| Saint
Martha
Provençal
Christian tradition recounts that Martha, Marie-Magdeiene,
Lazarus and other saints ( as weii as fourteen bishops )
were thrown into an open boat with no sails or oars in 50
Palestine, they were said to have landed in the Camargue
around 48 AD. Martha went up the Rhône and reached
Tarascon where a dreadful monster lived in a den beside
the river the Tarasque. On being implored by the people
ofTarascon, Saint Martha captured the monster and handed
it over to them, they tore it to pieces and then were converted
to the new religion. Saint Martha settled in Tarascon where
she died in 68 AD. The relics of Saint Martha were hidden
to avoid the destmctive rage ofthe Saracens. In 1199, a
beautiful Romanesque church was consecratedin her name,
the very fine porch stiil remains. Many fervent piigrims
came to pray before the tomb ofthe Saint and it was thus
quite naturaiiy that monasteries, the homes of prayers and
meditation, grew up in this area. |
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The
Tarasque
There
vas at that time ( .. ) a dragon, haif animal, halffish,
wider than an ox, longer than a horse, with teeth like swords,
the size ofhorns, which bore a shieid on either side”.
This was the description given by Jacques De Voragine in”
The Golden Legend” ( about 1255 ) ofthe amphibious
monster known as the Tarasque.
in the numerous representations and descriptions ofthe monster
which preyed on the banks of the Rhône, certain particularities
are recurrent the length ofthe body, the enormous head with
its fearful mouth, the spiny skin, the short legs and long
tau.
The image ofthe Tarasque bas been shown in many ways through
the centuries. On the seal ofthe Consuls, the coat of arms
ofthe town, the coins ofthe Counts ofProvence, sculpted
on the doors ofthe churches, on a capital ofthe cloister,
it is aiways shown as a reptile lizard, tortoise, dragon,
snake or a monster composed ofdifferent parts ofthese animais.
it had to be an amphibious animal ofgreat size, perhaps
a crocodile. The animal must have come up the Rhône
after the wreck opfa ship carrying it to some neighbouring
amphitheatre and the marshy Rhône delta offered it
a warm and sure haven. This would also explain why the monster
was so badly represented, it was foreign to the area and,
of course, had oniy been glimpsed from a distance. So. because
the descriptions were not precise. artists used their imagination
freely representations vary from a snake to a dragon.
The first document supporting the religious tradition dates
only from the first halfofthe 91h century. It is a rnanuscript
attributed to Raban Maur, Archbishop ofMayence and found
in the Oxford Library. The learned prelate declared that
he had knowledge of a Life of Saint Martha written in the
5th century. The devastations ofthe Saracens in the 81h
century explain why ail local documents disappeared. in
particular, the church which, at the time ofthis invasion,
was above the crypt, was piliaged, burnt down and so completely
destroyed that no trace of it remains. However, the discoverv
ofnev elements ( manuscripts, sarcophagi, primitive altars,
inscriptions) widely support the tradition. The crypt ofthe
present church attests to the existence ofa Christian colony
in the 1s1 century AD.
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