ABSTRACT
It is becoming increasingly accepted in scholarship that hagiographies are historical sources in their own right. In regard to their subjects, at fi rst glance they may seem to be composed of anachronistic legends, but those elements can still tell us a great deal about the historical consciousness, political opinions and group identities of their authors and readership. The small portion of legends that were written down by hagiographers-many more must have been transmitted orallyis especially valuable for those who seek to explore the nexus between religion and society. The process of hagiography (literally meaning “the writing of the holy”) is closely related to the idea of the propagation of a saint’s cult, often in anticipation of the sympathy, support or patronage of a particular target group beyond the immediate circle of listeners. Studies of European hagiography have demonstrated that hagiographers could serve a variety of calculated worldly ends, ranging from the economic promotion of a cult and the manipulation of its social constituency to the legitimization of political authority.1
