Hagiographical Sources Research Articles

A Difficult Dialogue between Hagiography and Iconography: The Images of the Founders in the Servite Order (13th-16th Centuries)

In 1888, Leo XIII canonised the founders of the Servite Order. For the first time the founder of a religious community was not recognised in a single figure but in a group of confessors. They were canonized six centuries after the Order’s foundation and this process required considerable efforts. The paper deals with the Servite hagiography and the Founders’ iconography, examining intersections and relationships between them from the 14th century up to 1570. The process of transmission of the Founders’ memory was extremely problematic because of the contradictions that marked the group ever since the hermit experience on Mount Senario in the 1240s-1250s. The memory of the origins that has been transmitted to us was written in a completely changed context, when the Order was already formed as mendicant, promoting other blessed friars’ figures, above all Philip of Florence. In this context, the Founders were largely overlooked, as can be seen in few surviving 13th and 14th-centuries hagiographies, such as the Legenda de origine Ordinis or the Legenda beati Philippi, as well as from the absence of figurative representations. From the 17th century, due to the opening of the canonization process, the Founders’ memory underwent a careful review. For this purpose, in the printed Positiones and in the handwritten reports, some medieval-supposed artworks, portraying the Founders, were described. This text explains how the iconographic elaboration in 17th and 18th centuries is the result of a peculiar interpretation of the hagiographic sources of previous centuries, and how this operation was so successful that it led to the canonization of a group of the seven individuals.

Genealogie Kingi i innych świętych władczyń w średniowieczu. Studium hagiograficzne

The present article seeks to define the purpose of the genealogies included in the lives of saintly female rulers. The analysis centres around the Life of Saint Kinga, who died in 1292; she was the daughter of King Bela IV of Hungary and wife of Prince Boleslaw V the Chaste of Cracow. The author also uses other hagiographic sources from the entire period of the Middle Ages and various parts of Europe. These genealogies were to demonstrate that the protagonist of the text inherited her potential to be a saint from her ancestors.

The Cultural Biography of a Pilgrimage Token: From Hagiographical to Archaeological Evidence

Abstract Across the eastern Mediterranean, the personnel of late antique pilgrimage sites distributed terracotta tokens stamped with depictions of saints, scenes from the life of Christ, and related imagery. Using primarily hagiographical sources, scholars associate tokens with healing practices, the veneration of icons, and the worship of relics. Certainly, hagiographies offer valuable representations of ritual processes, but they also make claims on the proper distribution, meaning, and use of tokens amidst a diversity of intercessory activities. How, in practice, was a token produced and distributed? How did pilgrims use tokens at and away from pilgrimage complexes beyond the assertions made by hagiographers? This article answers these questions by tracing the “cultural biography” of a token. It analyzes the archaeological contexts of tokens in order to clarify select statuses that a token might occupy during its lifetime, including commodity, gift, domestic object, funerary object, relic, rubbish, and art object. This approach lays the foundation for examining hagiographical claims regarding the use of tokens as one among many assertions in the contested process of harnessing the power of saints. It illustrates the capacity of devotees to exhibit diverse practices as well as the efforts of personnel at pilgrimage sites to shape those practices.

Transformation in the Lives of Tamil Śaiva bhaktas

Transformation in the Lives of Tamil Śaiva bhaktas The article deals with the tradition of the medieval South-Indian branch of Hinduism, which can be defined here as the religion of Tamil Śaiva bhakti reflected in the poetic compositions (the corpus Tirumuṟai) composed by a group of saints called nāyaṉārs (‘leaders’). Hagiographic sources of this tradition, first of all Periya purāṇam, and the nāyaṉārs’ poetic creations reveal some constant motifs which form a certain pattern, a typology of their legendary life-stories. They include: the encounter of a bhakta with Śiva, a trial (a test of devotion, an initiation, a heroic deed), a participation in the myth, rejection of sexual (family) life, emotional experience and revelation of a poetical gift.

Mocking Parades and the Place of Pagan Statuary in Late Antique Alexandria

Abstract With the present paper I would like to discuss a particular form of procession which we may term mocking parades, a collective ritual aimed at ridiculing cultic objects from competing religious communities. The cases presented here are contextualized within incidents of pagan/Christian violence in Alexandria between the 4th and 5th centuries, entailing in one case the destruction of the Serapeum and in another the pillaging of the Isis shrine at Menouthis on the outskirts of Alexandria. As the literary accounts on these events suggest, such collective forms of mockery played an important role in the context of mob violence in general and of violence against sacred objects in particular. However, while historiographical and hagiographical sources from the period suggest that pagan statues underwent systematic destruction and mutilation, we can infer from the archaeological evidence a vast range of uses and re-adaptation of pagan statuary in the urban space, assuming among other functions that of decorating public spaces. I would like to build on the thesis that the parading of sacred images played a prominent role in the discourse on the value of pagan statuary in the public space. On the one hand, the statues carried through the streets became themselves objects of mockery and violence, involving the population of the city in a collective ritual of exorcism. On the other hand, the images paraded in the mocking parades could also become a means through which the urban space could become subject to new interpretations. Entering in visual contact with the still visible vestiges of the pagan past, with the temples and the statuary of the city, the “image of the city” became affected itself by the images paraded through the streets, as though to remind the inhabitants that the still-visible elements of Alexandria’s pagan topography now stood as defeated witnesses to Christianity’s victory.

OLD GEORGIAN LITERATURE AS HISTORICAL SOURCE (VITAE, MARTYRDOMS), GEORGIAN CASE

Critical approach of history actively started in Georgia from 19th century. This trend also effected on hagiographic monuments. Some scholars were mistrustful for adopting them as historical sources because of miracles and unnatural motives. That is why philologists were more interested in hagiographies than historians.  At the same time historians were publishing, identifying texts and editions, revealing historical people, comparing hagiographic texts. Thus, enormous informational possibility became clear for many researchers. Today there is now doubt that hagiographic monuments (Vitae, Martyrdom) contain significant information while revealing cultural, social, political and economic factors of certain nations. Apart for solving many interesting issue from hagiographies, it is worth interesting to study Georgian hagiographies (with full of historism) in the context of history of mentality and identity.    Years ago I was interested to study ethnic perception. Texts with various ethnic terms provoke me to observe (authentic) hagiographies. Certain conclusions were made through ethnic criteria based on theory of ethnicity. For instance, what was the content of ethnic terms: Relative and Nation? Changes the concept of that terms; How Georgian unity is concerned through centuries; Creating of national heroes in hagiographies and what historical process is related to this issue; What was self-perception and perception towards others. According hagiographic sources ∕ monuments such researches are not novelty not only for Georgian historiography, but foreign historiography as well. Alongside to political history that approach will make history more alive and comprehensive. For investigation I use ethnosymbolistic approach which ethnic markers represent important framework for the paper. According to the Georgian hagiographies of 10th-11th cc. we have deal with different perception of ethnicity towards Georgians, Armenians and Greeks.

LITTLE-KNOWN EVIDENCE OF THE INITIAL PERIOD OF STAY OF ST. PAISIUS OF VELICHKOVSKY IN THE KALIVA PANTOCRATOR MONASTERY ON ATHOS

The article is devoted to the study of the initial period of the stay of St. Paisius Velichkovsky on Mount Athos in 1746 – 1754. Since this issue was not previously subject to detailed study, the study is important in the issue of replenishing the “white spots” not only in the biography of the ascetic, but also in the history of Slavic-Moldavian monasticism on Mount Athos. The author uses little-known sources. The situation of domestic monasticism on Athos during the period under consideration is analyzed, the reasons why Paisy Velichkovsky was forced to eke out a miserable existence at the initial stage and wanted to leave Athos, the issue of his transition from solitary seclusion to dormitory and the creation of his own monastic fraternity is studied in detail. Based on the analysis of sources and evidence, the author establishes the exact location of the Kalivas «Cypress», and other kellius, a well as the initial composition of his monastic community. Based on available sources, the author establishes the name of the long-standing Athos confessor Paisius Velichkovsky - Elder Daniil from the Vatopedi Skete of St. Demetrius. It is noted that these Paisievsky foci on Mount Athos are an important component of the history, spiritual culture, tradition and heritage of Ukrainian and Moldavian monasticism on Mount Athos, and have a special historical and sacred value. Since these holy places are now in an abandoned state, the author emphasizes that they need further research (including archaeological), reconstruction and restoration. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that the article comprehensively investigated the prerequisites and the process of creation and activity of a monastic community under the leadership of the Ukrainian ascetic Rev. Paisiy Velichkovsky in the initial period of his stay on Mount Athos. Based on the analysis of hagiographic sources and published materials, poorly studied aspects of the development and activity of this monastic center on Mount Athos are revealed.

De Saint Médard de Noyon à Saint-Médard de Soissons : hagiographie latine et culte

How did the devotion to Saint-Médard give rise to the abbey bearing his name ? The basilica of Saint-Médard of Soissons was born of the transfer around 556 of the relics of the bishop of Noyon, Saint-Médard (v. 456 —556/557) at the request of Merovigian king, Clotaire I, who had himself buried there. It was completed under his son, Sigebert I, who also had himself buried in it ad sanctum. This article shows how early-medieval Latin hagiographical sources, from the Carmen of Fortunat onwards, enriched the hagiographical tradition, nurtured the devotion to this thaumaturgical saint-bishop, and enhanced one of the most prestigious basilicas of Merovingian Gaul, while also encouraging the appearance of a dynastic sanctuary for the kings of Soissons until other saints appeared to eclipse Saint-Médard.

Оранты Ротонды в Фессалониках: между идеальным и индивидуальным

The article is dedicated to the representations of orants in the Rotunda in Thessaloniki. They are usually interpreted as martyrs, but there is another opinion, which claims that the orants depict donators.With the help of the iconographical analogies and hagiographical sources, the article defends the traditional view on the images. A further point of concern are the artistic features of the mosaics with the focus on treatment of faces of the orants. Being highly individualized, they do give an impression of portraits — an uncommontendency in Early Christian representations of saints, where, instead of stressing the individual characteristics of a person that had once lived, the emphasis tends to be on the over individual afterlife. The faces of martyrs in Rotunda look very close to each other, but in the same time, they demonstrate an extraordinary diversity of characteristics that should be understood as variations on the general type of image. The unity ofthe faces is determined by conventional and abstract artistic means, while a broad set of artistic principles are shaping the inner character and enriching the general scheme. The personal attitude in the representation of saints enables us to compare the images of the Rotunda with the contemporary sculpture portraits. However, a similar tendency towards a generalized image can be traced in the true portraiture as well. Through the comparison of the portrayals of saints and of living persons, the article attempts to reveal the attitude towards personality in the period under discussion.

Житийные сюжеты и мотивы в новой литературе: к вопросу об изучении и классификации

Studying the hagiographic traditions in the literature the modern period, one faces several issues. Firstly, it is assumed that a scholar who compares the hagiographic motifs and plots to the motifs and plots of the modern period, deals with the a hypothetical complex of the already identified and described the hagiographic motifs and plots and all he has to do is to compare them to the motifs and plots of the literature works written in the later times. However, there is no yet such a thing as a complete research on all hagiographic motifs and plots. There are studies of the certain hagiographic texts and the certain types of hagiographic texts, but there is no comprehensive list or index of the hagiographic motifs and plots. Secondly, there is no uniformly accepted scholarly terminology defining what a hagiographic motif is. Can any element of a hagiographic text be considered as such? Should the motif be defined as a unit of a theme or of a plot depending on the theory a scholar chooses to base on: Veselovsky’s vs Tomashevsky’s? How is the term “topos”, which becomes more and more popular among the researchers of the hagiography, related to the hagiographic motifs and plots? Thirdly, the number of the hagiographic and literary texts as well as researches and studies on the subject is so huge that it is only possible to specify some trends of development of the hagiographic elements and traditions in the succeeding literature. The article summarizes and analyzes the existing scientific approaches to the issues of analysis, classification, typology of the hagiographic plots and some hagiographic motifs in the Russian literature of the modern period. The conclusion of the survey is that the modern literature does not need the hagiography as a sapless model; such components of the hagiographic framework as its structure, plot, character, details are transformed from typical, similar to each other, copying the model ones to the unique ones interpreted in new original ways. Usage of the hagiographic sources can not be associated with a certain single genre; the hagiographic elements can be assimilated in any narrative or even in poetry. The literature of the modern period borrows plots, motifs and other elements of the hagiography but it lacks the utilitarian role that the hagiographic texts used to play as calendar reading. Names and dates become just literary symbols, references to some significant analogues but they do not demand to treat a literary character as a hagiographic character. The main purpose of this work is to actualize the discussion on how an index of the hagiographic plots and motifs should be compiled, what a hagiographic motif and plot are, what should be considered hagiographic plots and motifs in later narratives, taking into account that not all the topoi and elements as well as rhetoric and periods, which are recognizable as the indicators of the “hagiographic tradition” in the narrative, can be defined as the motifs in the strict sense of the term.

Frühchristliches Martyrion in der „Nekropole der Heiligen“ von Chersonesos

Early Christian Martyrion in Chersonesos “Necropolis of Saints” The article presents an early Christian cave complex located on the slope of Devich’ya Hill on the suburban south eastern necropolis of Chersonesos. In the late 4th / first half of the 5th century the revered crypt was reconstructed into a miniature cult construction of a memorial character with an apse-exedra spanned by a concha. In the rock floor several deepening’s of various sizes were cut for the installation of the altar, altar rood screen and for crypt-repository. In the layer of destruction fragments of four marble round (or sigmoid) tables (mensae) were found. In the second half of 6th century at the earliest the chapel ceased functioning due to the collapse of the rocky vault. In room 3 a bread oven was arranged. Material from its subtraction provides a terminus ante quem for the destruction of the chapel and allows supposedly assigning it to the mid-6th century. In the Middle Byzantine period the oven stopped to be used and the western part of the chapel became a place for dumping of the household garbage from the monastery complex located above on the plateau. It may be considered that for the transformation of the crypt into the memorial chapel there were some imported reasons connected either with the special spiritual status of the buried or with the sacred character of the place itself. The motives should be sought in the early Christian hagiographic sources, reflecting the processes of the formation of Christianity in the region. The attitude to this place as to the sacred one is confirmed by the construction in its immediate vicinity of the over ground church and appearance of a small monastery that continued to keep the memorial functions into the middle Byzantine era.

Delatando elyoen elotro. Tomás Sánchez Dávila y su compuesto eremítico-misional en laVida, Virtvdes y Milagros de la Bienaventvrada Virgen Teresa de Iesvs(1606)

This article delves into the hagiographic prose that Tomás Sánchez Dávila (1564-1627) dedicated to the Spanish visionary Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) and published in 1606. Beyond a qualification made a few decades ago, according to which Dávila's work is an ahistorical deformation of the historical figure of Teresa, we propose to observe Dávila's confessional propaganda from a different standpoint. In accordance with the guidelines of recent historiography, in the present study, it is the actions of the hagiographer, rather than the acts of the saint, that will retain our interest. Following a brief summary of the life of Tomás Sánchez Dávila, we shall choose as our axis a central aspect of his thought - the eremitical-missionary theme - to see how it is presented and promoted in the Vida. We shall strive to demonstrate that whether the protagonist be depicted at close range or from afar, the hand that draws the portrait remains important, for it is reflected in the image portrayed. In this sense, hagiographic sources offer new materials for the study of the agents that produce and use them.

Kariera agens vice praefectorum praetorio Luciliusa Crispusa i chronologia utworzenia stanowiska wikariusza diecezjalnego w Poncie

The aim of the following article is to present chronologically the creation of the position of the diocese vicar in Pontus. The act of creation of the diocese was ascribed to emperor Diocletian according to the previously prevalent concept of historiography. However, this position is currently gradually criticized. The main source material which enables the dating of the territorial reform of the Roman state is the Verona List, which is also called Laterculus Veronensis. The document presents the earliest period of shaping ofthe diocese structure as well as the subscriptions of the bishops who authorized the decisions taken at the First Council of Nicaea. Besides the aforementioned evidence, another extremely significant source is the prosopographical data from the officials serving in the rank of vicarii and comites provinciarum in the late Roman period. In case of the Pontus diocese, we have at our disposal inscriptions which present the career of Lucilius Crispus as agens vice praefectorum praetorio. A detailed analysis of the epigraphical data facilitated the process of the dating of the term of office of this regional functionary. It can be ascertained that he performed his function at the time of the reign of emperor Galerius (terminus a quo at the end of November 308). His place of residence was in Galatian Ancyra. The next official of this rank was noted in relations between Lactantiusand Eusebius of Caesarea during the reign of Licinius (circa 313). This anonymous vice-prefect resided in Nicomedia at the time. Additional data is provided by hagiographic sources which describe the fate of Galatian martyrs and it also made note of two vicars, namely Domitianus and Aggripinus. However, the portrayal of the legal situation in the period of tetrarchy which was presented in the said sources raises reasonable doubts concerningtheir credibility. Nevertheless, both agentes (Lucilius Crispus and the anonymous vice-prefect of Licinius’) operated in the Black Sea region as extraordinary delegates of the praetorio prefect without the formation of a permanent organ of local administration. The implementationof a diocesan organisation most probably took place during the independent reign of Constantine the Great. Only then was it possible to carry out a consistent and permanent separation of jurisdiction of individual officials who had vice sacra iudicans jurisdiction. A passage, hitherto disregarded by historians, which comes from Vita Constantini points to this. Moreover, it explicitly states the name of the Pontus diocese. It allows the datingof terminus ante quem appointment of the Black Sea regional unit on the 19th of July 325.

Franciscan Prophets and the Inquisition (1226–1326)

This paper examines how Franciscan apologetics and polemics over the status of St. Francis and the Rule of 1223 created a climate of inquisitorial suspicion over prophecy and prophetic claims.

In This Issue

Other| March 01 2018 In This Issue Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (2018) 77 (1): 4–5. https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2018.77.1.4 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation In This Issue. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 1 March 2018; 77 (1): 4–5. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2018.77.1.4 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentJournal of the Society of Architectural Historians Search With The Romanesque as Relic: Architecture and Institutional Memory at the Collegiate Church of Saint-Omer, Michalis Olympios contributes to ongoing discussions about the architectural visualization of institutional history practiced by medieval religious foundations in Latin Europe. This article focuses on the collegiate church of Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais), a rare surviving example of a building from the region of French Flanders preserving architectural fabric from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. More specifically, Olympios examines the Romanesque apsidiole in the chapel of Notre-Dame-des-Cloches and its integration into the edifice's Gothic north transept, erected in the third quarter of the fifteenth century. A close reading of the architecture, the narrative and hagiographic sources, and unpublished archival documents demonstrates that, as in many other instances from across Europe, the retention of this earlier feature reflects the secular chapter's conscious decision to showcase the antiquity and prestige of the church by providing visual “evidence”... You do not currently have access to this content.

The Romanesque as Relic:

With The Romanesque as Relic: Architecture and Institutional Memory at the Collegiate Church of Saint-Omer, Michalis Olympios contributes to ongoing discussions about the architectural visualization of institutional history practiced by medieval religious foundations in Latin Europe. This article focuses on the collegiate church of Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais), a rare surviving example of a building from the region of French Flanders preserving architectural fabric fromthe eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. More specifically, Olympios examines the Romanesque apsidiole in the chapel of Notre-Dame-des-Cloches and its integration into the edifice's Gothic north transept, erected in the third quarter of the fifteenth century. A close reading of the architecture, the narrative and hagiographic sources, and unpublished archival documents demonstrates that, as in many other instances from across Europe, the retention of this earlier feature reflects the secular chapter's conscious decision to showcase the antiquity and prestige of the church by providing visual “evidence” of its foundational myth.

Joseph Volotsky and Gennady of Novgorod: the Borrowing of Ideas in the Context on anti-“Judaizers” Polemics

Hegumen Joseph of Volokolamsk’s writings and Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod’s epistles are the bulk of sources for the history of the heresy movement known as the “Judaizers”. However, the subject of relationship between these two accusers of heresy is still not sufficiently studied, and we have no proof of direct contacts between the Volotsk monastery and the Archbishop’s throne. At the same time, using the hagiographical sources about Joseph Volotsky allows us to suggest that these contacts did exist in the form of exchanging letters, and some books at the Volotsk Monastery library, judging by the scribes’ additions, were made at the scriptorium of the Novgorodian throne. The transfer of several works from Novgorod to Volok probably was a decisive factor for hegumen Joseph’s notions of the heresy, and some of the works received had direct influence on his polemic essays against the heretics. The author proposes a hypothesis that the notions of Judaic origins of the heresy were formed as a result of Archbishop Gennady comparing iconolatry practices occurring in Novgorod with the description of iconoclasm from The Epistle of Photios, the Patriarch of Constantinople, to Mikhail, the Prince of Bulgaria. Thus, iconoclasm became one of the main features of the “Judaizers”. But the “Judaizers” themselves did not view their common worshipping practices as heretical. This attitude towards the accusations allowed Archbishop Gennady to also accuse them of involvement with the Messalian heresy. Gennady based his charges on The Old Slavonic Nomocanon paragraphs on Messalians. Probably, the manuscript of this Nomocanon was delivered from Novgorod Archiepiscopal Court to Volokolamsk monastery along with the copies of other “Judaizers”’ writings, found by the archbishop. Some paragraphs on Messalians from the The Old Slavonic Nomocanon brought us to conclusion that they were used by Joseph Volotsky as the main source for his theory of “wise guiles”, which were supposed to reveal heretics.

O trabalho manual dos monges (séculos XI-XII): eclesiologia e práticas sociais

<p>O artigo discute a representação Cisterciense do labor monástico. Ele baseia-se primordialmente em fontes polemistas e hagiográficas, tendo o intuito de entender como o discurso monástico sobre as atividades manuais, fora dos muros do mosteiro, se tornou, na Ordem de Cister, um importante elemento de construção identitária. Deseja-se reexaminar o lugar do trabalho manual nos discursos elaborados pelos monges, de modo a interrogar sobre as relações – no seio do monacato e globalmente nas sociedades medievais – entre representação do trabalho e modelo de sociedade. Não é por acaso que o debate monástico se torne agudo e mude de natureza na virada do século XI para o XII, fazendo emergir uma ideia do trabalho que não é mais exclusivamente um instrumento de penitência, mas também um meio positivo de distinção e de hierarquização no caminho da perfeição e, portanto, da salvação. Deste ponto de vista, a virada dos séculos XI e XII seria, através do novo monacato, portadora de um novo paradigma transmitido tanto pelas cartas, quanto pelos textos narrativos, das homilias ou das hagiografias. Assim, se os Cistercienses não romperam com a imagem ascética e penitencial do trabalho, o enriqueceram claramente com um valor positivo, a serviço de uma maior perfeição comunitária.</p>

The anti-usury arguments of the Church Fathers of the East in their historical context and the accommodation of the Church to the prevailing “credit economy” in late antiquity

AbstractThe evidence the Church Fathers offer about the economic practices of late antiquity are often dismissed as empty rhetoric. The aim of this article is first, to examine the historical value of their arguments against usury in the light of papyrological and hagiographic sources as well as οf archaeological findings; secondly, to assess the extent to which the churches and monasteries in Syria and Egypt accommodated themselves to the “credit economy” of late antiquity; and, thirdly, to evaluate the reasons for the church’s compromise with the established credit practices and its impact on the implementation of the Christian redistributive ideals.

Jehangir Yezdi Malegam, The Sleep of Behemoth: Disputing Peace and Violence in Medieval Europe, 1000–1200. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013. Pp. xiv, 335. $55. ISBN: 978-0-8014-5132-4.

Jehangir Yezdi Malegam, <i>The Sleep of Behemoth: Disputing Peace and Violence in Medieval Europe, 1000–1200</i>. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013. Pp. xiv, 335. $55. ISBN: 978-0-8014-5132-4.