Hagiography

This chapter offers, in a very concise and thus selective manner, a coherent insight into texts about saints, namely, vitae, especially those written between ca. 800 and ca. 1300, although attention will also be paid to eulogies, offices, and other texts. Of particular interest are hagiographic texts about clerics, who were also missionaries, such as Cyril and Methodius, Clement of Ohrid, and Adalbert (Vojtěch/Wojciech) of Prague. I will also take into consideration princes and kings considered to be saints, especially Wenceslas of Bohemia, Stephen of Hungary, Boris and Gleb, princes of Rus’, and, at somewhat greater length, Stefan Nemanja, with the writings about the latter laying the ground for the sacralization of (other members of) the Nemanjid dynasty. This selection not only will highlight certain common features of the hagiography in Greek, Slavic, and Latin in the European context but also is meant to provide an opportunity for considering particular developments of entanglement between East and West in a clearer light. ¹ However, the examination of the texts pertaining to Stefan Nemanja will highlight some original features, especially the “cultification” of an entire dynasty. ² Indeed, hagiography was the most prolific genre in the medieval Serbian and Bulgarian literature, especially in comparison with secular chronicle writing, which was largely absent, particularly in Bulgaria. In Southeastern Europe, much like elsewhere, hagiographic texts gained a pivotal importance for entire literary settings. ³