Introduction

doi:10.1017/9781009008631.001

Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 May 2022

Ghazzal Dabiri

Edited by

Ghazzal Dabiri and

Flavia Ruani

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Ghazzal Dabiri: Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
Flavia Ruani: Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris

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Summary

Thecla is one of the most prominent figures of early Christianity, and her tale, the Acts of Paul and Thecla, one of the most popular. She has been widely celebrated as the apostle Paul’s disciple and heralded as an apostle in her own right, as a preeminent saint, model of chastity, charismatic confessor, teacher, leader, intercessor, and proto-martyr. Thecla and her tale have been studied from multiple angles (ancient romance, church history, cult, gender, women’s story-telling). However, the tremendous impact Thecla and her tale had on shaping the Lives of saints and their storyworlds remains little studied. This volume offers, for the first time, a collection of papers that explores the reception of Thecla and her tale in medieval (broadly defined) hagiographical texts composed in a variety of languages across Eurasia and North and East Africa. The introduction, thus, sets the stage for analyses by offering a synopsis of the tale, its more famous aspects for medieval readers and modern scholars, and its impact on a broad range of hagiographical tales. It also highlights the most prominent techniques that hagiographers deployed to model their protagonists on Thecla and the methodologies (intertextuality, reception) used across the volume that call them forth.

Keywords

Acts of Paul and Thecla medieval hagiography conversion social disruption late antique hagiography reception eastern christianity western christianity sainthood holy women

Type: Chapter
Information: Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
<I>The Acts of Paul and Thecla</I> in Eastern and Western Hagiography
, pp. 1 - 32

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009008631.001 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2022

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Introduction

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Keywords

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References

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