spanish Christians liked to imagine St. James James, the son of Zebedee