Holy Fools in Byzantium and Beyond

Front Cover
Oxford University Press, 2006 - 479 pages
The image of St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square is a familiar Russian landmark. Yet few people know what made Basil so famous. He was a saint who wandered about naked, bullied passers-by, brawled in the market-place, and once even smashed a revered icon. Saints such as Basil overturn the conventional concept of sainthood - what, we may ask, is saintly about them? This book aims to solve the mystery by exploring the figure of the holy fool in Byzantium and in later Russian. history. - ;There are saints in Orthodox Christian culture who overturn the conventional concept of sainthood. The.

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