The Holy Kinship

THE HOLY KINSHIP

The Holy Kinship refers to the extended family of Jesus descended from His grandmother St. Anne. According to popular legend, five of the twelve apostles were actually related to Christ. The Virgin Mary had two half-sisters, Mary Cleopas and Mary Salome, who bore St. James the Less, St. Simon, St. Jude, St. James the Greater, and St. John the Evangelist. Therefore these apostles were Jesus's cousins. The holy women often referred to in the Gospels were identified as his aunts. Their familial relationship was celebrated as the Holy Kinship and emphasized the political/familial ties that were essential to late medieval life.

St. Anne, married to St. Joachim, was without child for several years. At this time, the Jews construed barrenness to be a punishment from God, therefore once when Joachim went to the Temple to sacrifice with the men of his tribe, he was rebuked by the high priest who saw Joachim as cursed by God's law and therefore unfit to offer a sacrifice. Seeking the desert in his despair Joachim was visited by an angel who told him he would give birth to a daughter, Mary, who would bare the Son of God. At the same time, an angel appeared to Anne and gave her a similar message. When Joachim returned home, Anne conceived and eventually gave birth. Catholic tradition believes that Mary alone out of all mankind was conceived without original sin.
Soon after Mary was dedicated at the Temple, Joachim died. According to Jewish custom, his brother, Cleopas then took Anne to be his wife. Again a daughter was born and again she was named Mary Cleopas. When afterwards he died, his brother Salomas took Anne as a wife. Another daughter, Mary Salome, was born to them. Mary was betrothed to Joseph when she conceived Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and she is believed to have perpetually retained her irginity. Her half-sisters were respectively wed to Alpheus and Zebedee. Mary Cleopas gave birth to four sons, three of which numbered among Christ's Apostles: St. James the Less, St. Simon, and St. Jude. Likewise Mary Salome bore two future Apostles: St. James the Greater and St. John the Evangelist. Not only were five of the twelve apostles related to Christ by blood, the three Marys appear in the Gospel accounts of the resurrection. Included among the cousins of Christ is St. John the Baptist, who was born of St. Elizabeth, the daughter of St. Anne's sister, Hismeria.
In medieval times, Christ's life served as paradigm for one's own life. Therefore, the bonds of extended family as seen in Christ's life affirmed the social and economic significance of the family, especially with the generation of a middle class in the later Middle Ages. If one were neither of noble birth nor a peasant, he would show one's power through alliances with other important families and displays of wealth. Some mercantile families, such as the Clopton's of Long Melford, even adopted a coat of arms. Therefore, one's family and their connections defined an individual's place within society. Thus, the bond of family was expected and natural for Christians of the Middle Ages.

OXAS1 Oxford, antechapel east window on north, Holy Kinship: St. Ann teaching the Virgin to read, 1440s. © Raguin/MMK.

OXAS2 Oxford, antechapel east window on north, Holy Kinship: Mary Salome and two children, the future apostles St. James and St. John the Evangelist, 1440s. © Raguin/MMK.

OXAS3 Oxford, antechapel east window on north, Holy Kinship: Mary Cleophas and four children, the future apostles St. James the Less, St. Simon, and St. Jude, 1440s. © Raguin/MMK.

GMPC4 Great Malvern, Priory Church, west window (originally nave clerestory), Virgin and Christ Child; Mary Salome and two children, the future apostles St. James and St. John the Evangelist, c. 1485 © Raguin/MMK.

Mary Cleophas and husband Alpheus and four children, the future apostles St. James the Less, St. Simon, and St. Jude. Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, York, 1470 © Raguin/MMK.

Mary Salome , husband Zebedee and two children, the future apostles St. James and St. John the Evangelist. (James, at foot, a stopgap showing a female saint) Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, York, 1470 © Raguin/MMK.