Brother-Making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium: Monks, Laymen, and Christian Ritual

by Claudia Rapp

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190613815
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/01/2016
Series:	Onassis Series in Hellenic Culture
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	14 MB
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About the Author

Claudia Rapp is Professor of Byzantine Studies at the University of Vienna and Director of the Division of Byzantine Research, Institute for Medieval Studies, Austrian Academy of Sciences. She was awarded the 2015 Wittgenstein Prize, the most prestigious scientific award in Austria.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Abbreviations, Spelling and Transliteration Introduction One: Social Structures Two: The Ritual of Adelphopoiesis Three: The Origins: Small-Group Monasticism in Late Antiquity Four: The Social Practice of Brother-Making in Byzantium Five: Prescriptions and Restrictions in Byzantium Six: Beyond Byzantium Appendix 1: List of Manuscripts Appendix 2: Table of Prayers Appendix 3: Prayers in Translation Bibliography: Sources Bibliography: Scholarly Literature

Editorial Reviews

"This book is an erudite study on asceticism in Late Antiquity and Byzantium. Written by the eminent scholar Claudia Rapp (Professor of Byzantine Studies at the University of Vienna and Director of the Division of Byzantine Research in the Institute for Medieval Studies at the Austrian Academy of Sciences), it is a fascinating and welcome contribution to the field of early monasticism...This is an excellent book, indispensable for scholars of asceticism in the later Roman world, and well worth the attention of a broader audience. Written by a brilliant scholar, Brother-Making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium is equally valuable for research and teaching." —Daniel Lemeni, Vigiliae Christianae

"Rapp has taken hold of a theme that binds early monasticism to later Byzantine secular life and forms a nexus of its religious, personal, and political history. Through an admirable command of sources that span a millennium, including narratives and little-studied prayer books, she presents Byzantium at its most unfamiliar and yet most intimate. The book is among a rare few that make Byzantium more intriguing and more accessible for anthropological study." —Anthony Kaldellis, The Ohio State University

"A masterly combination of historical anthropology and textual scholarship, which lifts the lid on social values in Byzantium. With clear and sympathetic insight, Professor Rapp shows how the cultural simulation of a biological kinship bond evolved from the consecration of spiritual togetherness to the strategic crossing of social boundaries for mutual support in a competitive world." —Paul Magdalino, University of Saint Andrews

"Rapp provides a compelling account of social relationships in Byzantium through the prism of brother-making. We are taken on a tour of such subjects as family relationships, the language of family as it applies to other relationships, and the development and variety of early monasticism, and not just in Byzantium but elsewhere in Europe and beyond...One cannot help but be drawn into this fascinating world, such is the rich material that Rapp makes use of."—Shaun Tougher, American Historical Review

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