ABSTRACT
The aim of Byzantine hagiographical texts whether saints’ Lives or collections of miracles is to demonstrate the sanctity of their heroes or the efficiency of their relics, icons or sanctuaries. As hagiography can lay claim to providing information on every aspect of society, social history is much more difficult to define than economic history. It encompasses the different levels of society, seen through cultural and economic activities, and their social relationships, as well as relations within these groups, their way of life and the social consequences of their beliefs. Late antique hagiography supplies relatively generous amounts of information on urban society. Hagiographers of the Palaiologan era outline the wealth producing areas which at times belonged to the declining empire that was Late Byzantium. As in any medieval society, the Byzantine economy relied on rural production. The main landowners were lay proprietors and monastic foundations.
