ENGLISH

Holy Fools in Byzantium and Beyond

Book information

Year
2006
ISBN
0199272514, 9780199272518, 9780191515149
Open Library ID
OL7404666M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
3 MB (2921761 bytes)
Series
Oxford Studies in Byzantium
Pages
492\492
Topic
Education
Orientation
no
Scanned
yes
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

There are saints in Orthodox Christian culture who overturn the conventional concept of sainthood. Their conduct may be unruly and salacious, they may blaspheme and even kill--yet, mysteriously, those around them treat them with even more reverence. Such saints are called "holy fools." In this pioneering study Sergey A. Ivanov examines the phenomenon of holy foolery from a cultural standpoint. He identifies its prerequisites and its development in religious thought, and traces the emergence of the first hagiographic texts describing these paradoxical saints. He describes the beginnings of holy foolery in Egyptian monasteries of the fifth century, followed by its high point in the cities of Byzantium, with an eventual decline in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. He also compares the important Russian tradition of holy fools, which in some form has survived to this day.

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