[MR] Wikipedia: Jocelin of Furness, Vitae Writer Extrodinaire

[pjdarby at verizon.net]

Thank you.


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On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 11:16 PM, Garth Groff and Sally Sanford via Atlantia <atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org> wrote:

Noble Friends,

Yesterday in my post about Saint Patrick I mentioned that one of his
vatae was written by Jocelin (or Jocelyn, fl. 1175-1214) of Furness.
Jocelin was a Cistercian monk at Furness Abbey in England where he worked
in the scriptorium churning out mostly biographies of saints. Though
Jocelin himself is a somewhat shadowy figure, he had a whopping influence
on the medieval church, and his works continue to echo even today.

The exact order of his books is not clear from online sources, but his
chief works may have been written in this order:

A circa 1170 vita of Saint Waltheof, an Abbot of Melrose Abbey, written to
support founding of a pilgrimage to Saint Waltheof's shrine at Melrose (a
cult promoted by his successor Abbot Jocelyn, later Bishop of Glasgow, see
next entry).

An 1186 vita (possibly two versions) of Saint Kentigern (aka Saint Mungo),
written for Jocelyn, Bishop of Glasgow, in support of a pilgrimage to
Kentigern's shrine at Glasgow Cathedral. The Pope apparently liked the vita
and granted the pilgrimage official status.

A post-1185 vita of Saint Patrick written for Thomas, archbishop of Armagh
and other patrons. It was apparently Jocelin who either created or
popularized the story of Saint Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland.

A vita of Saint Helena of Constantinople.

Jocelin is also said to have written a book on British bishops, and is also
known to have penned a now-lost biography of David I, King of Scots (ruled
1124-1153).

Today we might consider Jocelin a hack writer, or perhaps a propagandist.
The vitae he created are slim on verifiable facts, and long on myths. He
also drew heavily on earlier works, tarting the stories up to please his
patrons. Jocelin was noted for "borrowing" miracles from other saints and
attributing them to his subjects. Of course, nobody had actual records to
consult, so his works were accepted as fact.

A brief bio of Jocelin is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jocelin_of_Furness .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.
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