 | ΓΡΑΦΟΝΤΑΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΜΕ ΤΟΥΣ ΑΓΙΟΥΣ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΑΓΙΩΝ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΠΑΛΑΙΟΛΟΓΩΝ (1261-1453) Μια νέα ματιά στην κοινωνία της Παλαιολόγειας εποχής μέσα από την παρουσίαση εκείνων των μελών της τα οποία η ίδια ανέδειξε ως ιδεώδη πρότυπα της και μια ετερότροπη θέαση του ταραγμένου ιστορικού γίγνεσθαι των δύο τελευταίων αιώνων του Βυζαντίου μέσα από την αξιοποίηση των βίων αγίων ως ιστοριογραφικών πηγών που αποτυπώνουν παράλληλα και με μοναδικό τρόπο νοοτροπίες, καθημερινές συνήθειες, ιδεολογίες και την όλη ατμόσφαιρα της κρίσιμης αυτής εποχής. Εικόνα εξωφύλλου: ο δεσπότης του Μορέως Δημήτριος Παλαιολόγος ως μοναχός, μικρογραφία χειρογράφου (15ος αιώνας), Αγία Πετρούπολη, Κρατική Βιβλιοθήκη. ΕΚΔΟΣΕΙΣ ΗΡΟΔΟΤΟΣ
ISBN 978-960-485-086-0 Writing History with the saints From the society of saints to the society of the Palaeologans (1261-1453) Utilizing the hagiological sources of the Palaelogan era (1261-1453), this book presents the byzantine saint as a historical phenomenon against the political, social, spiritual and cultural background of the period by examining the byzantine society of the two last centuries of Byzantium and highlighting the crucial events and developments of this era.
The book is divided into four Parts. Part I begins with a review of the byzantine saint and his/her presence in byzantine society before proceeding with a systematic painting of the saint of the Palaelogan era by examining the different models of holiness of the period that of ascetic-monk, the holy fool (salos), the hierarch, the founder of a monastery, the neo-martyr, the confessor, the musician and the saintly woman. Part II presents the thirty-five officially recognized saints of the period placing them in their broader geographical and cultural space of their time, presenting their family social and economic base and evaluating their own level of education and their attitude towards education. Special reference is made to the trend exhibited by a great number of saints in traveling and wandering (peregrinatio religiosa), often extensive, their role and influence on society and on the policies of certain emperors of the Palaeologan era. This Part concludes with the way holiness (i. e canonization) is acknowledged by the Palaeologan society, a procedure which in essence speaks of the society itself by its own prerogatives, ideals and pursuits. From a list of twenty-seven names, Part III paints the profile of the hagiographer (the writer of the vita of a saint) in an attempt to search for the motives for such writing and to examine also the quality and reliability of the most important Vitae in terms of their knowledge and understanding the society and the history of the late byzantine period. Finally, Part IV deals with historical events and issues of the period through the eyes of the saints and their biographers, such as the policy of "opposition" exercised by the saints towards the pro-Latin policy of Michael VIII Palaeologus; piracy which upset the solitary life of the monks of Mt. Athos, caused waves of massive disorderly flight and often turned them into a slave commodity for profit; the destructive passing of the Catalan Company and its effects; the rise of the idiorrythmic monasticism during the Paleologan era; the survival of the Massalian-Bogomil heresy in the 14th c.; the vortex of famines and of the Black Death of the 14th c.; and finally the beginning of the ottoman practice of recruiting Christian boys (paidomazôma /devshirme). ISBN 978-960-485-086-0 |
