An Age of Saints? Power, Conflict and Dissent in Early Medieval Christianity (Brill's Series on the Early Middle Ages)

241 Pages·2011·1.49 MB·English

by  Peter Sarris

An Age of Saints?
Brill’s Series on the
Early Middle Ages
(continuation of The Transformation
of the Roman World)
Managing Editor
Bonnie Effros
University of Florida
Editorial Board
Deborah Deliyannis, Indiana University
Edward James, University College Dublin
Walter Pohl, Austrian Academy of Sciences
VOLUME 20
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/bsem
An Age of Saints?
Power, Conflict and Dissent in Early Medieval
Christianity
Edited by
Peter Sarris
Matthew Dal Santo
Phil Booth
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2011
Cover illustration: ‘The disbelief of St Thomas’, Mosaic Panel, Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo,
Ravenna (Sixth Century). Image courtesy of the Diocese of Ravenna-Cervia.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
An age of saints? : power, conflict, and dissent in early medieval Christianity /
edited by Peter Sarris, Matthew Dal Santo, Phil Booth.
p. cm. — (Brill’s series on the early Middle Ages, ISSN 1878-4879; v. 20)
Based on a symposium held at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-20660-1 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Christian sociology—
History—Early church, ca. 30–600—Congresses. 2. Church history—Primitive and
early church, ca. 30–600—Congresses. 3. Christian sociology—History—Middle
Ages, 600–1500—Congresses. 4. Church history—Middle Ages, 600–1500—
Congresses. I. Sarris, Peter. II. Dal Santo, Matthew. III. Booth, Phil (Philip) IV. Title.
V. Series.
BR163.A35 2011
274’.03—dc22
2011010613
ISSN 1878-4879
ISBN 978 90 04 20660 1
Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
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Fees are subject to change.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ............................................................................ vii
List of Abbreviations ......................................................................... ix
Notes on Contributors ...................................................................... xi
Preface ................................................................................................. xiii
Restless Peasants and Scornful Lords: Lay Hostility to
Holy Men and the Church in Late Antiquity and the
Early Middle Ages ......................................................................... 1
Peter Sarris
Methodology, Authority and Spontaneity: Sources of
Spiritual Truthfulness in Late Antique Texts and Life ........... 11
Peter Turner
The Cult of Saints and Religious Processions in Late
Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages ........................................ 36
Peter Kritzinger
Augustine, Donatists and Martyrdom ........................................... 49
Collin Garbarino
Excluded from Power? The Boundaries of Orthodoxy
in the Works of Athanasius and John of Ephesus .................. 62
Philip Wood
The Conversion of King Caleb and the Religious and
Political Dynamics of Sixth-Century Ethiopia and
Southern Arabia ............................................................................. 77
Ralph Lee
The Emergence of Martyrs’ Shrines In Late Antique Iran:
Conflict, Consensus and Communal Institutions ................... 89
Richard Payne
Orthodox and Heretic in the Early Byzantine Cult(s)
of Saints Cosmas and Damian .................................................... 114
Phil Booth
vi contents
The God-Protected Empire? Scepticism towards the Cult
of Saints in Early Byzantium ....................................................... 129
Matthew Dal Santo
Images of Authority? Imperial Patronage of Icons from
Justinian II to Leo III ................................................................... 150
Mike Humphreys
Hagiography as an Instrument for Political Claims in
Carolingian Northern Italy: The Saint Syrus Dossier
(BHL 7976 and 7978) ................................................................... 169
Giorgia Vocino
Relics and Texts: Hagiography and Authority in
Ninth-Century Francia ................................................................. 187
Gerda Heydemann
Conclusion: An Age of Saints? Power, Conflict and Dissent
in Early Medieval Christianity .................................................... 205
Matthew Dal Santo and Phil Booth
Select Bibliography ............................................................................ 215
Index .................................................................................................... 219
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The original graduate symposium on which this volume is based,
and which many of our contributors attended, would not have been
possible without the financial assistance of the Faculties of History
and Classics in the University of Cambridge, and the editors thank
them here for their generosity. We are also indebted to Trinity Col-
lege, Cambridge, who allowed us to meet amidst their grounds, and to
the established scholars – Rosamond McKitterick, Erica Hunter, Kate
Cooper and Conrad Leyser – who chaired sessions and participated in
questions and discussion. Last of all we would like to offer our thanks
to the anonymous reviewers who commented on an earlier version of
this volume, and to Marcella Mulder and Debbie de Wit at Brill for
their patience in guiding the project to completion.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AASS Acta Sanctorum quotquot toto urbe coluntur (Antwerp-
Brussels, 1643–1902)
BHL Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina antiquae et mediae
aetatis (Brussels, 1898–1899)
CPG Clavis Patrum Graecorum (Turnhout, 1974–)
CSCO Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium
CCSG Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca (Turnhout, 1977–)
CCSL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina (Turnhout, 1953–)
CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum
(Vienna, 1866–)
MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica (Hannover, 1826–)
PG Patrologia Graeca (1857–)
PL Patrologia Latina (Paris, 1844–64)
PO Patrologia Orientalis (Paris, 1907–)
RIS Rerum Italicarum Scriptores (Città di Castello, 1900–)