But how did the saint end up in Venice, of all places?
According to the legend, the Apostle and Evangelist Mark came to northeastern Italy as a missionary at the request of St. Peter. There, he first founded the Archdiocese of Aquileia (which also included the area that would one day become Venice).
On one of these missionary journeys - Venice is rich in such legends - the saint lost his way in the lagoon and settled on an island as darkness fell. In a dream, an angel appeared to him and greeted him with the words "pax tibi Marce" (Latin for "Peace be with you, Mark" - which, incidentally, is written in the book the lion holds in its paw).
Normally, the Lion of St. Mark is depicted with an open book. In times of war, however, he was depicted with a closed book. So much for "pax tibi"...
The angel prophesied that this very spot would one day become his final resting place and the site of his greatest veneration. And with a little help from the resourceful Venetians, that is exactly what happened.
Mark's travels took him further to the Egyptian city of Alexandria, which he was able to win over to Christianity and where he likewise established a bishopric. It was there that he also suffered his martyrdom. The pagan faction captured him and dragged him to his death, bound with ropes. The Alexandrian Christians buried him in his cathedral.
In the 9th century, however, the city was in the hands of the Muslim Saracens. Their caliph ordered the construction of a magnificent palace. Parts of the Christian churches were also used as building material. This put the evangelist's final resting place in danger.
Two Venetian merchants (Rusticus and Bonus, who happened to be in Alexandria at the time and were just praying in the Church of St. Mark) were informed of the caliph's alarming plans. The Venetians did not hesitate and devised a plan to remove the saint's relic.
First, they had to convince the reluctant monks that it would be better to hand over the relic to them than to let the Saracens mistreat it. Their persuasion succeeded. But how were they to get the relic out of the city?
Bonus and Rusticus fervently implored the saint for assistance. And so it came to pass that a violent storm broke over the city just as they were carrying his body out of the church. Thus they managed to leave the church unnoticed with their prize. But how were they to get past the Muslim customs officials?
They knew just what to do here as well. They transported the corpse, which smelled so "wonderfully," in a box covered with pork. The customs officers were so repulsed by this that they let the Venetians pass unchecked. In a miraculously swift journey, they brought the corpse to Venice on January 31, where it was received with great ceremony.
They intended to bring the precious relic to the Doge's Palace. However, during transport there, precisely at the spot where his church would later stand, it became so heavy that even several men could no longer carry the deceased. Only when the Doge vowed to build a church for the saint at that very spot did the body lift and allow itself to be carried to its temporary resting place.
So much for the story - or as they say, not just in Venice: "Se non è vero, è ben trovato?" (If it isn't true, then it's a good story!)
At that time, Venice was embroiled in fierce disputes with the Archdiocese of Aquileia over an independent Venetian diocese. Now that the missionary from the Archdiocese of Aquileia was in Venice, not even the Pope could deny the Serenissima its own diocese.
Quite a few historians have therefore claimed that Rusticus and Bonus did not come to Alexandria as merchants at all, but were simply on a mission to resolve the vexing diocese issue once and for all in Venice's favor by stealing the saint's relic.
Nor did it detract from the veneration of the saint or the belief in the presence of the relic that the body disappeared several times over the course of time and then repeatedly reappeared, miraculously intact - Venice is rich in such miracles as well.
Comment
Is it certain that the two Venetian relic experts, Rusticus and Bono, found and took the right body (after all, seven centuries had passed)?
If so, it's a shame that it was lost so soon: since the Venetians feared that the Alexandrian Christians would want their Mark back, they hid the relic in a secret place in St. Mark's Basilica for safety's sake - a place known only to the Doge and his closest advisors.
During the uprising against the tyrannical Doge Orseolo in 976, St. Mark's Basilica burned down - and since the Doge was murdered, no one knew where Mark was anymore!
Of course, they kept this to themselves - and, wonderfully, more than 100 years later, the miracle occurred: St. Mark himself extended his hand from the column in which his body had been hidden - still visible today in a magnificent mosaic in the right transept! The solemn burial of the rediscovered relic coincided with the consecration of the magnificent new St. Mark's Basilica in 1094.
Conclusion: whoever Rustico and Bono brought back from Alexandria, whoever was buried in the crypt in 1094 - under the banner of St. Mark, the Venetians became the most powerful maritime power of the Middle Ages.
An article by
Dr. Susanne Kunz Saponaro.