Norse Hagiography Network

@networknorse.bsky.social

The Norse Hagiography Network is an international, interdisciplinary network with the aim of bringing together scholars with similar interests for collaboration

Today is the feast of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. They were a group of Christians who sought refuge in a cave during the persecutions of Emperor Decius (c.250). There they fell asleep, & were discovered in the reign of Theodosius II (408-50), thus waking up in a Christian empire. (1/n)

Today is the translation feast of St Knud Lavard (1096-1131), also known as Knud Dux. He was the son of King Erik Ejegod of Denmark (r.1095-1103), & the nephew of King Niels (r.1104-34). Knud was killed by his cousin Magnus near Ringsted, out of fear that he was plotting to be king. (1/n)

Today is the feast of St Petronilla. The earliest history of her cult is uncertain. It can be traced at least back to the C4 as she appears in a fresco in the catacombs of Domitilla in Rome. The fresco identifies her by name & her status as martyr. (1/n)

Today is the feast of St. George, a Roman soldier who refused to renounce his faith during the Diocletian Persecution & was executed in Lydda, now Lod. Accounts of him as a warrior saint date from the C6 onward. They became popular & culminated in the well-known legend of the dragon. (1/n)

Today is the feast of St Quirinus of Neuss. His historicity is uncertain, but he is associated with the legend of Pope Alexander I & St Balbina (set in the C2). Quirinus was believed to have been a Roman tribune who imprisoned the pope, but then converted together with his daughter Balbina. (1/n)

Today is the feast of Cathedra Petri, St. Peter’s Chair. The feast commemorates Peter as the head - & the rock - of the Christian church, an idea based on Matthew 16:18. By the High Middle Ages, this date commemorated the appointment of Peter as bishop of Antioch. (1/n)

Today, is the feast of St Agnes of Rome. She lived during Diocletian's reign, & was one of the first virgin martyrs to be widely venerated as a saint, largely due to the promotion of her cult by Ambrose of Milan. According to her legend, she refused to marry. (1/n)

Today is the feast of St Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, who suffered martyrdom at the hands of a group of knights in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. News of Thomas’ death spread quickly through Latin Christendom, & the cult of the saint arrived in the Norse world already in the 1170s. (1/n)

Today is the feast of St Andrew, one of the 12 disciples of Christ. According to his apocryphal legend, he was crucified on an X-shaped cross. As one of the disciples, Andrew was part of the catalogue of saints that missionaries brought to the Norse sphere from the 9th century onwards. (1/n)

Today is the feast of St Denis of Paris, also known as St Dionysius. According to Gregory of Tours, Denis was one of the 7 bishops sent to Gaul by Pope Clement during the reign of Emperor Decius (r. 249-51). Denis preached in the region of Paris together with Rusticus & Eleutherius. (1/n)

Today is the feast St Mauritius, the officer of the Theban Legion. He was martyred with his 6666 men at Agaunum in the upper Rhône valley c.286-7 for refusing to sacrifice to the gods. His cult flourished due to the 10th-century eastward expansion of the Ottonians. [1/n]

Yet another reminder that the deadline for our joint call for papers together with @celtichagiography.bsky.social for next year's @imc-leeds.bsky.social is extended until September 15. Join us in Leeds! [Alt text in replies to the quoted post]

Norse Hagiography Network@networknorse.bsky.social · last yr.

CfP for @imc-leeds.bsky.social 2026, organised together with @celtichagiography.bsky.social. Deadline: August 31. [Alt text in thread]

Today is the feast of SS Faith, Hope & Charity (Fides, Spes & Caritas). They may well have been real martyrs, but no one has yet been able to connect them to historical figures. An Old Norse-Icelandic saga tells their story & notes their feast day, but no cult is known in the North. (1/n)

AM 235 fol, f23v (handrit.is), containing the start of the Saga af Fídes, Spes, ok Karítas. The picture shows a dark manuscript page with two columns of text written in black ink. A large red magiscule thorn (þ), with some decoration, begins the seventh line of the right-hand column.