Etienne, This is very interesting. thank you. I didn't know the connection of Saint Valentine with healing epilepsy. In the time I mentioned, there were quite a number with the given name Valentin in Niederroedern and in my family they were Lutheran. Hmm? Gloria On 2 10, 2008, at 7:10 PM, Etienne HERRBACH wrote: > > Gloria and all listers, > > > Valentin (feminine Valentine) does exist in Alsace, but is not very > common. The > surname VALENTIN also occurs. Only one Catholic parish church is > dedicated > to this saint: Attenschwiller, near the Swiss border, not from from > Basel. > > In Medieval hagiotherapy (i.e. Catholic saints supposed to heal > specific > diseases), saint Valentin was associated to epilepsy. The reason why > seems to > be the homology between the German pronounciation ("Fallentin") and > "fallende > Krankheit" (litt. "falling disease") designating epilepsy. > > In Rouffach there was a small convent called "prieuré Saint Valentin" > were many > people suffering from this disease and other similar disorders came as > pilgrims > with the hope to heal. I have found a trace of this pilgrimage as far > as in > Allgäu, Bavaria. The convent disappeared after the 1789 Revolution. > In 1909, > when the authorities looked for a site where to build the psychiatric > hospital > for the Departement haut-Rhin, they chose Rouffach - however for other > reasons > than the past convent. > > Source: G. LESER, Rouffach, de l'asile au centre hospitalier, 90 ans de > psychiatrie, 1999. > > Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! > > Etienne > > > > > > > > -- > Resources for Alsace-Lorraine list members: > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~valorie/Alsace-Lorraine-L.htm > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ALSACE-LORRAINE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Domaine de Curé Luxury Gîtes (vacation apartments) in centuries old farmhouse near Carcassonne, France Jean-Noël Ishida and Agathe Moréchand-Ishida http://www.domaine-cure.com/