The <i>Life</i> of S. Pancratius of Taormina describes the mission and martyrdom of S. Pancratius, a disciple of the Apostle Peter sent to evangelize Taormina as its first bishop, and purports to have been written by S. Pancratius’ successor, Evagrius. It also records details concerning S. Marcian, who was dispatched to Syracuse at the same time. The text exists in three recensions. The <i>editio</i> <i>princeps</i> of the first recension is presented here, based on six manuscripts (Vat. Gr. 1591, Mess. S. Salv. 53, Crypt. BβV, Vat. Gr. 1985, Vind. Hist. Gr. 3 and Vat. Ottobon. Gr. 92), together with an introduction and commentary. External and internal evidence has been used to argue that it should be dated to the early eighth century and that it is of Sicilian provenance. The analysis of the sources of the text and its presentation of the apostolic era contributes to our understanding of the Byzantine attitude to the past and of the novelistic approach to hagiography. The <i>Life</i> is a product of an important, but obscure period of Sicilian history, and it provides some evidence from a local perspective concerning matters such as ecclesiastical arrangements and attitudes in Sicily, views about religious images, practices in church decoration, liturgical rites, book production, the development of legends concerning the apostles, especially S. Peter, civil and military administration, the Sicilian language question, the topography of Sicily and Calabria and contacts with Lombardy, as well as curious references to Slavs and Avars in Sicily. The Commentary is concerned with these questions and in general with the exegesis of the text. A summary of the use made of the <i>Life</i> of S. Pancratius by later writers contributes to our understanding of the iconoclastic controversy. An edition of the <i>Encomium</i> of S. Pancratius by Gregory the Pagurite, probably written in the early ninth century, has been included in an Appendix.

Thesis (doctoral)--Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-242).

Thesis (MPhil (Ancient Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Although St Augustine of Hippo (354–430 C.E.) was raised as a Christian, he refuted Catholicism as a youth in his search for divine wisdom and truth. Like the biblical prodigal son, he first had to realise the error of his aversion (turning away from the Catholic Church) before he could experience conversion (returning to the Catholic faith). Augustine narrates certain central events of his life in the Confessiones as a series of conversions, leading him from his native Roman North Africa to his conversion to Catholic Christianity in the Imperial City of Milan. Philosophy, especially Neo-Platonic thought, played a crucial role in his conversion process, as did the influence of St Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, and other Neo-Platonic intellectuals in Milan. Neo- Platonism also influenced Augustine's conception of the imago Dei (image of God). Although Augustine’s teaching of the concept of the imago Dei is found in all his works (but mainly in De Trinitate), a survey of the literature has shown that the way in which this concept is used to inform, structure and advance his conversion narrative in the Confessions, has not yet been investigated in a structured manner. In order to address this gap in scholarly knowledge, the thesis attempts to answer the following research question: How did the concept of the imago Dei inform and structure Augustine's conversion narrative, as recounted in his Confessiones, taking into account the theological and philosophical influences of Ambrose and the Neo-Platonists of Milan on his spiritual development? The investigation was conducted by an in-depth study and analysis of the Confessiones and relevant secondary literature within the historical, philosophical and religious framework of the work. An empirical approach, by means of textual analysis and hermeneutics, was used to answer the research question. The analysis of the Confessions is limited to its autobiographical part (Books 1 to 9). In order to carry out the analysis, a theoretical and conceptual framework was posited in Chapters 1 to 4, discussing the key concepts of conversion and of the imago Dei, as well as explaining the influence of Neo-Platonism and Ambrose on Augustine. In Chapter 5, this conceptual framework of the nature of the imago Dei is complemented by a literary framework for the Confessions to form a metaframework. The textual analysis was done within the meta-framework with reference to certain endowments (attributes) imprinted in the image, namely personality, spirituality, rationality, morality, authority, and creativity. The main conclusion is that Augustine's personal relationship with God had been harmed by the negative impact of sin on these endowments of the divine image in him. His gradual realisation that God is Spirit, his growth in faith, and his eventual acceptance of the authority of Scripture and of the Catholic Church, brought about the healing of the broken image of God in Augustine and also the restoration of God’s likeness in him. This enabled Augustine to be reconciled to God through Christ, who is the perfect Image of God, and helped to convert him to the Catholic Church, which is the Body of Christ. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Alhoewel die Heilige Augustinus, Biskop van Hippo (354–430 n.C.), as Christen grootgemaak is, het hy as jong man die Katolisisme verwerp in sy soektog na goddelike wysheid en waarheid. Soos die verlore seun van die Bybel, moes hy eers die fout van sy afkerigheid (wegdraai van die Katolieke Kerk) insien voordat hy tot bekering (terugkeer tot die Katolieke geloof) kon kom. Augustine vertel sekere kerngebeure van sy lewe in die Confessiones (Belydenisse) as ‘n reeks van bekeringe, wat hom gelei het van sy geboorteplek in Romeins-Noord-Afrika tot sy bekering tot die Katolieke Christendom in die Keiserstad Milaan. Filosofie, veral Neo-Platoniese denke, het ‘n deurslaggewende rol gespeel in sy bekeringsproses, soos ook die invloed van die Heilige Ambrosius, Biskop van Milaan, en ander Neo- Platoniese intellektuele in Milaan. Neo-Platonisme het ook Augustine se begrip van die imago Dei (Godsbeeld) beïnvloed. Alhoewel Augustinus se leer oor die begrip imago Dei in al sy werke aangetref word (maar veral in De Trinitate), het ‘n literatuurstudie uitgewys dat die manier waarop hierdie begrip gebruik word om sy bekeringsverhaal in die Confessions toe te lig, vorm te gee en te bevorder, nog nie op gestruktureerde wyse ondersoek is nie. Om hierdie leemte in vakkundige kennis te vul, poog hierdie tesis om die volgende navorsingsvraag te beantwoord: Hoe het die begrip imago Dei Augustinus se bekeringsverhaal toegelig en vorm gegee, soos vertel in sy Confessiones, met inagneming van die teologiese en filosofiese invloede van Ambrosius en die Neo-Platoniste van Milaan op sy geestelike ontwikkeling? Die ondersoek is uitgevoer deur middel van ‘n grondige studie en ontleding van die Confessiones en toepaslike sekondêre literatuur binne die historiese, filosofiese en godsdienste raamwerk van die werk. ’n Empiriese benadering, by wyse van teksontleding en hermeneutika, is gebruik om die navorsingsvraag te beantwoord. Die ontleding van die Confessiones is beperk tot die outobiografiese deel (Boeke 1 tot 9). Om die ontleding uit te voer, is ’n teoretiese en konseptuele raamwerk vooropgestel in Hoofstukke 1 tot 4, waar die sleutelbegrippe bekering en imago Dei bespreek is, asook die invloed van Neo-Platonisme en Ambrosius op Augustinus. In Hoofstuk 5 word hierdie konseptuele raamwerk vir die aard van die imago Dei aangevul deur ’n literêre raamwerk vir die Confessions om sodoende ‘n metaraamwerk te vorm. Die teksontleding is gedoen binne die metaraamwerk met verwysing na sekere geestesgawes (eienskappe) wat in die beeld neerslag vind, naamlik persoonlikheid, spiritualiteit, rasionaliteit, moraliteit, outoriteit, en kreatiwiteit. Die hoofgevoltrekking is dat Augustinus se persoonlike verhouding met God geskaad is deur die negatiewe impak van sonde op hierdie geestesgawes van die Godsbeeld in hom. Sy geleidelike besef dat God Gees is, sy groei in sy geloof, asook sy uiteindelike aanvaarding van die gesag van die Bybel en van die Katolieke Kerk, het meegebring dat Augustinus se gebroke Godsbeeld en -gelykenis herstel is. Daardeur is Augustinus met God versoen deur Christus, wat die volmaakte Godsbeeld is, en sodoende is hy bekeer tot die Katolieke Kerk, wat die Liggaam van Christus is.

This thesis takes the hagiographical texts written in the diocese of Liège between approximately 700 and 980 and examines them in their political, social and cultural context. It analyses the texts by paying particular attention to how the authors expressed their concerns about issues that were important to them through the medium of hagiography and the saints' cults, the purposes for which the texts were employed and how these aims were reflected in the retelling of saints' legends. By taking this approach, analysing a substantial body of valuable but under-studied source material over a period of 3 centuries, for an important region, it provides a new perspective on a range of issues, significant people and places. The regional approach helps to show the close interconnectedness between many of these people, places and texts, including those connections that exist over a period of centuries as well as those networks vital to early mediaeval society that existed between contemporaries. Close examination of the body of texts highlights the importance of the cult of saints at all levels of society and demonstrates the value and versatility of hagiography as a means of storytelling.

St Cuthbert's literary cult was conceived in the late seventh and early eighth century with the production of three vitae, most importantly Bede's prose Vita sancti Cuthberti. Over the ensuing centuries, the cult stimulated the production of a great wealth of hagiographic material: this thesis analyses the key Cuthbertine works that were written by his Church during a turbulent but also prosperous time, between the ninth century and the end of the twelfth. Each chapter takes as a specific focus one of these texts, using it as a basis for exploring a number of themes pertaining to the cult of St Cuthbert, wider developments in the cult of the saints, and the changing and variable uses of hagiographic and historical writing. The first chapter takes the Historia de sancto Cuthberto as an example of a text combining property records with miracles, and written episodically over a period spanning more than a century, establishing the thesis'€™ triumvirate of themes: the fluidity of texts and of the representation of saints, and the enduring power of the Cuthbertine Church. Chapter Two explores the multifaceted identity that the Cuthbertine Church sought to convey for itself in Symeon of Durham’s Libellus de exordio. The third and fourth chapters focus on two highly flexible and manipulated texts, Capitula de miraculis sancti Cuthberti and Brevis relatio de sancto Cuthberto, which appear in manuscripts together, and often amalgamated: they are used to examine how a saint's image could be changed, and to question our often static notion of a text'€™s identity. The final chapter takes Reginald's Libellus de admirandis beati Cuthberti virtutibus to compare the miracle profiles of all the Cuthbertine texts, contextualising them with formative studies in the cult of saints such as the work of Sigal (1985) and Vauchez (1981). The thesis ends by suggesting that Cuthbert's cult was still thriving at the end of the twelfth century, and continued to do so, in the semi-independent socio-political and cultural sphere of northern England and southern Scotland. The discussions in these chapters are supplemented by four appendices: a table giving detailed synopses and a thematic breakdown of Reginald's Libellus, and a table categorising and comparing the miracles that appear in all these Cuthbertine works provide the basis for exploring Cuthbert'€™s changing miraculous persona; a map charting the locations pertinent to Reginald's Libellus shows the vibrant geographical extent of Cuthbert'™s cult; a table of manuscripts illustrates the various permutations into which these texts may be worked.

Spanish monarchs ruled a global empire encompassing millions of colonial subjects for nearly three hundred years. One key factor in the longevity of the Spanish Empire was its skillful integration of elements from an even longer-lasting, centralized Institution--the Catholic Church. Through a focus on San Felipe de Jesús, a Mexico City-born saint, this dissertation analyzes the pious imperialism of the Spanish Empire in the Catholic missions of Japan, the politics of beatification in Rome and local devotions in Mexico City. Funded by Philip II, Spanish missionaries spread across the Atlantic and then to the Pacific. The mission of Spanish Franciscans in Japan including San Felipe exemplified the orthodox and expansionistic tendencies of this movement. The friars’ uncompromising zeal caused them to reject Japanese society and authority, something which led to their executions in 1597. Spanish subjects thrilled to the martyrs’ inspiring story and supported their beatification cause. The Spanish king, too, actively promoted new holy figures in Rome for political and pious reasons. During the seventeenth century, more than half of the new beatified or canonized holy figures came from the Spanish Empire, including the Nagasaki martyrs. As each new saint earned a feast in liturgy, worship in Spanish territories began to disseminate not only Catholic values, but also divine favor toward the Spanish Empire and its monarch. The liturgical schedule of colonial Mexico City shows that Spanish Catholicism projected both Church and Empire across the Atlantic. As the Catholic Church had found, cults to saints formed effective imperial ties because they could also attract and adapt. Civic and religious leaders in Mexico City molded the cult to San Felipe to express municipal pride, to assert the city’s place in the Spanish Empire and to commemorate its contributions to Catholicism. Devotions to saints, then, captured the potentially-divisive power of identity to reinforce Empire and Church. Pious imperialism worked well until Bourbon-era reforms distanced the Spanish monarch from the devotional culture in Mexico City and interrupted the mediating power of saints’ cults. The Spanish Empire was less able to withstand shocks like the political instability of the early nineteenth century. / text

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Thesis (M.A.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-93). Also available online.

O objetivo deste trabalho é estudar as representações artísticas das imagens de Maria Bueno (1854-1893), especificamente na pintura “Retrato de Santa Maria Bueno”, de Raul Cruz. Com este objetivo, analisam-se as particularidades e o contexto de produção desta pintura, dentro do universo do artista. As imagens de Maria Bueno são sacralizadas por parte da população da capital paranaense e, sendo assim, estuda-se neste trabalho o seu processo de sacralização. A partir de seu assassinato em 29 de janeiro de 1893, começam a lhe ser atribuídos milagres. Uma vez que não existe nenhum registro fotográfico da aparência de Maria Bueno, pensa-se também sobre a construção do branqueamento de seu tom de pele na sua representação em imagens. No caso de Maria Bueno, existem duas versões sobre sua real aparência, uma delas descrita como branca e a outra como negra, pois se tem que foi filha de pai branco e mãe negra. No entanto, desde as suas primeiras representações imagéticas, ela foi evidenciada com a pele branca. Exemplos desta representação branqueada são imagens feitas pelo pintor norueguês Alfredo Andersen (1860-1935) e também a pintura do artista plástico paranaense Raul Cruz (1957-19). Para se atingir o objetivo deste trabalho, discorreu-se sobre a imagem como construção do indivíduo, passando pela construção da imagem do branco e do negro e a representação do corpo branco nas imagens sacralizadas da igreja. O exercício de análise dessas imagens nesta dissertação trouxe um foco diferenciado à produção artística da imagem de Maria Bueno, uma vez que evidencia o viés da construção ideológica dessa imagem no sentido da sua sacralização e branqueamento de seu tom de pele. / The present work aims at studying Maria Bueno (1854-1893) image artistic representation, specifically focusing the painting “Saint Maria Bueno Portrait” by Raul Cruz through analyzing the particularities and context of the picture production taking into consideration the artist universe. Part of the Paraná capital (Curitiba) population considers Maria Bueno pictures sacred, thus our work studies such sacredness process. From January 29, 1893, the day she was murdered, people started to impute miracles to Maria Bueno. Since there are no photographic records of Maria Bueno appearance, so we also analyze the skin whitening process in her portraits. There are two versions of Maria Bueno appearance; one describes her as a white person and the other as a black one for it is believed that her father was white and her mother was black. Nevertheless, painters have showed her as a white woman since the first time she was painted. Good examples of whitened representations of Maria Bueno are the portraits painted by Norwegian Alfredo Andersen (1860-1935) and Paraná citizen Raul Cruz (1957-1993). To meet the present work objective we discussed image as a process to build a person, including white and black, as well as the representation of white bodies in the Church sacred imagery. The image analyses process carried out in the present dissertation made us see the artistic production of Maria Bueno image in a different light, since it highlights the ideological building of images towards sacredness and skin whitening.

O objetivo deste trabalho é estudar as representações artísticas das imagens de Maria Bueno (1854-1893), especificamente na pintura “Retrato de Santa Maria Bueno”, de Raul Cruz. Com este objetivo, analisam-se as particularidades e o contexto de produção desta pintura, dentro do universo do artista. As imagens de Maria Bueno são sacralizadas por parte da população da capital paranaense e, sendo assim, estuda-se neste trabalho o seu processo de sacralização. A partir de seu assassinato em 29 de janeiro de 1893, começam a lhe ser atribuídos milagres. Uma vez que não existe nenhum registro fotográfico da aparência de Maria Bueno, pensa-se também sobre a construção do branqueamento de seu tom de pele na sua representação em imagens. No caso de Maria Bueno, existem duas versões sobre sua real aparência, uma delas descrita como branca e a outra como negra, pois se tem que foi filha de pai branco e mãe negra. No entanto, desde as suas primeiras representações imagéticas, ela foi evidenciada com a pele branca. Exemplos desta representação branqueada são imagens feitas pelo pintor norueguês Alfredo Andersen (1860-1935) e também a pintura do artista plástico paranaense Raul Cruz (1957-19). Para se atingir o objetivo deste trabalho, discorreu-se sobre a imagem como construção do indivíduo, passando pela construção da imagem do branco e do negro e a representação do corpo branco nas imagens sacralizadas da igreja. O exercício de análise dessas imagens nesta dissertação trouxe um foco diferenciado à produção artística da imagem de Maria Bueno, uma vez que evidencia o viés da construção ideológica dessa imagem no sentido da sua sacralização e branqueamento de seu tom de pele. / The present work aims at studying Maria Bueno (1854-1893) image artistic representation, specifically focusing the painting “Saint Maria Bueno Portrait” by Raul Cruz through analyzing the particularities and context of the picture production taking into consideration the artist universe. Part of the Paraná capital (Curitiba) population considers Maria Bueno pictures sacred, thus our work studies such sacredness process. From January 29, 1893, the day she was murdered, people started to impute miracles to Maria Bueno. Since there are no photographic records of Maria Bueno appearance, so we also analyze the skin whitening process in her portraits. There are two versions of Maria Bueno appearance; one describes her as a white person and the other as a black one for it is believed that her father was white and her mother was black. Nevertheless, painters have showed her as a white woman since the first time she was painted. Good examples of whitened representations of Maria Bueno are the portraits painted by Norwegian Alfredo Andersen (1860-1935) and Paraná citizen Raul Cruz (1957-1993). To meet the present work objective we discussed image as a process to build a person, including white and black, as well as the representation of white bodies in the Church sacred imagery. The image analyses process carried out in the present dissertation made us see the artistic production of Maria Bueno image in a different light, since it highlights the ideological building of images towards sacredness and skin whitening.