The great-grandmother of Jesus was a woman named Ismeria, according to Florentine medieval manuscripts analyzed by a historian.
The manuscripts suggest that St Ismeria, a descendent of the tribe
of King David, was the grandmother of the Virgin Mary and the
great-grandmother of Jesus, Discovery News reports.
The legend of St Ismeria, presented in the current Journal of Medieval History, sheds light on both the Biblical Virgin Mary’s family and also on religious and cultural values of 14th-century Florence.
“I don’t think any other woman is mentioned” as Mary’s grandmother in
the Bible, Catherine Lawless, author of the paper, told Discovery
News. “Mary’s patrilineal lineage is the only one given.”
“Mary herself is mentioned very little in the Bible,” added Lawless, a
lecturer in history at the University of Limerick. “The huge Marian
cult that has evolved over centuries has very few scriptural sources.”
Lawless studied the St. Ismeria story, which she said has been
“ignored by scholars,” in two manuscripts: the 14th century “MS
Panciatichiano 40″ of Florence’s National Central Library and the 15th
century “MS 1052″ of the Riccardiana Library, also in Florence.
“According to the legend, Ismeria is the daughter of Nabon of the
people of Judea, and of the tribe of King David,” wrote Lawless. She
married “Santo Liseo,” who is described as “a patriarch of the people of
God.”
The legend continues that the couple had a daughter named Anne
who married Joachim.
After 12 years, Liseo died. Relatives then left
Ismeria penniless.
“I’m pretty sure one is supposed to believe that it was either her
dead husband’s relatives or, less likely, her natal family,” Lawless
said. “The family of the Virgin Mary would not have been cast in such a
light.”
Ismeria then goes to a hospital where she finds refuge. She is said
to perform a miracle, filling a shell with fish to feed all of the
hospital’s patients. After this miracle she prays to be taken away from
the “vainglory of this world.”
After God called her to “Paradise,” a rector at the hospital informed
the Virgin Mary and Jesus of her passing. They departed for the
hospital with the 12 Apostles, Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome and Mary
Cleophas. There they paid honor to St. Ismeria, said the report.
While the author of the Ismeria legend remains unknown, Lawless thinks it could have been a layperson from Tuscany.
SIC: CTH/ASIA