Bay 21 - The Life of St Julien the Hospitaller | |||||||
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Index to panels: | |||||
01 - Signature
panel (Carpenters building a house) 04 - Julien with his parents and siblings 12 - Julien and his troops departing for war 22 - Julien and his wife leave their home as pilgrims 27 - Christ, accompanied by an angel, approaching the river 30 - Julien and his wife die and their souls are carried up by angels
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Overview: | |||||||
Medieval Christendom's curious take on the Oedipus myth, St Julien is a man who accidentally kills his own parents and then spends the rest of his life making amends. The story depicted here is an early version, quite different from the better known medieval French verse Vie de Saint Julien (BNF Arsenal ms.3516. f.84) and the similar Golden Legend version. In this version, Julien's origins are humble and the doom-laden prophecy he receives from a hunted animal is omitted. Instead, he is separated from his parents at the begining - they, unable to support their expanding family, place their eldest son in the service of a virtuous lord. He takes a liking to the young Julien, elevating him from his humble roots and giving him the hand of his daughter. Julien becomes a knight and goes away to fight. In his absence, his true parents arrive at his castle, seeking their long-lost son. Julien's wife, in honour of their status as her parents in law, places them in the master bedroom. Julien returns home late at night without meeting any of his household. Entering his bedchamber he sees two people asleep in his own bed and assuming it to be his wife and a lover, he unwittingly slays his parents. When his wife explains what has happened, Julien is beset by remorse for his rashness and the couple depart to spend the rest of the days serving the poor in atonement for his sin. Eventually they build a hostel and take over a ferry service to aid poor pilgrims. One dark and stormy night Christ comes to test Julien and after the saint fearlessly ferries Him across the swollen waters, Julien and his wife are allowed to die in peace, their sainthood assured. | |||||||
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