Patrozinium#

Patronage, refers to saints (patron saints) to whose protection and intercession a person, a society, a church. or a place is dedicated; in the Catholic Church, patronage of a saint over a church dedicated to him or her is also referred to as titularity. In the early Middle Ages such titularity was often connected with the presence of such a saint's relics; the patronage of a certain saint over a church can also permit conclusions as to the legal entity or individual that had legal title to the church at the time it was founded (St. Martin's churches point to the Carolingians, St. Stephen's churches to the dependence on the Diocese of Passau etc.). Church patronages are commemorated in ecclesiastic and secular festivities (Kirtag, Kirchtag - "village fair") which were frequently the origin of country fairs and fun-fairs.

Literature#