December 2: Chromatius

St. Jerome, St. Chromatius, St. Heliodorus

December 2 is the feast of Chromatius, bishop of Aquileia in Italy, who died in 406. He is one of those minor early Church Fathers who don’t get a lot of press, and he shows up in only in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Calendars, but he’s definitely worth more than a cursory glance.… Continue reading December 2: Chromatius

December 1: Anna Komnene

Twelfth Century manuscript of the Alexiad, now in the Bibloteca Medicea Laurenziana

When I was in grammar school, I read a lot of biographies of men and women from different countries and time periods. While women frequently faced specific prejudices because they were women, men faced similar prejudices because they were poor, or from the wrong family, or not educated at the right university. It seemed that… Continue reading December 1: Anna Komnene

November 29: Anthony Browne

Anthony Browne, National Portrait Gallery detail

For today: Anthony Browne, First Viscount Montagu, born Nov 29, 1528. He’s important to us as an example of the man who is a member of the loyal opposition. Anthony Browne was the eldest son of a knight of considerable wealth whose estates included Battle Abbey and Hatchlands Park in Surrey and Sussex, and who… Continue reading November 29: Anthony Browne