Holy Authorship: Saints Writing about Saints

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Hagiography Society

Organizer Name

Nikolas O. Hoel

Organizer Affiliation

Northeastern Illinois Univ.

Presider Name

Nikolas O. Hoel

Paper Title 1

The Apocalypse, Asceticism, and Visual Culture: A Look at the Defining Characteristics of Salvation in the Morgan Beatus

Presenter 1 Name

Victor Garcia

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Northern Illinois Univ.

Paper Title 2

How to Write about a Saint: Holy Disciple about Holy Teacher

Presenter 2 Name

Dariya Syroyid

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Ukrainian Catholic Univ.

Paper Title 3

Adomnán, the Vita Columbae, and the Cult of Relics in Early Medieval Ireland

Presenter 3 Name

Niamh Wycherley

Presenter 3 Affiliation

National Univ. of Ireland-Galway

Start Date

10-5-2019 1:30 PM

Session Location

Sangren 1730

Description

The authors of medieval hagiography vary greatly. In many cases the author of a particular vita is later canonized; for example, St. Athanasius wrote the life of St. Antony and Gregory the Great composed that of Benedict. The phenomenon is particularly interesting for hagiography composed to promote religious behavior or to elevate the status of the saint being commemorated. This panel will study saints writing about other saints. Through examination of these authors we can better understand the nature of what these particularly virtuous authors believed sanctity to be. Postmodern theories (such the death of the author) further complicate this discussion. The proposed panel examines questions of saintly authorship in the Middle Ages, the purposes for such writing, and why this is worthy of scholarly attention. Barbara Zimbalist