Insanity and Sanctity in Byzantium: The Ambiguity of Religious Experience

267 Pages·2016·9.74 MB·English

by  Youval Rotman

InsanIty and sanctIty in ByzantIum

I n s a n I t y

and
s a n c t I t y
in
B y z a n t I u m
The Ambiguity of Religious Experience
y o u v a l R o t m a n
Cambridge, Massachusetts, & London, England
2016
Copyright © 2016 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rotman, Youval, author.
Title: Insanity and sanctity in Byzantium : the ambiguity of religious experience /
Youval Rotman.
Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015051254 | ISBN 9780674057616
Subjects: LCSH: Psychology and religion—Byzantine Empire. | Mental illness—Religious
aspects—Byzantine Empire. | Mental illness—Social aspects—Byzantine Empire. |
Religion and sociology—Byzantine Empire. | Christian saints—Byzantine Empire. | Holy
fools—Byzantine Empire. Classification: LCC BF51 .R64 2016 | DDC 204/.209495—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015051254
to Drora Rotman
to Vered Amitai

Contents
PRoLogUE: Insanity and Religion 1
PART I
Sanctified Insanity: Between History and Psychology
1. The Paradox That Inhabits Ambiguity 11
2. Meanings of Insanity 32
PART II
Abnormality and Social Change:
Early Christianity versus Rabbinic Judaism
3. Abnormality and Social Change:
Insanity and Martyrdom 81
4. Socializing Nature: The Ascetic Totem 126
EPILogUE: Psychology, Religion, and Social Change 170
Abbreviations 183 / Notes 185 / Bibliography 229 /
Acknowledgments 251 / Index 253

InsanIty and sanctIty in ByzantIum