Dead or alive? The holy man as healer in East and West in the late sixth century

Bibliographic Data

ID11891963
AuthorsJoan M Petersen (corresponding author)
Year1983
Volume9
Issue2
Pages91-98
Publication date1983-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Medieval History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0304-4181 • E-ISSN: 1873-1279
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1016/0304-4181(83)90003-9
PMID11617396
OpenAlexW2078582587
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited6

A rigid distinction cannot be drawn between the living holy man as healer in Eastern Christendom and the dead man healing from his tomb in the West, since examples of both kinds of healing are found throughout the Mediterranean area. As examples of dead holy men working miracles from their tombs, a comparison is made between Martin, as described in the writings of Gregory of Tours, and Demetrius of Thessalonica. Nevertheless the dead holy man as cult-figure is more common in the West than in the East, because of certain differences between the pre-Christian religious in East and West. Roman law attached great importance of the sacrosanctity of a corpse, whereas in the East there was not always the same distaste for the dismemberment of bodies, though there are many exceptions to this general principle. The cult of the living holy man in the East may be a Christianization of the Greek notion of the hero. At any rate the cultural and spiritual unity of the Mediterranean area was such that the idea of the living holy man as healer could penetrate to Western Christendom

Ancient history · Archaeology · Cult · Dismemberment · Islam · Osiris · Zoroastrianism · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Law · Philosophy

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub