Editing Hagiography (section)

== Christianity ==
{{further|Legendary material in Christian hagiography}}
=== Development ===
Hagiography constituted an important [[literary genre]] in the [[early Christian church]], providing some informational history along with the more inspirational stories and [[legend]]s. A hagiographic account of an individual saint could consist of a biography (''{{lang|la|vita}}''), a description of the saint's deeds or miracles, an account of the saint's martyrdom (''{{lang|la|passio}}''), or be a combination of these.

The genre of lives of the saints first came into being in the [[Roman Empire]] as legends about [[Christianity|Christian]] [[martyr]]s were recorded. The dates of their deaths formed the basis of [[martyrology|martyrologies]]. In the 4th century, there were three main types of catalogs of lives of the saints:
* annual calendar catalogue, or ''[[menaion]]'' (in [[Greek language|Greek]], {{lang|grc|μηναῖον}}, {{Transliteration|grc|menaion}} means "monthly" ([[Adjective|adj]], [[Grammatical gender|neut]]), lit. "lunar"), biographies of the saints to be read at [[sermon]]s;
* ''[[synaxarion]]'' ("something that collects"; Greek {{lang|grc|συναξάριον}}, from {{lang|grc|σύναξις}}, {{Transliteration|grc|synaxis}} i.e. "gathering", "collection", "compilation"), or a short version of lives of the saints, arranged by dates;
* ''[[paterikon]]'' ("that of the Fathers"; Greek {{lang|grc|πατερικόν}}; in Greek and Latin, {{lang|la|pater}} means "father"), or biography of the specific saints, chosen by the catalog compiler.
The earliest lives of saints focused on [[Desert Fathers|desert fathers]] who lived as ascetics from the 4th century onwards. The life of [[Anthony the Great|Anthony of Egypt]] is usually considered the first example of this new genre of Christian biography.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Talbot |first=Alice-Mary |author-link=Alice-Mary Talbot |date=21 November 2012 |title=Hagiography |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/29470/chapter/247165478 |access-date=2024-04-21 |website=academic.oup.com |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199252466.013.0082}}</ref> 

In [[Western Europe]], hagiography was one of the more important vehicles for the study of inspirational history during the [[Middle Ages]]. The ''[[Golden Legend]]'' of [[Jacobus de Voragine]] compiled a great deal of medieval hagiographic material, with a strong emphasis on miracle tales. Lives were often written to promote the cult of local or national states, and in particular to develop pilgrimages to visit [[relic]]s. The bronze [[Gniezno Doors]] of [[Gniezno Cathedral]] in Poland are the only [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] doors in Europe to feature the life of a saint. The life of Saint [[Adalbert of Prague]], who is buried in the cathedral, is shown in 18 scenes, probably based on a lost illuminated copy of one of his Lives.

The [[Bollandists|Bollandist]] Society continues the study, academic assembly, appraisal and publication of materials relating to the lives of Christian saints (see ''[[Acta Sanctorum]]'').

=== Medieval England ===
Many of the important hagiographical texts composed in medieval England were written in the vernacular dialect [[Anglo-Norman literature#Hagiography|Anglo-Norman]]. With the introduction of [[Latin]] literature into England in the 7th and 8th centuries the genre of the life of the saint grew increasingly popular. When one contrasts it to the popular heroic poem, such as ''[[Beowulf]]'', one finds that they share certain common features. In ''Beowulf'', the titular character battles against [[Grendel]] and [[Grendel's mother|his mother]], while the saint, such as [[Athanasius]]' [[Anthony the Great|Anthony]] (one of the original sources for the hagiographic motif) or the character of [[Guthlac]], battles against figures no less substantial in a spiritual sense. Both genres then focus on the hero-warrior figure, but with the distinction that the saint is of a spiritual sort.

Imitation of the life of Christ was then the benchmark against which saints were measured, and imitation of the lives of saints was the benchmark against which the general population measured itself. In [[Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] and [[mediaeval|medieval]] England, hagiography became a literary genre par excellence for the teaching of a largely illiterate audience. Hagiography provided priests and theologians with classical handbooks in a form that allowed them the rhetorical tools necessary to present their faith through the example of the saints' lives.

Of all the English hagiographers no one was more prolific nor so aware of the importance of the genre as Abbot [[Ælfric of Eynsham]]. His work ''Lives of the Saints''<ref>{{cite book|title= The Lives of the Saints |author=Ælfric of Eynsham |author-link=Ælfric of Eynsham |access-date=1 December 2018 |url= http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Cotton_MS_Julius_E_VIIa}}</ref> contains set of sermons on saints' days, formerly observed by the English Church. The text comprises two prefaces, one in Latin and one in [[Old English language|Old English]], and 39 lives beginning on 25 December with the nativity of [[Christ]] and ending with three texts to which no saints' days are attached. The text spans the entire year and describes the lives of many saints, both English and continental, and harks back to some of the earliest saints of the early church.

There are two known instances where saint's lives were adapted into vernacular [[play (theatre)|plays]] in Britain. These are the [[Cornish language|Cornish-language]] works ''[[Beunans Meriasek]]'' and ''[[Beunans Ke]]'', about the lives of Saints [[Meriasek]] and [[Saint Kea|Kea]], respectively.<ref>{{cite book |title= Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia|last= Koch|first= John T. |year= 2006|publisher= ABC-CLIO|isbn=1851094407|pages= 203–205|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&q=Celtic+Culture|access-date=23 November 2009}}</ref>

Other examples of hagiographies from England include:
* the ''Chronicle'' by [[Hugh Candidus]]<ref>[[Barbara Yorke]], ''Nunneries and the [[Anglo-Saxon]] Royal Houses'' (Continuum, 2003) [https://books.google.com/books?id=6iXw3-r2hvkC&dq=Ealdgyth+of+Stortford&pg=PA22 p.&nbsp;22]</ref>
* the [[Secgan|Secgan Manuscript]]<ref>[http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=stowe_ms_944_f029v  Stowe MS 944] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20140103065303/http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=stowe_ms_944_f029v |date=3 January 2014 }}, British Library</ref><ref>G. Hickes, ''Dissertatio Epistolaris in Linguarum veterum septentrionalium thesaurus grammatico-criticus et archeologicus'' (Oxford 1703–05), p. 115.</ref>
* the list of [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leyland]]<ref>[[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]], The [[John Leland (antiquary)#Editions of Leland's works|Collectanea of British affairs]], Volume 2. [http://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=la&u=https://books.google.com/books%3Fid%3DN989AAAAcAAJ%26pg%3DPA408%26lpg%3DPA408%26dq%3DDomnanuerdh%26source%3Dbl%26ots%3DhHG8iIFtb4%26sig%3Djrz5GF0uGBswmJZ1tKK9h2LO0k8&prev=/search%3Fq%3DDomnanuerdh%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D596 p.&nbsp;408].</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=R. M. |last=Liuzza |url=http://www.oenewsletter.org/OEN/archive/OEN39_2.pdf |title=The Year's Work in Old English Studies |journal=Old English News Letter |publisher=Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University |year=2006 |volume=39 |number=2 |page=8}}</ref>
* possibly the book ''Life'' by [[Saint]] [[Cadog]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tatlock |first=J. S. P. |year=1939 |title=The Dates of the Arthurian Saints' Legends |journal=Speculum |volume=14 |number=3 |pages=345–365 |jstor=2848601 |doi=10.2307/2848601|s2cid=163470282 }} p. 345</ref>
* ''Vita Sancti Ricardi Episcopi et Confessoris Cycestrensis''/ Life of [[Richard of Chichester]] by [[Ralph Bocking]].<ref>{{Cite book|editor-first=David|editor-last=Jones|title=Saint Richard of Chichester : the sources for his life|year=1995|publisher=Sussex Record Society|location=Lewes|isbn= 0854450408|page=8}}</ref>
* The [[Margery Kempe|Book of Margery Kempe]] is an example of autohagiography, in which the subject dictates her life using the hagiographic form.

=== Medieval Ireland ===
[[File:National Library of Ireland MS G10 p24.jpg|right|thumb|Calendar entries for 1 and 2 January of the [[Martyrology of Oengus]]]]
Ireland is notable in its rich hagiographical tradition, and for the large amount of material which was produced during the Middle Ages. Irish hagiographers wrote primarily in Latin while some of the later saint's lives were written in the hagiographer's native vernacular [[Irish language|Irish]]. Of particular note are the lives of [[St. Patrick]], [[Columba|St. Columba (Latin)/Colum Cille (Irish)]] and [[Brigit of Kildare|St. Brigit/Brigid]]—Ireland's three patron saints. The earliest extant Life was written by [[Cogitosus]].  Additionally, several Irish calendars relating to the [[Calendar of saints|feastdays]] of [[Christian saints]] (sometimes called [[martyrology|martyrologies]] or [[martyrology|feastologies]]) contained abbreviated synopses of saint's lives, which were compiled from many different sources.  Notable examples include the [[Martyrology of Tallaght]] and the [[Félire Óengusso]]. Such hagiographical calendars were important in establishing lists of native Irish saints, in imitation of continental calendars.

=== Eastern Orthodoxy ===
[[File:Vita icon of St Paraskeve of Trnovo (Patriarchate of Peć, 1719-20).png|thumb|upright|left|Visual hagiography of [[Parascheva of the Balkans|St Paraskeva]] ([[Patriarchate of Peć (monastery)|Patriarchate of Peć]], 1719–20)]]
[[File:Hagiasophia-christ.jpg|thumb|upright|Example of Greek Orthodox visual hagiography. This is one of the best known surviving Byzantine mosaics in [[Hagia Sophia]] – [[Christ Pantocrator]] flanked by the [[Virgin Mary]] and [[John the Baptist]] made in the 12th century.]]

In the 10th century, a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[monk]] [[Simeon Metaphrastes]] was the first one to change the genre of lives of the saints into something different, giving it a moralizing and [[panegyric]]al character. His catalog of lives of the saints became the standard for all of the [[Western world|Western]] and [[Eastern world|Eastern]] hagiographers, who would create relative biographies and images of the ideal saints by gradually departing from the real facts of their lives. Over the years, the genre of lives of the saints had absorbed a number of narrative plots and poetic images (often, of pre-Christian origin, such as [[dragon]] fighting etc.), mediaeval [[parable]]s, short stories and [[anecdote]]s.

The genre of lives of the saints was introduced in the Slavic world in the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]] in the late 9th and early 10th century, where the first original hagiographies were produced on [[Saints Cyril and Methodius|Cyril and Methodius]], [[Clement of Ohrid]] and [[Saint Naum|Naum of Preslav]]. Eventually the Bulgarians brought this genre to [[Kievan Rus']] together with [[writing]] and also in [[translation]]s from the Greek language. In the 11th century, they began to compile the original life stories of their first saints, e.g. [[Boris and Gleb]], [[Theodosius of Kiev|Theodosius Pechersky]] etc. In the 16th century, [[Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow|Metropolitan Macarius]] expanded the list of the Russian saints and supervised the compiling process of their life stories. They would all be compiled in the so-called ''Velikiye chet'yi-minei'' catalog (Великие Четьи-Минеи, or [[Great Menaion Reader]]), consisting of 12 [[volume]]s in accordance with each month of the year. They were revised and expanded by St. [[Dimitry of Rostov]] in 1684–1705.

The ''[[Life of Alexander Nevsky]]'' was a particularly notable hagiographic work of the era.

Today, the works in the genre of lives of the saints represent a valuable historical source and reflection of different social ideas, world outlook and [[aesthetic]] [[concept]]s of the past.

=== Oriental Orthodoxy ===
The [[Oriental Orthodox Churches]] also have their own hagiographic traditions. For instance, [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] hagiographies in the [[Ge'ez language]] are known as ''gadl'' (Saint's Life).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kelly|first=Samantha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lLgSzAEACAAJ&q=ethiopian+hagiography|title=A Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea|date=2020|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004419582|language=en}}</ref> There are some 200 hagiographies about indigenous saints.<ref>Kefyalew Merahi. Saints and Monasteries in Ethiopia. 2 vols. Vol. 2, Addis Ababa: Commercial Printing Press, 2003.</ref> They are among the most important [[Ethiopian Empire|Medieval Ethiopian]] written sources, and some have accurate historical information.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tamrat|first=Taddesse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MIAcYAAACAAJ&q=ethiopian+hagiography|title=Hagiographies and the Reconstruction of Medieval Ethiopian History|date=1970|language=en}}</ref> They are written by the disciples of the saints. Some were written a long time after the death of a saint, but others were written not long after the saint's demise.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.linkethiopia.org/guide-to-ethiopia/the-pankhurst-history-library/lives-of-ethiopian-saints/|title=Lives of Ethiopian Saints|website=Link Ethiopia|access-date=4 March 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305040611/http://web.linkethiopia.org/guide-to-ethiopia/the-pankhurst-history-library/lives-of-ethiopian-saints/|archive-date=5 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Galawdewos|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmuYDwAAQBAJ&q=ethiopian+hagiography|title=The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros: A Seventeenth-Century African Biography of an Ethiopian Woman|year= 2015|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0691164212|language=en}}</ref> Fragments from an [[Old Nubian]] hagiography of Saint Michael are extant.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=van Gerven Oei|first1=Vincent W. J.|url=https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/25470|title=The Old Nubian Texts from Attiri|last2=Laisney|first2=Vincent Pierre-Michel|last3=Ruffini|first3=Giovanni|last4=Tsakos|first4=Alexandros|last5=Weber-Thum|first5=Kerstin|last6=Weschenfelder|first6=Petra|date=2016|publisher=punctum books|doi=10.21983/P3.0156.1.00 |hdl=20.500.12657/25470 |language=English}}</ref>