Holy Fools in Byzantium and Beyond (Oxford Studies in Byzantium)

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. 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. "In this study, Sergey A. Ivanov examines the phenomenon of holy foolery from a cultural standpoint. Adopting a diachronic approach, he identifies the prerequisites for holy foolery, considers the way it was shaped in the religious mind, and follows the emergence of the first hagiographic texts describing these paradoxical saints. In exploring the subsequent tradition of holy foolery, he shows how the genuinely insane could be promoted to the ranks of holy fools, as new generations of hagiographers attempted to read insanity in the light of the established canon. He also uncovers a large number of Byzantine and Old Russian sources dealing with holy fools who, for various reasons, were not entered into the official lists of saints."--Jacket 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. Christianity sprung up from within Judaism, but early in its growth it was grafted onto Hellenistic culture.