Saints’ Lives

Saints’ lives (Latin vitae, sg. vita), also referred to as hagiographies (from the Greek hagios ‘holy’ and graphia ‘writing’), formed one of the most important literary genres in the European Middle Ages, and constitute a substantive portion of those texts composed in medieval Scandinavia. Medieval...

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Main Author: Van Deusen, Natalie M.
Format: Book Part
Language:unknown
Published: Oxford University Press 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780195396584-0328
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spelling croxfordunivpr:10.1093/obo/9780195396584-0328 2023-10-29T02:37:21+01:00 Saints’ Lives Van Deusen, Natalie M. 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780195396584-0328 unknown Oxford University Press Medieval Studies ISBN 9780195396584 reference-entry 2023 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780195396584-0328 2023-09-29T10:52:09Z Saints’ lives (Latin vitae, sg. vita), also referred to as hagiographies (from the Greek hagios ‘holy’ and graphia ‘writing’), formed one of the most important literary genres in the European Middle Ages, and constitute a substantive portion of those texts composed in medieval Scandinavia. Medieval Scandinavian saints’ lives can be categorized as East Norse (that is, Danish and Swedish) and West Norse (that is, Norwegian and Icelandic). In both East and West Norse, these works comprise translations from imported foreign (primarily Latin) sources, as well as works produced within Scandinavia in both Latin and the vernacular, which refers to the language spoken by people living in a particular region. The composition of saints’ lives began shortly after the Christianization of the Scandinavian countries, which began during the 8th century and was completed by the 12th century. Indeed, saints’ lives were among the very first works composed in the vernacular in Scandinavia. The majority of the surviving manuscripts containing saints’ lives written in the Scandinavian vernaculars of the Middle Ages come from medieval Iceland and, to a lesser extent, Norway. In Iceland, the lives of saints played a key role in the development of vernacular saga literature, on which hagiographic texts had an ongoing influence throughout the Middle Ages. Saints’ lives from Denmark and Sweden were generally composed in Latin, though there existed translations of select lives as well as larger legendaries—that is to say, collections of saints’ lives—in both the Old Danish and Old Swedish vernaculars. Within the East Norse tradition, by far the largest number of natively produced saints’ lives are associated with St. Birgitta of Sweden (d. 1373), and can be connected to canonization efforts. Also of particular interest throughout the Nordic region were the lives of saintly bishops, dukes, kings, and other noblemen and noblewomen, which comprise the majority of the lives of Scandinavian saints and saintly individuals. The production of ... Book Part Iceland Oxford University Press (via Crossref)
institution Open Polar
collection Oxford University Press (via Crossref)
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description Saints’ lives (Latin vitae, sg. vita), also referred to as hagiographies (from the Greek hagios ‘holy’ and graphia ‘writing’), formed one of the most important literary genres in the European Middle Ages, and constitute a substantive portion of those texts composed in medieval Scandinavia. Medieval Scandinavian saints’ lives can be categorized as East Norse (that is, Danish and Swedish) and West Norse (that is, Norwegian and Icelandic). In both East and West Norse, these works comprise translations from imported foreign (primarily Latin) sources, as well as works produced within Scandinavia in both Latin and the vernacular, which refers to the language spoken by people living in a particular region. The composition of saints’ lives began shortly after the Christianization of the Scandinavian countries, which began during the 8th century and was completed by the 12th century. Indeed, saints’ lives were among the very first works composed in the vernacular in Scandinavia. The majority of the surviving manuscripts containing saints’ lives written in the Scandinavian vernaculars of the Middle Ages come from medieval Iceland and, to a lesser extent, Norway. In Iceland, the lives of saints played a key role in the development of vernacular saga literature, on which hagiographic texts had an ongoing influence throughout the Middle Ages. Saints’ lives from Denmark and Sweden were generally composed in Latin, though there existed translations of select lives as well as larger legendaries—that is to say, collections of saints’ lives—in both the Old Danish and Old Swedish vernaculars. Within the East Norse tradition, by far the largest number of natively produced saints’ lives are associated with St. Birgitta of Sweden (d. 1373), and can be connected to canonization efforts. Also of particular interest throughout the Nordic region were the lives of saintly bishops, dukes, kings, and other noblemen and noblewomen, which comprise the majority of the lives of Scandinavian saints and saintly individuals. The production of ...
format Book Part
author Van Deusen, Natalie M.
spellingShingle Van Deusen, Natalie M.
Saints’ Lives
author_facet Van Deusen, Natalie M.
author_sort Van Deusen, Natalie M.
title Saints’ Lives
title_short Saints’ Lives
title_full Saints’ Lives
title_fullStr Saints’ Lives
title_full_unstemmed Saints’ Lives
title_sort saints’ lives
publisher Oxford University Press
publishDate 2023
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780195396584-0328
genre Iceland
genre_facet Iceland
op_source Medieval Studies
ISBN 9780195396584
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780195396584-0328
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