Domingo de la Calzada, St.
DOMINGO DE LA CALZADA, ST.
Hermit; d. May 12, 1109. Domingo (Dominic), a native of Viloria in the Basque country, was first a shepherd. He was drawn to the religious life, and sought admittance to a Benedictine monastery; he was rejected because of his ignorance and his uncouth appearance. However, he was ordained by gregory of ostia, and became his companion. Upon Gregory's death (1044), he became a hermit in a forbidding forest near the Oja River. The presence of numerous cluniac reform monasteries in Spain and the lure of the Reconquista in the closing decades of the 11th century enhanced the reputation of the shrine of santiago de compostela. Pilgrims en route to the Galician holy place had to pass through Dominic's wilderness of Bureba, and for their convenience and safety he constructed a hospice, a bridge, and a road (calzada ). King Alfonso VI of León-Castile admired and aided him.
Feast: May 12.
Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum (Paris 1863–), May 3: 167–179. j. de entrambasaguas y peÑa, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, el ingeniero del cielo (Madrid 1940). a. butler, The Lives of the Saints (New York 1956), 2:289–290, k. lechner, Lexicon für Theologie und Kirche (1957–), 2 3:479–480. c. m. molas, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques (Paris 1912–), 14:609–610.
[a. g. biggs]