Hagiography, the Cult of Martyrs, and the Formation of Christian Identity in Late Antique Pannonia von Hajnalka Tamas

Kategorie: Bücher
Seiten / Format: 235 S.; Softcover/Paperback
Erscheinungsjahr: 2022
Verlag: Presa Universitara Clujeana
Sprache: Englisch
ISBN: 5948422023656

This volume is a revised version of my doctoral dissertation, Pannonian Martyrs of the Great Persecution and the Formation of Christian Identity in the Late 4 th and Early 5 th Century Middle Danube Area (KU Leuven, 2014). The dissertation contained also extensive studies of the transmission history and critical editions of three of the analysed texts. Since these have appeared elsewhere, I did not include them here. Although expanded, corrected, or nuanced, the core of this volume still represents my doctoral research. It is fit, therefore, to begin by thanking those who supported and shaped that endeavour: the promoters of my doctorate, Prof. Johan Leemans and Prof. Mathijs Lamberigts; and the correctors of my dissertation, Prof. David G. Hunter, Prof. Gert Partoens, and Prof. Anthony Dupont. Their patient and generous advice steered clear of obstacles, enabled the overcoming of cliffhangers, and tempered excesses. Born in the office of Prof. Leemans in a sunny afternoon in late September 2008, the project was nurtured throughout the years in the Leemans Research Group, the Research Unit History of Church and Theology from the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, and in many conversations with my Leuven colleagues and friends. A heartfelt thank you to all! In 2016-2018, parts of this book were shaped by further study in the context of an MSCA Individual Fellowship at the University of Exeter (Christian Diversity in Late Antique Sirmium (ca 350 AD-ca 450 AD): A Historical, Literary and Theological Study, Grant no. 658265). Substantial contributions resulted from visits to research institutions and libraries during and after my doctorate: the Société des Bollandistes in Brussels; the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; the Niedersächsische Staats-und Universitätsbibliothek, Göttingen; the Museo Archeologico Nazionale Cividale, Archivi e Biblioteca; the Museum of Srem and the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Sremska Mitrovica. In the course of these visits I had the privilege to consult with experts who offered valuable information concerning the history of Pannonia and of Christianity in Pannonia, epigraphic and martyrological material, and the transmission history of texts: Prof. László Perendy, Prof. Péter Kovács (Budapest); Dr. Levente Nagy (Pécs); Mrs. Claudia Franceschini (Cividale del Friuli); Mrs. Jasmina Davidovic and Mrs. Biljana Lucic (Sremska Mitrovica). Special gratitude goes to Prof. Bogdan Neagota, who encouraged the publication of this research, and to Pr. Dr. Claudiu George Tu?u, who made it possible by offering the generous financial support of the Center for Patristic Studies and Ancient Christian Literature from the Babe?-Bolyai University. Most of all, I wish to thank my family and my fiancée. My parents understood my dream of studying in Leuven and patiently endured the separation from their only child. My late grandmother never fully grasped the meaning of a doctorate, yet she was so proud and supportive all along. They all became co-sufferers on a laborious journey that dragged on for too many years, holding fast long after I had given up. My warmest thoughts go to my fiancée, Vojtech Novitzky, who selflessly and cheerfully encouraged this project, both when I wrote the dissertation, and when I rewrote the book, never losing patience, never complaining about short temper, unslept nights, or long days spent in the cocoon of late antique hagiography in Pannonia.

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