Studies on the Cult of Relics in Byzantium Up to 1204

Studies on the Cult of Relics in Byzantium Up to 1204
Author: John Wortley
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009
Genre: Relics
ISBN: 9780754668473

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Constantinople was well known in its heyday for the enormous collection of relics housed in its churches. These studies examine the means by which relics were acquired, the ways in which they were used and some of the reasons why for so long they were believed to be effective. The role of relics in the development of the cult of the Mother of God (Theotokos) is also discussed as well as the curious relationship between relics and icons.

The Beginnings of the Cult of Relics

The Beginnings of the Cult of Relics
Author: Robert Wisniewski
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2019-02-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199675562

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Christians have often admired and venerated martyrs who died for their faith, but for long time thought that the bodies of martyrs should remain undisturbed in their graves. Initially, Christian attitude toward the bones of the dead, saint or not, was that of respectful distance. The Beginnings of the Cult of Relics examines how this changed in the mid-fourth century. Robert Wisniewski investigates how Christians began to believe in power of relics, first, over demons, then over physical diseases and enemies. He considers how they sought to reveal hidden knowledge at the tombs of saints and why they buried the death close to them. An essential element of this new belief was a string conviction that the power of relics was transferred in a physical way and so the following chapters study relics as material objects. Wisniewski analyses what the contact with relics looked like and how close it was. Did people touch, kiss, or look at the very bones, or just at reliquaries which contained them? When did the custom of dividing relics appear? Finally, the book the book deals with discussions and polemics concerning relics and tries to find out how strong was the opposition which this new phenomenon had to face, both within and outside Christianity on its way relics to become an essential element of the medieval religiosity.

The Cult of the Mother of God in Byzantium

The Cult of the Mother of God in Byzantium
Author: Leslie Brubaker
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2016-12-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1351891979

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This volume, on the cult of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) in Byzantium, focuses on textual and historical aspects of the subject, thus complementing previous work which has centred more on the cult of images of the Mother of God. The papers presented here, by an international team of scholars, consider the development and transformation of the cult from approximately the fourth through the twelfth centuries. The volume opens with discussion of the origins of the cult, and its Near Eastern manifestations, including the archaeological site of the Kathisma church in Palestine, which represents the earliest Marian shrine in the Holy Land, and Syriac poetic treatment of the Virgin. The principal focus, however, is on the 8th and 9th centuries in Byzantium, as a critical period when Christian attitudes toward the Virgin and her veneration were transformed. The book re-examines the relationship between icons, relics and the Virgin, asking whether increasing devotion to these holy objects or figures was related in any way. Some contributions consider the location of relics and later, icons, in Constantinople and other centres of Marian devotion; others explore gender issues, such as the significance of the Virgin's feminine qualities, and whether women and men identified with her equally as a holy figure. The aim of this volume is to build on recent work on the cult of the Virgin Mary in Byzantium and to explore areas that have not yet been studied. The rationale is critical and historical, using literary, artistic, and archaeological sources to evaluate her role in the development of the Byzantine understanding of the ways in which God interacts with creation by means of icons, relics, and the Theotokos.

The Ashgate Research Companion to Byzantine Hagiography

The Ashgate Research Companion to Byzantine Hagiography
Author: Stephanos Efthymiadis
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 559
Release: 2020-02-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351393278

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For an entire millennium, Byzantine hagiography, inspired by the veneration of many saints, exhibited literary dynamism and a capacity to vary its basic forms. The subgenres into which it branched out after its remarkable start in the fourth century underwent alternating phases of development and decline that were intertwined with changes in the political, social and literary spheres. The selection of saintly heroes, an interest in depicting social landscapes, and the modulation of linguistic and stylistic registers captured the voice of homo byzantinus down to the end of the empire in the fifteenth century. The seventeen chapters in this companion form the sequel to those in volume I which dealt with the periods and regions of Byzantine hagiography, and complete the first comprehensive survey ever produced in this field. The book is the work of an international group of experts in the field and is addressed to both a broader public and the scholarly community of Byzantinists, medievalists, historians of religion and theorists of narrative. It highlights the literary dimension and the research potential of a representative number of texts, not only those appreciated by the Byzantines themselves but those which modern readers rank high due to their literary quality or historical relevance.

Byzantine Chronicles and the Sixth Century

Byzantine Chronicles and the Sixth Century
Author: Roger Scott
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 538
Release: 2018-02-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351219448

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Byzantine chronicles have traditionally been regarded as a somewhat inferior form of Byzantine history writing, especially in comparison with 'classicizing' historians. The aim of many of these papers is both to rescue the reputation of the Byzantine chroniclers, especially Malalas and Theophanes, and also to provide some examples of how these two chroniclers in particular can be exploited usefully both to reveal aspects of the past itself, notably of the period of Justinian, and also of how the Byzantines interpreted their own past, which included on occasions rewriting that past to suit altered contemporary needs. For the period of Justinian in particular, proper attention to aspects of the humble Byzantine chronicle can also help achieve a better understanding of the period than that provided by the classicizing Procopius with his emphasis on war and conquest. By considering more general aspects of the place of history-writing in Byzantine culture, the papers also help explain why history remained such an important aspect of Byzantine culture.

Byzantine Head Reliquaries and Their Perception in the West After 1204

Byzantine Head Reliquaries and Their Perception in the West After 1204
Author:
Publisher: GOTHA:Handschriften der Forschungsbibliothek Gotha
Total Pages: 687
Release: 2017-02-22
Genre:
ISBN: 9783447107006

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Die Forschungsbibliothek Gotha gehort zu den grossen Bibliotheken mit historisch gewachsenen Handschriften- und Buchbestanden in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Im Anschluss an die Katalogisierung der umfassenden Sammlung zur Reformationsgeschichte beschreibt dieser Band nun erstmals ausfuhrlich die 202 Handschriftenbande der Bibliothek, die aus dem Besitz der Jenaer Theologieprofessoren Johann Gerhard (1582-1673) und Johann Ernst Gerhard (1621-1668) stammen. Wahrend der Vater Johann zu den produktivsten und brillantesten lutherischen Theologen im ersten Drittel des 17. Jahrhunderts zahlt, machte der Sohn Johann Ernst sich unter anderem als einer der ersten Wissenschaftler um die Erforschung der orientalischen Sprachen in Europa verdient. Diese Sammlung, die Herzog Friedrich I. von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg zusammen mit dem Grossteil der auf 6.000 einzelne Drucke geschatzten Bibliotheca Gerhardina 1678 fur die Herzogliche Bibliothek auf Schloss Friedenstein erwarb, setzt sich vor allem aus den Nachlassen der beiden Jenaer Theologen zusammen, die Lebensdokumente, Korrespondenzen und Werkmanuskripte sowie Zeugnisse ihrer Bildungswege und Amtstatigkeiten als Prediger, Professoren und Berater enthalten. Hinzu kommen zahlreiche Handschriftenbande unterschiedlichen Inhalts, die sie fur ihre geruhmte Gelehrtenbibliothek anschafften. Die Beschreibungen der Handschriften bilden ein neues Fundament fur Forschungen zu den beiden Jenaer Theologieprofessoren sowie zu vielfaltigen historischen Themen, die von der Reformation bis zur Zeit der lutherischen Orthodoxie reichen.

Byzantine Images and their Afterlives

Byzantine Images and their Afterlives
Author: Lynn Jones
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2016-12-05
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1351953834

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The twelve papers written for this volume reflect the wide scope of Annemarie Weyl Carr's interests and the equally wide impact of her work. The concepts linking the essays include the examination of form and meaning, the relationship between original and copy, and reception and cultural identity in medieval art and architecture. Carr’s work focuses on the object but considers the audience, looks at the copy for retention or rejection of the original form and meaning, and always seeks to understand the relationship between intent and perception. She examines the elusive nature of ’center’ and ’periphery’, expanding and enriching the discourse of manuscript production, icons and their copies, and the dissemination of style and meaning. Her body of work is impressive in its chronological scope and geographical extent, as is her ability to tie together aspects of patronage, production and influence across the medieval Mediterranean. The volume opens with an overview of Carr’s career at Southern Methodist University, by Bonnie Wheeler. Kathleen Maxwell, Justine Andrews and Pamela Patton contribute chapters in which they examine workshops, subgroups and influences in manuscript production and reception. Diliana Angelova, Lynn Jones and Ida Sinkevic offer explorations of intent and reception, focusing on imperial patronage, relics and reliquaries. Cypriot studies are represented by Michele Bacci and Maria Vassilaki, who examine aspects of form and style in architecture and icons. The final chapters, by Jaroslav Folda, Anthony Cutler, Rossitza Schroeder and Ann Driscoll, are linked by their focus on the nature of copies, and tease out the ways in which meaning is retained or altered, and the role that is played by intent and reception.

The Cross

The Cross
Author: Robin M. Jensen
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2017-04-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0674088808

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The cross stirs intense feelings among Christians as well as non-Christians. Robin Jensen takes readers on an intellectual and spiritual journey through the two-thousand-year evolution of the cross as an idea and an artifact, illuminating the controversies—along with the forms of devotion—this central symbol of Christianity inspires. Jesus’s death on the cross posed a dilemma for Saint Paul and the early Church fathers. Crucifixion was a humiliating form of execution reserved for slaves and criminals. How could their messiah and savior have been subjected to such an ignominious death? Wrestling with this paradox, they reimagined the cross as a triumphant expression of Christ’s sacrificial love and miraculous resurrection. Over time, the symbol’s transformation raised myriad doctrinal questions, particularly about the crucifix—the cross with the figure of Christ—and whether it should emphasize Jesus’s suffering or his glorification. How should Jesus’s body be depicted: alive or dead, naked or dressed? Should it be shown at all? Jensen’s wide-ranging study focuses on the cross in painting and literature, the quest for the “true cross” in Jerusalem, and the symbol’s role in conflicts from the Crusades to wars of colonial conquest. The Cross also reveals how Jews and Muslims viewed the most sacred of all Christian emblems and explains its role in public life in the West today.

Byzantine Readings of Ancient Historians

Byzantine Readings of Ancient Historians
Author: Anthony Kaldellis
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2015-03-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317517830

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The survival of ancient Greek historiography is largely due to its preservation by Byzantine copyists and scholars. This process entailed selection, adaptation, and commentary, which shaped the corpus of Greek historiography in its transmission. By investigating those choices, Kaldellis enables a better understanding of the reception and survival of Greek historical writing. Byzantine Readings of Ancient Historians includes translations of texts written by Byzantines on specific ancient historians. Each translated text is accompanied by an introduction and notes to highlight the specific context and purpose of its composition. In order to present a rounded picture of the reception of Greek historiography in Byzantium, a wide range of genres have been considered, such as poems and epigrams, essays, personalized scholia, and commentaries. Byzantine Readings of Ancient Historians is therefore an important resource for scholars and students of ancient history.

Passion Relics and the Medieval Imagination

Passion Relics and the Medieval Imagination
Author: Cynthia Hahn
Publisher: University of California Press
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2020-01-07
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0520305264

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Although objects associated with the Passion and suffering of Christ are among the most important and sacred relics venerated by the Catholic Church, this is the first study that considers how they were presented to the faithful. Cynthia Hahn adopts an accessible, informative, and holistic approach to the important history of Passion relics—first the True Cross, and then the collective group of Passion relics—examining their display in reliquaries, their presentation in church environments, their purposeful collection as centerpieces in royal and imperial collections, and finally their veneration in pictorial form as Arma Christi. Tracing the ways that Passion relics appear and disappear in response to Christian devotion and to historical phenomena, ranging from pilgrimage and the Crusades to the promotion of imperial power, this groundbreaking investigation presents a compelling picture of a very important aspect of late medieval and early modern devotion.