Among medieval Christian societies, Byzantium is unique in preserving an ecclesiastical ritual of adelphopoiesis, which pronounces two men, not related by birth, as brothers for life. It has its origin as a spiritual blessing in the monastic world of late antiquity, and it becomes a popular social networking strategy among lay people from the ninth century onwards, even finding application in recent times. Located at the intersection of religion and society, brother-making exemplifies how social practice can become ritualized and subsequently subjected to attempts of ecclesiastical and legal control. Controversially, adelphopoiesis was at the center of a modern debate about the existence of same-sex unions in medieval Europe. This book, the first ever comprehensive history of this unique feature of Byzantine life, argues persuasively that the ecclesiastical ritual to bless a relationship between two men bears no resemblance to marriage. Wide-ranging in its use of sources, from a complete census of the manuscripts containing the ritual of adelphopoiesis to the literature and archaeology of early monasticism, and from the works of hagiographers, historiographers, and legal experts in Byzantium to comparative material in the Latin West and the Slavic world, Brother-Making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium examines the fascinating religious and social features of the ritual, shedding light on little known aspects of Byzantine society.

Brother-Making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium: Monks, Laymen, and Christian Ritual (Onassis Series in Hellenic Culture)

History

Rapp, Claudia

Ancient Civilizations

Oxford University Press

Holy Bishops in Late Antiquity: The Nature of Christian Leadership in an Age of Transition (Volume 37)

Between 300 and 600, Christianity experienced a momentous change from persecuted cult to state religion. One of the consequences of this shift was the evolution of the role of the bishop―as the highest Church official in his city―from model Christian to model citizen. Claudia Rapp's exceptionally learned, innovative, and groundbreaking work traces this transition with a twofold aim: to deemphasize the reign of the emperor Constantine, which has traditionally been regarded as a watershed in the development of the Church as an institution, and to bring to the fore the continued importance of the religious underpinnings of the bishop's role as civic leader. Rapp rejects Max Weber’s categories of “charismatic” versus “institutional” authority that have traditionally been used to distinguish the nature of episcopal authority from that of the ascetic and holy man. Instead she proposes a model of spiritual authority, ascetic authority and pragmatic authority, in which a bishop’s visible asceticism is taken as evidence of his spiritual powers and at the same time provides the justification for his public role. In clear and graceful prose, Rapp provides a wholly fresh analysis of the changing dynamics of social mobility as played out in episcopal appointments.

University of California Press

Mark the Deacon: The Life of Porphyry of Gaza: Translated with Introduction and Notes, with a Translation of the Georgian Life (Translated Texts for Historians, 88)

Literature & Fiction

Whitby, Michael

Childers, Jeff

History & Criticism

Liverpool University Press

Mobility and migration were not uncommon in Byzantium, as is true for all societies. Yet, scholarship is only beginning to pay attention to these phenomena. This book presents in English translation a wide array of relevant source texts from ca. 650 to ca. 1450 originally written in medieval Greek: from administrative records, saints' lives and letters by churchmen to ego-documents by ambassadors and historical narratives by court historians. Each source text is accompanied by a detailed introduction, commentary and further bibliography, thus making the book accessible to both scholars and students and laying the groundwork for future research on the internal dynamics of Byzantine society.

Mobility and Migration in Byzantium: A Sourcebook (Moving Byzantium, 1)

Mitsiou, Ekaterini

Kinloch, Matthew

Krausmuller, Dirk

Nesseris, Ilias

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Gmbh & Co

Elitekultur Und Christliche Religiositat in Spatantike Und Byzanz (Karl-christ-preis Fur Alte Geschichte, 6) (German Edition)

Verlag-Antike

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Books by Rapp, Claudia