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The Ritual Significance of Feasting in the Formation of Christian Communities

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Creating Community with Food and Drink in Merovingian Gaul

Part of the book series: The New Middle Ages ((TNMA))

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Abstract

As Jonas of Bobbio recounted in the sixth-century Vita Columbani 1.27, the Irish saint was greatly angered on one occasion when he encountered an Alemannic group making a profane offering of ale to the pagan god Woden. In response, the saint blew on the cask, which contained about twenty measures, and the vessel immediately fragmented, spilling the precious liquid in all directions. In his description of this confrontation, Jonas observed that the devil had been hiding in the barrel, conceivably because he knew that he might win over more souls by providing alcoholic refreshment to the local inhabitants. The miraculous demise of the cask containing the pagan sacrifice thus brought about the conversion of the awed pagans, and the holy man convinced even those who had earlier become Christians to give up their errant ways.1 Likewise, in the Vita Vedastis 7, Jonas described how the saint had agreed to attend a feast of the Franks to which he had been invited. Although many there were Christians, Vaast observed nonetheless that they participated in pagan rites marked most conspicuously by a barrel of beer in the middle of the dwelling. In response,Vaast made the sign of the cross, thereby causing the vessel to shatter and the liquid to pour out upon the floor. Recognizing the inherent spiritual danger of such encounters, he justified his attack on the festivities as necessary for the salvation of all of those present.2

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Notes

Notes to Chapter 1

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  1. Bonnie Effros
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Effros, B. (2002). The Ritual Significance of Feasting in the Formation of Christian Communities. In: Creating Community with Food and Drink in Merovingian Gaul. The New Middle Ages. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-62577-2_2

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