Abstract
The purpose of my study is to explore and analyze some didactic elements concerning gender ideals that are found in hagiographies in early medieval Christianity. By studying lives from two traditions that are widely separated in terms of region, Byzantine saints from the East and Anglo-Saxon saints from the West of the Medieval world, I have been able to distinguish elements that are specific to the particular society and reinforced through these stories. Focusing on the portrayal of gender ideals, I have been able tosuggest how the authors have contrived to present, and encourage, specific notions of socially appropriatebehaviors and attitudes. My study, dispelling a popular assumption that saints are mainly celibate martyrs,includes transvestite nuns, repentant harlots, military men, and pious kings. In each case, however, it shows that their veneration, and the creation of the written tradition supporting their cult, is clearly influenced by the desire to provide examples of gendered behavior that the church perceives as appropriate for the society.
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