Skip to main content

IMC 2021: Sessions

Session 1818: Crossing Borders in Episcopal Hagiography

Thursday 8 July 2021, 16.30-18.00

Sponsor:EPISCOPUS: Society for the Study of Bishops & Secular Clergy
Organiser:Evan Gatti, Department of Art & Art History, Elon University, North Carolina
Moderator/Chair:Evan Gatti, Department of Art & Art History, Elon University, North Carolina
Paper 1818-aBishops without Borders?: The Legendary Travels of Apostolic Founding Bishops
(Language: English)
Samantha Kahn Herrick, Department of History, Syracuse University, New York
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Hagiography, Religious Life
Paper 1818-bEarly Medieval Hagiography without Miracles from the Diocese of Utrecht and Beyond
(Language: English)
David Defries, Department of History, Kansas State University
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Hagiography, Religious Life
Paper 1818-cVernacular Hagiography and Episcopal Authority: The Example of Iceland
(Language: English)
Haraldur Hreinsson, Historisches Seminar, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Hagiography
Abstract

The borders of episcopal authority were fraught in the Middle Ages. For example, Charlemagne tried to limit each bishop's spiritual and administrative authority to his own diocese, but not long after Charlemagne's reform, some bishops claimed to be spiritual 'watchmen' with the authority to 'correct' the behavior of Christians throughout the empire. In fact, bishops often crossed borders of one sort or another. They might exercise property rights outside their dioceses, engage in missionary work and undertake political maneuvers that spanned administrative, linguistic and cultural boundaries. Saintly bishops crossed still more borders. They intervened both in other clerics' affairs and those of secular rulers. Their miracles took no account of territorial or administrative boundaries, and even flouted the line between life and death. Their relics often traveled, and in turn inspired others to go on pilgrimage. Hagiography offers a rich perspective on the ways that borders - and their transgression - defined episcopal authority and activity. This session explores the role of borders and border-crossing in hagiography by or about medieval bishops.