2026-05-28T16:49:35Zhttps://riuma.uma.es/rest/oai/request

oai:riuma.uma.es:10630/396792026-02-03T11:42:12Zcom_10630_2254col_10630_37956

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc López Gómez, José Carlos author Alvar-Nuño, Antón author 2025 This study explores Bishop Pimenius’ strategic utilization of relics in the 7th-century Iberian diocese of Asido. The objectives are twofold: to explore the network through which Pimenius acquired his relics and to reassess the motivations behind the bishop’s diverse use of these relics in consecrating rural churches within his episcopal jurisdiction. Geolocation and network methodologies, employing Proximal Point Analysis, were conducted to achieve the first objective. Results show that concentrations of saints venerated by Pimenius were primarily in Hispania and Gaul, challenging prior hypotheses of trans-Mediterranean connections. For the second objective, the study links Pimenius’ deposition of relics in rural churches to religious competition, considering both rivalry and collaboration among bishops. The proposed alternative scenario involves religious entrepreneurs, specifically “wandering-beggar priests”, framing the competition as a struggle between institutional power (Pimenius) and charismatic power (wandering priests). Here, we suggest that Pimenius strategically deploys relics to counteract the influence of wandering monks, empowering rural presbyters to consolidate episcopal authority. López Gómez, J. C. and Alvar Nuño, A., “Pimenius and his Network: the Glocal Dimension of Iberian Rural Churches”, in Antón Alvar Nuño, José Carlos López Gómez (eds.), Rural Religious Practices, Networks and Mobility in Post-Roman Iberia, Londres, Routledge, 2025, 196-222 https://hdl.handle.net/10630/39679 10.4324/9781003454618-10 Iglesias medievales - España Religiosidad popular Pimenius and his network. The glocal dimension or rural Iberian churches