Gulyás Éva: Egy őszi pásztorünnep és európai párhuzamai: Adatok a Vendel-kultusz magyarországi kutatásához – Szolnok megyei múzeumok közleményei 42. (1986)

medieval times he appears more and more frequnetly as a patron of animals and herdsmen (Vieh- und Hirtenpatron). This duty of his became so popular among the people that it suppressed all of his former patronates. His cult was spreading in ever larger areas (South-Germany, France, Switzerland, East-Belgium, Austria with the centre being Bavaria and Tyrol), gradually superseding the other patrons of animals with similar duties, such as Leonard and Anthony. According to A. Selzer, it was of utmost improtance in the spread of the cult in Europe that there had been livestock markets organized in the town of St. Wendelinus for a long period, with shepherds and merchants coming together from Central- and East-Germany, and from the Rhineland. Hornberger says that itinerant sheep-farming from the South-German ares and from the Rhineland must also have played an important role in it. The patronate of shepherds (Schaferpatron, Schaferheilige) of the Saint developed during the time of counter-reformation in the 17—18th centuries, prevailing later in the legend and in fine arts. The veneration to Wendelinus was taken up by the Hungarian people in the middle of the 18th century, with the attributes formed in German-speaking areas as the patron of shepherds. The earliest Hungarian relics of the cult of Wendelinus originate from the Trandanubial area, from the west of the country. In the church of the village of Ujkér (Győr-Sopron county), in the northwestern part of the country bordering Austria, stands, his statue, in rococo style, from the 18th century. Another early relic of his depicts him together with Saint Leonard, in a votive picture offered by the town of Kőszeg (GyőrSopron county) in the time of cattlepestilence in 1746. According to Sándor Bálint the diocese of Veszprém is very rich in Wendelinus-relics as a result of the activity of the priest of Veszprém, Márton Biró of Padány (1696-1763) propagating the veneration to Wendelinus. In this land he is a frequent accessory figure of statues to the Holy Trinity and of stonecrosses with several figures, and also occurs in niches of facades on houses. Characteristically to portrayings of Saint Wendelinus in the Transdanubial area his figure occurs together with other saints of similar function. He is present beside Saint Leonard, the patron of animals, frequently, mainly in areas bordering Austria, being an accessory figure of altars to Leonard, a patron of churches and chapels (Győr-Sopron county). He also appears beside the patrons of the plague victims, Sebastian and Roch (counties of Zala and Somogy), together with Donath and Flroian 138