Early Medieval Hagiography

Past Imperfect

by James T. Palmer

Saints were powerful role models in the early Middle Ages, capable of defining communities. But what roles did saintly biographies play in shaping the medieval West? Are we any closer to the 'elusive goal' of understanding society and its many post-Roman transformations through them? This book provides a new starting point for the investigation of the early Middle Ages through hagiography. It critically examines the varied nature of hagiography in different societies, from Ireland to Germany via Rome and Spain, to help pave the way for future comparative studies. The book also offers a wide-ranging assessment of different modern methodologies used to interrogate hagiographies, from early twentieth-century source criticism, to the insights gained from gender studies, postmodernism and digital humanities.

136 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2018

Reviews

[Judyta Szacillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having studied early medieval hagiography in detail for more than a decade, obviously I wasn’t looking for any revelations in this wee book. I was just curious how the Author would go about explaining this quagmire of a subject – and he didn’t do bad, not bad at all. What a pity this book wasn’t around when I was starting my PhD project! It could have been a lot of help.

As it’s such a short book, it’s about the basics: how to define what hagiography is, what role it played when it was one of the most popular literary genres, and how historians approach it today to extract reliable information. There’s a decent bibliography to go with all that.

In the final chapter, the Author discusses the avenues already taken by academics and the scope for further research, but I must admit I liked this one the least as it is unnecessarily vague. Instead of focusing on the potential of hagiographical sources, it’s more of a reiteration of things already said in the earlier chapters. Still, it’s a great introduction and can certainly be helpful to anyone looking for some guidance on the subject.

[Della D · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good overview of the main scholarship around early medieval hagiography, really helpful for the neophyte who interested in hagiography

[Geneva Henson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and extremely instructive. A great overview of the historiography of early medieval hagiography. Some good puns in there too!