Creating an episcopal patron: the cult of San Gennaro in Naples, c. 1300- c. 1500

Thesis

This thesis traces the evolution of the cult of San Gennaro in the city of Naples and the Monastery of Montevergine between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Situating key developments in the cult in Naples' historical context, I identify the several stakeholders who intervened in, interpreted, and actively shaped San Gennaro's sanctity. In doing so, this dissertation explores how an old patron was reconfigured and revitalised for new audiences in an era marked by canonisation procedures and increasingly competitive models of sanctity. This thesis especially investigates the role of the late medieval archbishop in this dynamic process of saint-making.

This dissertation is broken into three parts of two chapters each. Each part is anchored in a different type of source: material, textual, and architectural. Part One, ‘Materialising a Patron Saint’ explores the abrupt introductions of the saint’s skull and blood relics, respectively, during the fourteenth century. Here, I demonstrate how both objects played critical roles in re-establishing the saint as the city’s patron. Part Two, ‘Experiencing San Gennaro,’ turns our attention towards his translation feast as described in two key texts: a set of liturgical instructions known as the Orsini Constitutions, promulgated in 1337, and Giovanni Pontano’s dialogue, Charon, published in 1491. Together, these two chapters depict a rich civic festival, which served critical social and ecclesiastical functions. Part Three, ‘Reconfiguring an Episcopal Cult,’ reevaluates the circumstances surrounding the discovery and translation of the saint’s body in the later fifteenth century. To do this, this part centres on two architectural projects, including the restoration of the monastic church at Montevergine, which prompted the body’s discovery, and the construction of the succorpo, a crypt chapel in the Neapolitan cathedral, designed to house the remains.

Together, I argue that this 200-year period saw the dynamic revival of San Gennaro’s cult and the revitalisation of his patronal sanctity at the hands of several stakeholders, but most especially those of the archbishop of Naples.

Authors: Whitton, C

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-e95dpbgjv
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: relics; sainthood; Il sangue di San Gennaro; San Gennaro; St Januarius; Naples; Inghirlandati; blood relic; The Monastery of Montevergine
• Subjects: Anjou, House of; Saints; Saints--Cult; Liturgy; Renaissance; Via dei Tribunali (Naples, Italy); Carafa family; Processions, Religious; Christian saints--Cult; Italy, Southern--History--1268-1735; Naples, Bay of (Italy); Middle Ages; Liturgical adaptation; Reliquaries; Aragon family; History; Schism, The Great Western, 1378-1417; Italy, Southern; Early modern, 1500-1700; Relics; Rites and ceremonies