Holy Fools in Byzantium and BeyondOUP Oxford, 2006 M04 6 - 492 pages 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. |
From inside the book
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Page vii
... appears to have been a banal Christian admonition that humility is superior to pride (cf. Prov. 29:23; 1 Peter 5:5), but eventually it came to imply something very different: that self-abasement is in fact the highest form of pride ...
... appears to have been a banal Christian admonition that humility is superior to pride (cf. Prov. 29:23; 1 Peter 5:5), but eventually it came to imply something very different: that self-abasement is in fact the highest form of pride ...
Page 14
... appear dishonourable for a single hour in the sight of the Lord.'4 In the Midrash the commentary on Psalm 34 (= 33 in the Septuagint) notes that: 'in sea-ports fools are called morim'.5 This must allude to the borrowing of the Greek ...
... appear dishonourable for a single hour in the sight of the Lord.'4 In the Midrash the commentary on Psalm 34 (= 33 in the Septuagint) notes that: 'in sea-ports fools are called morim'.5 This must allude to the borrowing of the Greek ...
Page 31
... appears as a simple transcription from the Greek.51 This implies that the Egyptians regarded the word as foreign. From the Copts the word migrated to the Ethiopians, in the form shaˆluˆsıˆ.52 The most widely accepted theory is that it ...
... appears as a simple transcription from the Greek.51 This implies that the Egyptians regarded the word as foreign. From the Copts the word migrated to the Ethiopians, in the form shaˆluˆsıˆ.52 The most widely accepted theory is that it ...
Page 32
... appears in the Egyptian collection known as the Lausiac History,. 53 P. Hauptmann, 'Die ''Narren um Christi Willen'' in der Ostkirche', Kirche in Osten 2 (1959), 34. It is worth noting that this Akkadian word was also used in Assyrian ...
... appears in the Egyptian collection known as the Lausiac History,. 53 P. Hauptmann, 'Die ''Narren um Christi Willen'' in der Ostkirche', Kirche in Osten 2 (1959), 34. It is worth noting that this Akkadian word was also used in Assyrian ...
Page 33
Sergey A. Ivanov. appears in the Egyptian collection known as the Lausiac History, whose author, Palladios, is aware of its novelty: 'this is what they call people who are aZicted [in the mind]', he explains.58 Several examples show that ...
Sergey A. Ivanov. appears in the Egyptian collection known as the Lausiac History, whose author, Palladios, is aware of its novelty: 'this is what they call people who are aZicted [in the mind]', he explains.58 Several examples show that ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
2 Insane Saints | 49 |
3 Lechers and Beggars | 66 |
4 Holy Scandal | 104 |
5 The Second Edition of Holy Foolery | 139 |
6 The New Theologians | 174 |
7 Balancing at the Edge | 195 |
10 The Iurodivyi and the Tsar | 285 |
11 Iurodstvo in an Age of Transition | 311 |
12 Iurodstvo Meets Modernity | 345 |
13 The Eastern Periphery | 359 |
14 The Western Periphery | 374 |
Conclusion | 399 |
Bibliography | 415 |
Index | 457 |
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Common terms and phrases
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