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. |
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Page vi
... once. As for the word iurodivyi itself (cognate with urod—a person with a birth defect): in modern Russian it is used too frequently (there are more than 85,000 occurences of words with this root in the Russian internet) and has too ...
... once. As for the word iurodivyi itself (cognate with urod—a person with a birth defect): in modern Russian it is used too frequently (there are more than 85,000 occurences of words with this root in the Russian internet) and has too ...
Page 15
... once held in derision and made a byword of reproach—we fools (1⁄4öæïíåò)! We thought that his life was madness (ìÆíßÆí) and that his end was without honour. Why has he been numbered among the sons of God? And why is his lot among the ...
... once held in derision and made a byword of reproach—we fools (1⁄4öæïíåò)! We thought that his life was madness (ìÆíßÆí) and that his end was without honour. Why has he been numbered among the sons of God? And why is his lot among the ...
Page 33
... once holy foolery became an object of persecution. The word salos was not originally a religious term. In a private letter dating from the fifth century and preserved in one of the papyri from Oxyrhynchus, it is used in an entirely ...
... once holy foolery became an object of persecution. The word salos was not originally a religious term. In a private letter dating from the fifth century and preserved in one of the papyri from Oxyrhynchus, it is used in an entirely ...
Page 44
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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
According already Andrew appears asked became become began behaviour believe blessed Byzantine called canon century Christ Christ’s sake Christian church clothes cultural death demons early elder Emesa episode example fact father foolishness gave give God’s Greek hagiographer hand Hieromonk holy fool holy foolery Ibid icon insanity Ioann iurodivyi iurodstvo Ivan John late later legend Leningrad Leontios lived look madman manuscripts means mentioned monastery monk Moscow motif naked never ŒÆd once original Paris Paul person playing popular possessed pretended prophet referred regarded righteous Russian saint salos sanctity secret seems sense servants spiritual St Petersburg story Studies Symeon tale tells things took town tradition transl translated tsar turned Vasilii vita walked woman women Zhitie