
Emperor and God
Passion Relics and the Divinisation of Byzantine Rulers, 944-1204
Christopher James Sprecher(Author)
Heidelberg University Publishing
Published on 25. April 2024
Book
Hardback
XX, 244 pages
978-3-96822-226-4 (ISBN)
Description
This study explores how the understanding of the Byzantine emperor as a sacred or divine figure changed in the Middle Byzantine period. It is based on close readings and studies of three medieval Passion relics held in Constantinople: the Mandylion, the relic-reliquary ensemble of the Limburg Staurotheke; and the Holy Stone. Accompanied by English-language translations of medieval Greek source texts pertaining to these relics, Sprecher demonstrates that the Passion relics in this period served to focus and narrow an understanding of the emperor not only as divinely appointed and anointed ruler, but also in surprising ways as being somehow divine himself.
More details
Series
Thesis
Doctoral thesis
2022
Universität Regensburg
Language
English
Place of publication
Heidelberg
Germany
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Illustrationen
Dimensions
Height: 260 mm
Width: 182 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
696 gr
ISBN-13
978-3-96822-226-4 (9783968222264)
DOI
10.17885/heiup.1240
Schweitzer Classification