Misplaced Pages

#885114

58-574: Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79; traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327), also called Rock in English, was a Majorcan Catholic confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he was especially invoked against the plague . He has the designation of Rollox in Glasgow , Scotland , said to be a corruption of Roch's Loch, which referred to a small loch once near

116-400: A vascular birthmark present by age 1. Several birthmark types are part of the group of skin lesions known as nevi or naevi, which is Latin for "birthmarks". Birthmarks occur as a result of a localized imbalance in factors controlling the development and migration of skin cells . In addition, it is known that vascular birthmarks are not hereditary . Congenital melanocytic nevus

174-562: A chapel dedicated to Roch in 1506. It is also the name of a football club, St Roch's in Glasgow. He is a patron saint of dogs, invalids, falsely accused people, bachelors , and several other things. He is the patron saint of Dolo (near Venice ) and Parma , as well as Casamassima , Cisterna di Latina and Palagiano (Italy). He is also the patron saint of the towns of Arboleas and Albanchez , in Almeria , southern Spain, and Deba , in

232-717: A dog from the statue of San Roque coming to life to serve as a guardian of a protagonist blind girl. A 2012 film “The Drop” a gritty thriller about a bartender and his hardened employer. The stray dog in the movie was named after St. Rocco after the main character visits a Catholic Church to pray and sees a statue of Saint Roch in the church. 1945 Italian landmark film "Open City" mentions in passing that statues of St. Roch as "more in demand" than those of St Anthony nowadays. Kingdom of Majorca The Kingdom of Majorca ( Catalan : Regne de Mallorca , IPA: [ˈreŋnə ðə məˈʎɔɾkə] ; Spanish : Reino de Mallorca ; Latin : Regnum Maioricae ; French : Royaume de Majorque )

290-408: A form of martyrdom." Roch's status as a pilgrim who suffered the plague is paramount in his iconography. "The sight of Roch scarred by the plague yet alive and healthy must have been an emotionally-charged image of a promised cure. Here was literal proof that one could survive the plague, a saint who had triumphed over the disease in his own flesh." F. T. Prince published a long monologue from

348-675: A kingdom already on the brink of fracture, which, besides this, lacked any common institution beyond the monarchy. During the Aragonese Crusade , James II of Majorca allied himself with Pope Martin IV and the French against his brother Peter III of Aragon. As a result, Peter's successor Alfonso militarily conquered the Kingdom of Majorca in 1286. However, by the Treaty of Anagni in 1295,

406-459: A medieval priest who tends to plague victims is named Father Roche. Saint Roch's dog is sometimes conflated with the folk saint Saint Guinefort , the holy greyhound . Croatian celebrations around the saint are depicted in Miroslav Krleža 's 1932 novel The Return of Philip Latinowicz . A 2012 Philippine fantasy teleserye , Aso ni San Roque (literally Saint Roch's Dog ), depicts

464-699: A member and includes his feast on its own calendar of saints , observing it on August 17. The Catholic Church in Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Serbia and Montenegro venerates him as sveti Roko . Eponymous churches are numerous (cf. Crkva sv. Roka  [ hr ] ) including the Church of St. Roch in Petrovaradin in Serbia . In India, there is a Church in Kerala in the name of Saint Roch under

522-468: A pink or tanned, flat, irregularly shaped mark on the knee , back of the neck, and/or the forehead , eyelids and, sometimes, the top lip . The skin is not thickened and feels no different from anywhere else on the body; the only difference is in appearance. Nearly half of all babies have such a birthmark. An infantile hemangioma , colloquially called a strawberry mark, is a benign self- involuting tumor (swelling or growth) of endothelial cells,

580-458: A puffy appearance in the first days or weeks of life. Port-wine stains, also known as nevus flammeus and sometimes mistaken for strawberry marks, are present at birth and range from a pale pink in color, to a deep wine-red. Irregular in appearance, they are usually quite large, and caused by a deficiency or absence in the nerve supply to blood vessels . This causes vasodilation , the dilation of blood vessels, causing blood to pool or collect in

638-662: Is a type of melanocytic nevus , the medical term for what is colloquially called a "mole", found in infants at birth. Occurring in about 1% of infants in the United States , it is located in the area of the head and neck 15% of the time, but may occur anywhere on the body. It may appear as light brown in fair-skinned people, to almost black in people with darker skin. Coming in a variety of sizes and appearances, they may be irregular in shape and flat, or raised and lumpy in appearance and feel. Such naevi can also manifest themselves as beauty marks , which most commonly appear on

SECTION 10

#1732793456886

696-437: Is blue, although they can be blue-gray, blue-black or even deep brown. The Mongolian spot is a congenital developmental condition exclusively involving the skin . The blue colour is caused by melanocytes , melanin -containing cells, that are deep under the skin. Usually, as multiple spots or one large patch, it covers one or more of the lumbosacral area (lower back ), the buttocks , sides, and shoulders . It results from

754-674: Is present at birth or appears shortly after birth—usually in the first month. Birthmarks can occur anywhere on the skin. They are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels , melanocytes , smooth muscle , fat , fibroblasts , or keratinocytes . Dermatologists divide birthmarks into two types: pigmented birthmarks and vascular birthmarks. Pigmented birthmarks caused by excess skin pigment cells include: moles , café au lait spots , and Mongolian spots . Vascular birthmarks, also called red birthmarks, are caused by increased blood vessels and include macular stains (salmon patches), hemangiomas , and port-wine stains . A little over 1 in 10 babies have

812-662: The Golden Legend , he was born at Montpellier , at that time "upon the border of France," as the Golden Legend has it, the son of the noble governor of that city. His birth was accounted a miracle, for his noble mother had been barren until she prayed to the Virgin Mary . Miraculously marked from birth with a red cross on his breast that grew as he did, he early began to manifest strict asceticism and great devoutness; on days when his "devout mother fasted twice in

870-484: The Scuola Grande is famous for its sequence of paintings by Tintoretto , who painted Roch in glory in a ceiling canvas (1564). It is known for certain that the body of Roch was carried from Voghera, instead of Montpellier as previously thought, to Venice in 1485. Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) built a church and a hospital in his honour. Pope Paul III (1534–1549) instituted a confraternity of St. Roch. This

928-933: The Basque Country . Saint Roch is known as " São Roque " in Portuguese, as " Sant Roc " in Catalan, as " San Roque " in Spanish (including in former colonies of the Spanish colonial empire such as the Philippines ), as " San Rocco " in Italian and as " Sveti Rok " in Slovenian and Croatian. The chronology of the Saint's life is uncertain and full of legendary elements. According to his Acta and his vita in

986-749: The Battle of Llucmajor on 25 October 1349. Then, the Kingdom of Majorca was definitively incorporated into the Crown of Aragon. The extinction of the Kingdom of Majorca was inevitable given the conflicts by which it was affected: the Hundred Years War between France and England ; the War with the Benimerines , which involved Castile and the Crown of Aragon as well as attempts by the Genoese to make

1044-628: The Low Countries , Argentina, Brazil, and Germany, where he was often interpolated into the roster of the Fourteen Holy Helpers , whose veneration spread in the wake of the Black Death . The 16th-century Scuola Grande di San Rocco and the adjacent church of San Rocco were dedicated to him by a confraternity at Venice , where his body was said to have been surreptitiously translated and was triumphantly inaugurated in 1485;

1102-411: The face , neck or arms . Café au lait spot macules may occur anywhere on the body. They are most commonly oval in shape and light brown, or milk coffee, in color. These birthmarks may be present at birth, or appear in early childhood, and do not fade much with age. One or two on an individual is common; however, four or more may be an indicator of neurofibromatosis . In the event of weight gain,

1160-456: The Balearics a satellite state. The Kingdom of Majorca, which had bonds of vassalage with the crowns of France (through Montpellier) and Aragon, could not remain neutral during the conflicts. In addition, increased taxes to fund the kingdom's treasury during its neutrality caused substantial unrest. The Kingdom of Majorca continued for nearly another four hundred years in personal union with

1218-461: The Black Death into perspective of God's secure and benevolent plan for humankind." The plague votives functioned both to request intercessory aid from plague saints and to provide catharsis for a population that had just witnessed the profound bodily destruction of the plague. Showing plague saints such as Roch and Sebastian invoked the memory of the human suffering experienced by Christ during

SECTION 20

#1732793456886

1276-611: The Conqueror died in 1276, the Crown of Aragon passed to his eldest surviving son Peter , known as Peter III of Aragon or Peter the Great . The Kingdom of Majorca passed to James, who reigned under the name of James II of Majorca . After 1279, Peter III of Aragon established that the King of Majorca was a vassal to the King of Aragon, but this caused tensions between the two Kingdoms in

1334-653: The Crown of Aragon, retaining its own viceroy and political identity. However, during the War of the Spanish Succession the Crown of Aragon mostly backed the claims of the Archduke Charles and with his defeat the victorious Philip V of Spain abolished the kingdom via the Nueva Planta decrees in 1715. Birthmark A birthmark is a congenital , benign irregularity on the skin which

1392-473: The Kingdom of Majorca as a prelude to invasion. In May 1343, Peter IV invaded the Balearic Islands and followed that in 1344 with the invasions of the counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya . James III was able to keep only his French possessions. After the sale of these possessions to the King of France in 1349, James III left for Majorca to reconquer his possessions, but he was defeated and killed at

1450-562: The Mass for two centuries, to the Catholic Church Martyrology , thereby fixing August 16 as his universal feast day. Numerous brotherhoods have been instituted in his honour. He is usually represented in the garb of a pilgrim, often lifting his tunic to demonstrate the plague sore, or bubo , in his thigh, and accompanied by a dog carrying a loaf in its mouth. The Third Order of Saint Francis , by tradition, claims him as

1508-465: The Passion. In the art of Roch after 1477, the saint displayed the wounds of his martyrdom without evidence of pain or suffering. Roch actively lifted his clothing to display the plague bubo on his thigh. This display of his plague bubo showed that "he welcomed his disease as a divinely sent opportunity to imitate the sufferings of Christ... [his] patient endurance [of the physical suffering of plague was]

1566-669: The Thrissur Archdiocese called St. Rocky's Church Pootharakkal . There is a huge statue of the saint about 24 feet in height (the first and only one in Asia). There is a special holy mass and Novena every Thursday. Roch received renewed attention and veneration during the COVID-19 pandemic . Following the Black Death, especially the Italian plague epidemic of 1477–79, new images of Christian martyrs and saints appeared and Roch gained new fame and popularity. The religious art of

1624-399: The affected area. Over time, port-wine stains may become thick or develop small ridges or bumps, and do not fade with age. Such birthmarks may have emotional or social repercussions. Port-wine stains occur in 0.3% of the population, equally among males and females. They frequently express unilaterally, i.e., on only one side, not crossing the midline of the body. Often on the face, marks on

1682-493: The birthmark can stretch with the skin and become larger. A Mongolian blue spot (dermal melanocytosis) is a benign flat congenital birthmark with wavy borders and irregular shape, most common among East Asians and Turkic people (excluding Turks of Asia Minor ), and named after Mongolians . It is also extremely prevalent among East Africans and Native Americans . It normally disappears three to five years after birth and almost always by puberty . The most common color

1740-430: The bread, discovered Roch and brought him home to recover. On his way back to return incognito to Montpellier, he was arrested at Voghera as a spy (by orders of his own uncle) and thrown into prison, where he languished five years and died on 16 August 1327, without revealing his name. After his death, according to the Golden Legend ; anon an angel brought from heaven a table divinely written with letters of gold into

1798-425: The cells that line blood vessels . It usually appears during the first weeks of life and resolves by age 10. It is the most common tumor of infancy . PHACES Syndrome , a rare condition that often involves brain , heart , and arterial abnormalities, is generally accompanied by the presence of large facial hemangiomas. In such cases, what appears to be a small bruise or birthmark may grow rapidly and take on

Saint Roch - Misplaced Pages Continue

1856-402: The confidence in which renaissance worshipers sought to access supernatural aid in overcoming the ravages of the plague. The very abundance of means by which people invoked the aid of the celestial court is essential in understanding Renaissance responses to the disease. Rather than depression or resignation, people "possessed a confidence that put even an apocalyptic disaster of the magnitude of

1914-457: The entrapment of melanocytes in the dermis during their migration from the neural crest to the epidermis during embryonic development. Among those who are not aware of the background of the Mongolian spots, it may sometimes be mistaken for a bruise indicative of child abuse. Colloquially called a " stork bite", " angel 's kiss" or " salmon patch", telangiectatic nevus appears as

1972-414: The fact that his mother stepped on a toad several months before his birth. In another case, a large red mark on a baby's cheek was caused by the mother seeing a man shot down at her side, when the discharge of the gun threw some of the blood and brains into her face. Other explanations claimed that birthmarks shaped like food were the direct result of the mother's pregnancy cravings , or the mother touching

2030-513: The following decades. Finally, in 1344 the Kingdom of Majorca was invaded by King Peter IV of Aragon and brought under the Crown of Aragon, remaining a constituent Kingdom, but with the same King, until its dissolution in 1715 by one of the Nueva Planta decrees . The kingdom included the Balearic Islands : Majorca , Menorca , Ibiza and Formentera . The king was also lord of the mainland counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya , and

2088-437: The fragility of the Kingdom of Majorca, James I undertook the conquest of Cerdanya to unify the new kingdom. He also entered into negotiations to arrange the marriage of his son James to Beatrice of Savoy , daughter of Amadeus IV, Count of Savoy . Neither plan was successful. On the death of James I, the new King of Majorca, James II , decided not to pay tribute to Peter III of Aragon . Preoccupied with diverse problems within

2146-449: The hospital of Nostra Signora di Betlemme , he himself finally fell ill. He withdrew into the forest, where he made himself a hut of boughs and leaves, which was miraculously supplied with water by a spring that arose in the place; he would have perished had not a dog belonging to a nobleman named Gothard Palastrelli supplied him with bread and licked his wounds, healing them. Count Gottardo Pallastrelli, following his hunting dog that carried

2204-471: The new King James II of Aragon was required to restore the Balearics to James II of Majorca. On the death of James II of Majorca's son Sancho in 1324, James III took the throne at the age of nine, necessitating a regency council headed by his uncle Philip to govern the realm. The situation was difficult since James II of Aragon did not renounce his claim to the Majorcan throne. In 1325, Philip secured

2262-412: The origin of birthmarks. Occasionally, it was said that children could be 'marked' or 'imprinted' upon by scares or frights given to the mother during the pregnancy, which draws on the outdated theory of maternal impression : Children are also said to be marked by some sudden fright or unpleasant experience of the mother, and I have myself seen a pop-eyed, big-mouthed idiot whose condition is ascribed to

2320-437: The perspective of Saint Roch's dog entitled 'His Dog and Pilgrim' in his 1983 collection Later On . The breaking of a statue of Saint Roch is a crucial incident in the 1934 novel Clochemerle by Gabriel Chevallier . In Albert Camus ' 1947 novel The Plague , worshippers in the cathedral of Oran are seen gathered around the statue of Saint Roch. In the 1992 science fiction novel Doomsday Book by Connie Willis ,

2378-505: The plague votive, was considered a talisman for warding off the plague. It portrayed a particular saint as an intercessor between God and the person or persons who commissioned the painting – usually a town, government, lay confraternity, or religious order to atone for the "collective guilt" of the community. Rather than a society depressed and resigned to repeated epidemics, these votives represent people taking positive steps to regain control over their environment. Paintings of Roch represent

Saint Roch - Misplaced Pages Continue

2436-451: The prison, which he laid under the head of S. Rocke. And in that table was written that God had granted to him his prayer, that is to wit, that who that calleth meekly to S. Rocke he shall not be hurt with any hurt of pestilence The townspeople recognized him as well by his birthmark ; he was soon canonized in the popular mind, and a great church erected in veneration. The date (1327) asserted by Francesco Diedo for Roch's death would precede

2494-466: The ranks of the saints;" the ambassador had warned a cardinal of the general scandal that would result if the widely venerated San Rocco were impugned as an impostor. Sixtus did not pursue the matter but left it to later popes to proceed with the canonization process. His successor, Pope Gregory XIV (1590–1591), added Roch of Montpellier, who had already been memorialized in the Holy Sacrifice of

2552-421: The realm, it was not until 1279 when the Majorcan monarch reconciled to have his states recognized as subordinate to the king of Aragon. As a consequence the Kingdom of Majorca could not hold court, and the King of Majorca was forced to go to Catalonia to present tribute to the King of Aragon. By means of the Treaty of Perpignan in 1279, an imbalance of power between the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Majorca

2610-470: The renunciation by the Aragonese king of any claim on the rights of succession of the Majorcan throne after the repayment of a great debt incurred by Sancho during an invasion by Sardinia . While the act solved the problem of succession, it also plunged the kingdom into a serious financial crisis. James was forced to develop policies similar to that of Aragon's. To that end, he was forced to participate in

2668-452: The term "plague" was used to indicate a whole array of illnesses and epidemics. The first literary account is an undated Acta that is labelled, by comparison with the longer, elaborated accounts that were to follow, Acta Breviora , which relies almost entirely on standardized hagiographic topoi to celebrate and promote the cult of Roch. The story that when the Council of Constance

2726-586: The territories James I kept in Occitania : the signory of Montpellier , the viscountcy of Carlat in Auvergne , and the barony of Aumelas , contiguous with Montpellier. The legacy of James I included the creation of a strategic Mediterranean enclave, including territories between two large kingdoms, the Capetians of France and the Crown of Aragon, which were in constant conflict at the time. Conscious of

2784-409: The time emphasized the importance of the saint to plague-ridden Christians. The new plague-related images of Roch were drawn from a variety of sources. Plague texts dating from ancient and classical times, as well as Christian, scientific and folk beliefs, all contributed to this emerging visual tradition. Some of the most popular symbols of plague were swords, darts, and most especially arrows. There

2842-481: The traumatic advent of the Black Death in Europe (1347–49) after long centuries of absence, for which a rich iconography of the plague, its victims and its protective saints was soon developed, in which the iconography of Roche finds its historical place: previously the topos did not exist. In contrast, however, St. Roch of Montpellier cannot be dismissed based on the dates of a specific plague event. In medieval times,

2900-583: The upper eyelid or forehead may be indicative of a condition called Sturge–Weber syndrome . Additionally, port-wine stains in these locations may be associated with glaucoma and seizures . Most birthmarks are harmless and do not require treatment. Pigmented marks can resolve on their own over time in some cases. Vascular birthmarks may require reduction or removal for cosmetic reasons. Treatments include administering oral or injected steroids , dermatological lasers to reduce size and/or color, or dermatologic surgery . Many explanations were given to explain

2958-508: The war against the Republic of Genoa (1329–1336), which resulted in the loss of various economic markets for the kingdom. Again, it was necessary to impose new taxes and fines, which were levied on the Jewish community, though this was insufficient to resolve the financial crisis. The problems of the kingdom did not appear to have an end since in 1341, Peter IV of Aragon closed relations with

SECTION 50

#1732793456886

3016-540: The week, and the blessed child Rocke abstained him twice also when his mother fasted in the week and would suck his mother but once that day." On the death of his parents in his twentieth year he distributed all his worldly goods among the poor, entered the Franciscan Third Order , and set out as a mendicant pilgrim for Rome, although his father on his deathbed had designated him governor of Montpellier. Coming into Italy during an epidemic of plague , he

3074-597: Was a realm on the east coast of Spain, which included certain Mediterranean Islands , and which was founded by James I of Aragon , also known as James the Conqueror after his Conquest of Majorca from the Muslim Almohad Caliphate . In a will written in 1262 after the death of his firstborn son Alfonso, he ceded the kingdom to his third son James . The disposition was maintained during successive versions of his will and so when James

3132-464: Was also a prevalence of memento mori themes, dark clouds, and astrological signs (signa magna) such as comets, which were often referenced by physicians and writers of plague tracts as causes of plague. The physical symptoms of plague – a raised arm, a tilted head, or a collapsed body – began to symbolize plague in post-Black Death paintings. Plague saints offered hope and healing before, during, and after times of plague. A specific style of painting,

3190-414: Was created. The Aragonese king maintained the political and economic control of Aragon over the Kingdom of Majorca, reestablishing the unified jurisdiction of the Crown of Aragon, which was broken by the will of James I. This treaty would condition relations between the Kingdom of Majorca and the Crown of Aragon throughout the former's existence. The lack of a parliament later aggravated the destabilization of

3248-608: Was raised to an archconfraternity in 1556 by Pope Paul IV ; it still thrives today. Roch had not been officially recognized as yet as a saint, however. In 1590 the Venetian ambassador at Rome reported back to the Serenissima that he had been repeatedly urged to present the witnesses and documentation of the life and miracles of San Rocco, already deeply entrenched in the Venetian life, because Pope Sixtus V "is strong in his opinion either to canonize him or else to remove him from

3306-464: Was threatened with plague in 1414, public processions and prayers for the intercession of Roch were ordered, and the outbreak ceased, is provided by Francesco Diedo, the Venetian governor of Brescia , in his Vita Sancti Rochi , 1478. The cult of Roch gained momentum during the bubonic plague that passed through northern Italy in 1477–79. His popularity, originally in central and northern Italy and at Montpellier, spread through Spain, France, Lebanon ,

3364-497: Was very diligent in tending the sick in the public hospitals at Acquapendente , Cesena , Rimini , Novara , and Rome, and is said to have effected many miraculous cures by prayer and the sign of the cross and the touch of his hand . At Rome, according to the Golden Legend, he preserved the "cardinal of Angleria in Lombardy" by making the mark of the cross on his forehead, which miraculously remained. Ministering at Piacenza at

#885114