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  3. The Virgin Mary in Byzantium, c.400-1000
  • This product is now available as open access 9781009327244
  • This book is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core
  • Cited by 3
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
October 2021
Print publication year:
2021
Online ISBN:
9781108990530
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108990530
Subjects:
Area Studies, History, European Studies, European History 450-1000
Information

Book description

The Virgin Mary assumed a position of central importance in Byzantium. This book examines her portrayal in liturgical texts during the first six centuries of Byzantine history. Focusing on three main literary genres that celebrated this holy figure, it highlights the ways in which writers adapted their messages for different audiences. Mary is portrayed variously as defender of the imperial city, Constantinople, virginal Mother of God, and ascetic disciple of Christ. Preachers, hymnographers, and hagiographers used rhetoric to enhance Mary's powerful status in Eastern Christian society, depicting her as virgin and mother, warrior and ascetic, human and semi-divine being. Their paradoxical statements were based on the fundamental mystery that Mary embodied: she was the mother of Christ, the Word of God, who provided him with the human nature that he assumed in his incarnation. Dr Cunningham's authoritative study makes a major contribution to the history of Christianity.

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