Our Lady’s Grandmother

Last updated on: October 2, 2014 at 7:01 pm by David Mills

Our Lady’s Grandmother 2014-10-02T19:01:58-04:00 David Mills

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According to an Irish scholar publishing in the Journal of Medieval History. This is a story from late 2010, but I hadn’t heard about it, so pass it on. From Discovery News:

The great-grandmother of Jesus was a woman named Ismeria, according to Florentine medieval manuscripts analyzed by a historian [Catherine Lawless]. . . .

“According to the legend, Ismeria is the daughter of Nabon of the people of Judea, and of the tribe of King David,” wrote Lawless. She married “Santo Liseo,” who is described as “a patriarch of the people of God.” The legend continues that the couple had a daughter named Anne who married Joachim. After 12 years, Liseo died. Relatives then left Ismeria penniless.

“I’m pretty sure one is supposed to believe that it was either her dead husband’s relatives or, less likely, her natal family,” Lawless said. “The family of the Virgin Mary would not have been cast in such a light.”

Ismeria then goes to a hospital where she finds refuge. She is said to perform a miracle, filling a shell with fish to feed all of the hospital’s patients. After this miracle she prays to be taken away from the “vainglory of this world.”

The story had a didactic and spiritual purpose, scholars suggest:

While the author of the Ismeria legend remains unknown, Lawless thinks it could have been a layperson from Tuscany. During the medieval period, “the story may have been used as a model for continent wifehood and active, charitable widowhood in one of the many hospitals of medieval Florence.”

“The grandmother of the Virgin was no widow who threatened the patrimony of her children by demanding the return of her dowry, nor did she threaten the family unit by remarrying and starting another lineage,” she added. “Instead, her life could be seen as an ideal model for Florentine penitential women.”

Mary

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