ABSTRACT
St. Barbara lived in the third century ad in Nicomedia, the capital of the Roman province of Bithynia. She was the only child of Dioscuros, a high ranking and wealthy man. Later, when Christianity had become firmly established, Barbara was invoked as a protectress against the perils of lightning. The belief had become widespread that Barbara could control thunder and lightning and other manifestations of flame and fire. In western Europe, the veneration of Barbara began in the Netherlands, probably in the fourteenth century. In all European countries endowed with mineral wealth, and especially in those regions or provinces whose prosperity depends so much upon mineral production, the festival of St. Barbara, the patron saint of miners, is celebrated. The Bergakademie Freiberg in Saxony was once recognised as the foremost scientific academy in the world. Among its members were many celebrated scholars in the physical sciences.
