The Cult of Saints and Legitimization of Elite Power in East Central and Northern Europe up to 1300

While Northern and East Central Europe are often considered to have been peripheral parts of medieval Latin Christendom, they nevertheless embraced many of the same cultural impulses found in more central areas. Key among these was the way in which social elites, in the first centuries after the introduction of Christianity, recognized the potential to exploit the cult of saints as a way of legitimizing their own social standing. Taking this thematic focus as its starting point, this volume explores the intersection of religion, power, and the reception and development of new impulses from abroad within Northern and East Central Europe. It does so by comparing and contrasting cults that emerged locally with cults that were imported to the region. Through this comparative overview, the chapters of this volume not only contribute to a more nuanced understanding of these outlying regions, but also shed new light on Latin Christian Europe as a whole. Preface 11 1. Saints and Elites on the Periphery: An Introduction. Steffen Hope, Grzegorz Pac, and Jón Viðar Sigurðsson 15 Non-native Saints: Introduction. Steffen Hope, Grzegorz Pac, and Jón Viðar Sigurðsson 51 2. The Authority of the Virgin. The Use of the Marian Cult in the Legitimization of Power in the Kingdom of Hungary before 1300. Karen Stark 57 3. Aegis of Aegidius — The Cult of St Giles in Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Poland. Miłosz Sosnowski 81 4. The Apostles and Ecclesiastical Elites in Medieval Iceland. A Gregorian Hermeneutic Turn in the Medieval North. Haraldur Hreinsson 113 5. From St Florian to St Stanislaus. The Legitimization of Ducal and Episcopal Power in Kraków in the Late Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Century. Karolina Morawska 135 6. From St Olaf to the Relic of the Crown of Thorns. The Legitimization of Royal Power in Thirteenth-Century Norway. Jerzy Pysiak 159 7. Sanctity in Service. Saints in the Legitimation of the Presence of the Dominicans in Hungary. Eszter Konrád 183 Native Saints: Introduction. Steffen Hope, Grzegorz Pac, and Jón Viðar Sigurðsson 211 8. The Prague Nunnery and its Patroness, St Ludmila. Legitimization and Mutual Support. Grzegorz Pac 217 9. Many Lives of One Man. Strategies for Building Legitimacy through the Story of St Wenceslas in Early and High Medieval Hagiography (940s–1260s). David Kalhous 241 10. The Cult of Saints in Elite Identity Construction in the Peripheries. The Cases of St Cnut of Denmark and St Wenceslas of Bohemia. Kacper Bylinka 267 11. The Canonization Accounts of St Stephen of Hungary, St Thorlak of Skálholt, and St Cnut of Odense. A Comparative Reading. Haki Antonsson 291 12. Legitimizing Episcopal Power in Twelfth-Century Denmark through the Cult of Saints. Steffen Hope 311 13. A Mutually Beneficial Relationship. Saints and the Legitimization of Elite Ecclesiastical Institutions in Sweden and Denmark before 1300. Sara Ellis Nilsson 331 14. The Liturgical Performance of Saints’ Offices in Medieval Sweden. Multimodal and Performative Event in a Legitimizing Context. Karin Lagergren 357 15. St Hedwig of Silesia. The First Dynastic Saint of the Piasts and the Legitimization of Power at a Time of Change in the Thirteenth Century. Anna Agnieszka Dryblak 385 16. The Legitimization of Papal Power through the Cults of Royal Women in Thirteenth-Century East Central Europe. Kirsty Day 413 17. The Cult of Saints and the Legitimization of Ecclesiastical and Secular Elites on the Periphery: Conclusions. Steffen Hope, Grzegorz Pac, and Jón Viðar Sigurðsson 439 Index 449