What Makes a Church Sacred?: Legal and Ritual Perspectives from Late Antiquity (Volume 63) (Transformation of the Classical Heritage)

"If churches belong to no one, what is their purpose? Mary K. Farag persuasively demonstrates that three interest groups cared about this question in late antiquity: law-makers, Christian leaders, and wealthy lay-persons. Most of the time, their answers co-existed, sitting side-by-side like tectonic plates. Yet the plates did not always sit still, and it is events on their colliding boundaries that account for familiar Christian controversies in novel ways. What Makes a Church Sacred? argues that scholarship misunderstands well-known religious figures by ignoring the legal issues they faced. In this seminal text, Farag nuances the scholarly conversations on sacred space, gift-giving, wealth, and poverty in the late antique Mediterranean world, making use not only of Latin and Greek sources, but also Coptic and Arabic evidence"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Palevsky imprint 4 Series 5 Title 10 Copyright 11 Dedication 12 Contents 14 Illustrations 16 Acknowledgments 18 Abbreviations 20 Introduction 24 Part I. The Legal Making of Res Sacrae 30 1. Res Sacrae 34 The Geographical and Chronological Scope of the Canons and Laws 36 Defining “Ecclesial Property” 37 Roman Juristic Pedagogy on Res Sacrae 38 The Making of Christian Res Sacrae 41 A Dispute over a Consecrated Church in Libya 50 Confiscation: The Legal Delegitimization of Others’ Churches 53 The Trial of Crispinus of Calama and the Stigma of Ten Pounds of Gold 59 2. Protected Places 64 Roman Juristic Pedagogy on the Protection of Res Sacrae 65 Rules on Alienation 69 Bishops’ Kin and Ecclesial Property in Alexandria and Edessa 80 Rules on Loans, Detention, and Lease 85 Rules against Acts of Violence 88 A Civil and Ecclesiastical Tug of War in Rome 89 3. Protecting Places 94 Manumission of Slaves 95 Asylum of Refugees 98 Redemption of Captives 106 The Use of Ecclesial Property to Perform Acts of Mercy 108 Part II. The Ritual Making of Res Sacrae 118 4. Dedications 122 Theoretical Underpinnings 124 How to Adorn Res Sacrae 125 Dedicatory Practices and Res Sacrae in Economies of Exchange 128 Is Church Property a Commodity? 149 5. Consecrations 152 Regifting 154 Gifts in Consecratory Festivities of Late Antiquity 155 The Circle of Sanctity: God, Celestial Patron, and Earthly Founder 161 Festivals, Theōria, and the Journey of the Soul 164 Inviting Festival Participants into the Circle of Sanctity 166 Regifting as Taboo in Late Antiquity 172 Regifting in the Ritual Economy 173 6. Anniversaries 180 Anniversary Celebrations 182 Non-Chalcedonian Homilies on the First Church of Mary 183 Why the First Church of Mary Is Sacred 185 The Aftermath of the Council of Chalcedon 189 Non-Chalcedonian Perspectives on Mary 190 Non-Chalcedonian Res Sacrae 198 Conclusion 202 Appendix A: The Sources of Justinian’s Institutes 2.1.pr–10 206 Appendix B: Chronological List of Roman Legislation on Ecclesial Property 210 Appendix C: Chronological List of Ecclesiastical Canons on Ecclesial Property 220 Appendix D: Late Antique Lections for the Consecratory Ritual 228 Notes 230 Bibliography 292 Index Locorum 324 General Index 334