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IMC 2008: Sessions

Session 204: Hagiography and Cult of the Martyrs, I: Martyrs and Kingship

Monday 7 July 2008, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Centre de recherches historiques, Université de Paris VIII - Vincennes-Saint-Denis
Organiser:Anne-Marie Helvétius, amhelvetius@univ-paris8.fr
Moderator/Chair:Maximilian Diesenberger, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Paper 204-aThe Propagation of the Cult of St Maurice
(Language: English)
Anne Wagner, Centre de Recherche Universitaire Lorrain d'Histoire (CRULH), Université de Lorraine / Département d'histoire, Université de Franche-Comté
Index terms: Hagiography, Religious Life
Paper 204-bSt Denis of Paris: Origins of the Cult
(Language: English)
Anne-Marie Helvétius, amhelvetius@univ-paris8.fr
Index terms: Hagiography, Religious Life
Paper 204-cSt Adalbert: Troublesome Bishop as a Founder of the East European Kingdoms
(Language: English)
Pavlína Rychterová, Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, Universität Wien
Index terms: Hagiography, Political Thought, Religious Life
Abstract

As far as comparative hagiography is concerned, few studies have dealt with martyrs. Nonetheless, martyrs remain an hagiographic topic shared by different cultural times and areas and the success of the martyr's cult was foremost during the whole medieval period.
The first session will deal with the relations between worship of martyrs and kingship. Because of the superiority of martyrdom upon other forms of holiness, many dynasties founded their identity on the cult of an outstanding martyr. Such martyrs could also be used as a starting point for the construction of a national identity.