Durham E-Theses

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Durham E-Theses CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Durham e-Theses Durham E-Theses Sanctae Famulae Dei: Towards a Reading of Augustine's Female Martyrs MARTIN, ELENA,RITA How to cite: MARTIN, ELENA,RITA (2009) Sanctae Famulae Dei: Towards a Reading of Augustine's Female Martyrs, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/50/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Sanctae Famulae Dei: Towards a Reading of Augustine’s Female Martyrs Elena Martin PhD Thesis Department of Theology and Religion Durham University 2009 The material in this thesis is my own work, and has not been submitted for a degree in this or any other university. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation should be published in any format, including electronic, and the Internet, without the author‟s prior written consent. All information derived from this thesis must be acknowledged appropriately. ABSTRACT Augustine of Hippo‟s depictions of female martyrs have eluded scholarly attention despite recent interest in his attitudes towards women and his involvement with the cult of the martyrs. The present thesis addresses this oversight by resituating Augustine‟s representations of female martyrs within the corpus of his works. It shows how Augustine‟s representations of female martyrs are not simple auxiliary illustrations or marginal notes tangential to his main concerns, but rather they are complex images that reveal a depth of thought in their construction and employment, and which, therefore, deserve our attention in their own right. Perceiving the female martyrs within the wider context of his life, his moral and theological writings, and his pastoral ministry, this study explores how Augustine used the female martyrs to contemplate, articulate, and communicate theological beliefs, ecclesiological concerns, eschatological hopes, and moral teachings. Elena Martin Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University Sanctae Famulae Dei: Towards a Reading of Augustine’s Female Martyrs ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council for the financial support that has enabled me to undertake this project. I am also extremely grateful to Durham University for awarding me with a Durham Doctoral Fellowship, which has been a great source of encouragement throughout my research. Much of the research that is presented in this thesis has been improved by discussions at various conferences, which I have been able to attend thanks to the generous bursaries of the Ecclesiastical History Society, the British Association for the Study of Religion, and Durham University‟s Department of Theology and Religion. I am most grateful to my supervisor, Dr Carol Harrison, for her constructive advice and supportive encouragement, which has helped me to understand more about Augustine‟s female martyrs. I am thankful to my secondary supervisor, Professor Andrew Louth, and to Dr Alec Ryrie and Dr Krastu Banev, who read and commented on different chapters of this thesis. I also extend my warmest thanks to Father Michael Lewis, who kindly gave up his Saturday mornings to introduce me to the study of Latin. Sanctae Famulae Dei: Towards a Reading of Augustine’s Female Martyrs CONTENTS Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. i INTRODUCTION: Holy Women of God ................................................................ 1 PART ONE: ABSTRACTING IMAGES AND BLURRING PORTRAITS Introduction: Painting Portraits of the Martyrs ..................................................... 12 CHAPTER 1: The Influence of the Audience .................................................... 16 Martyr Festivals............................................................................................. 17 Fashioning Popular Portraits........................................................................ 22 Adaptation and Modification ......................................................................... 25 Beyond the Thoughts of the Flesh .................................................................. 27 Controlling the Fear of Death ....................................................................... 29 Textual Representations................................................................................. 35 Defending the Cult of the Martyrs ................................................................. 39 True and False Martyrs ................................................................................. 41 Conclusion: Martyrdom in Context ............................................................... 47 CHAPTER 2: Methods of Representation .......................................................... 49 Removing Narrative Structure ....................................................................... 50 An Exception: Lawrence ................................................................................ 53 Avoiding Descriptions of the Tortured Body ................................................. 56 An Exception: Vincent ................................................................................... 61 Censoring Female Nudity .............................................................................. 64 Deleting the Speeches of the Martyrs ............................................................ 69 Exceptions: Lawrence, Fructuosus, and Donata ........................................... 73 Abstracting the Martyrs‟ Personal Names ................................................... 75 Conclusion: Abstraction or Erasure? ............................................................ 82 PART TWO: DEPICTING FEMALE MARTYRS Introduction: Gender Distinction in Martyrdom Narratives .................................. 85 CHAPTER 3: Thinking with Women ................................................................. 92 Representation and Reality ............................................................................ 94 Uncovering Real Women? ............................................................................. 99 Women in the Bible ...................................................................................... 102 Biblical Women as Exemplars ..................................................................... 106 Full of Mysteries and Pregnant with Symbols ............................................. 116 Female Martyrs: figurae / formae Ecclesiae? ............................................. 122 Blessed Daughters of Mother Church ......................................................... 127 Conclusion: Expanding the Narrative ......................................................... 130 Sanctae Famulae Dei: Towards a Reading of Augustine’s Female Martyrs CHAPTER 4: Ambivalent Images: Weak Female Bodies .............................. 133 Church Fathers and Women Martyrs .......................................................... 136 Strength for Struggling Souls ...................................................................... 145 Making Sense of Weak Women Martyrs ...................................................... 148 Weakness and Subordination? ..................................................................... 150 Womanly Weakness and Female Frailty ..................................................... 153 Revelations of Divine Truth ......................................................................... 155 Moulding and Manipulating Memory .......................................................... 159 From Weakness to Strength ......................................................................... 169 Conclusion: Accepting the Ambivalence ..................................................... 181 CHAPTER 5: Exemplarity, Imitation, and Emotional Engagement ............. 182 Exemplarity and Imitation ........................................................................... 184 Engaging the Emotions ................................................................................ 188 Blush for Shame, Bearded Men! .................................................................. 194 Examples for Women ................................................................................... 203 Excursus: Do not Imitate the Martyrs! ........................................................ 215 Conclusion: Depicting Martyrs, Transforming Christians ......................... 219 CONCLUSION: Reflecting on Augustine‟s Female Martyrs.............................. 221 Appendix: The Main Sources for Augustine‟s Female Martyrs ............................... iv Bibliography ............................................................................................................. xi Sanctae Famulae Dei: Towards a Reading of Augustine’s Female Martyrs ABBREVIATIONS ACW Ancient
Recommended publications
  • Prudentius, Poetry and Hispania
    ORBIT-OnlineRepository ofBirkbeckInstitutionalTheses Enabling Open Access to Birkbeck’s Research Degree output Prudentius, Poetry and Hispania https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/40038/ Version: Full Version Citation: Hershkowitz, Paula (2013) Prudentius, Poetry and Hispania. [Thesis] (Unpublished) c 2020 The Author(s) All material available through ORBIT is protected by intellectual property law, including copy- right law. Any use made of the contents should comply with the relevant law. Deposit Guide Contact: email PRUDENTIUS, POETRY AND HISPANIA Paula Hershkowitz Department of History, Classics and Archaeology Birkbeck, University of London Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The work presented in this thesis is my own ................................................................ Paula Hershkowitz 1 ABSTRACT The thesis focuses on the martyr poetry of Prudentius. It argues that we cannot fully understand his verses without contextualising the poet within his physical environment, in particular that of Hispania, his homeland. Although literary sources can provide information about Prudentius and his work, it is only by accessing evidence from the archaeological and visual record when studying his poetry that its purpose can be fully understood. Chapter I serves as an introduction to Prudentius. It examines the information he gives us about himself in his poetry and discusses the historical context and background of his work. Chapter II identifies the audience of Prudentius and proposes a role for him as villa-poet to the elite of Hispania. It questions the extent to which this audience were, during his lifetime, committed to the Christian religion. Chapter III analyses the martyr poems in detail, especially those located in Hispania. By examining the material evidence for martyr worship in the locations mentioned by Prudentius it assesses whether the cult of the martyrs played a significant role in the lives of the Spanish.
    [Show full text]
  • Martyrology 12 09 19
    Martyrology An Anglican Martyrology - for the British Isles 1 of 160 Martyrology Introduction The base text is the martyrology compiled by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB. Copyright © 2008 by the Monastery of the Ascension, Jerome, ID 83338 and available online at the website of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert. The calendars of each of the three Anglican churches of the British isles contain varied group commemorations, I suggest these entries are read only in the province where they are observed and have indicated that by the use of italics and brackets. However, people, particularly in the Church of England, are woefully ignorant of the history of the other Anglican churches of our islands and it would be good if all entries for the islands are used in each province. The Roman dates are also indicated where these vary from Anglican ones but not all those on the Roman Calendar have an entry. The introductions to the saints and celebrations in the Anglican calendars in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in Exciting Holiness, ed. Brother Tristam SSF, The Canterbury Press, 1997, have been added where a saint did not already appear in the martyrology. These have been adapted to indicate the place and date of death at the beginning, as is traditional at the reading of the martyrology. For the place of death I have generally relied on Wikipedia. For Irish, Welsh and Scottish celebrations not appearing in Exciting Holiness I have used the latest edition of Celebrating the Saints, Canterbury Press, 2004. These entries are generally longer than appear in martyrologies and probably need editing down even more than I have done if they are to be read liturgically.
    [Show full text]
  • Pablo C. Díaz Monasteries in a Peripheral Area: Seventh-Century Gallaecia [A Stampa in Topographies of Power in the Early Middle Ages, a Cura Di M
    Pablo C. Díaz Monasteries in a peripheral area: seventh-century Gallaecia [A stampa in Topographies of Power in the Early Middle Ages, a cura di M. de Jong - F. Theuws - C. van Rhijn, Leiden-Boston-Köln 2001, 329-359 © dell’autore - Distribuito in formato digitale da “Reti Medievali”] This chapter discusses the pivotal role of a special kind of monastic organisation in a peripheral area (Gallaecia) during a period in which this region was affected by change. As I shall argue, the monasteries depicted in the seventh-century Regula communis functioned as ‘places of power’, in that they enabled the inhabitants of Galicia to resist these changes and preserve older patterns of community life within the monastic confines. These monasteries were able to withstand the might of bishops and local aristocratic landowners, well into the era of the so-called Reconquest. But first we should answer an essential question: what is a peripheral area? Or, more specifically, why do we characterize late ancient and early medieval Gallaecia as a peripheral area? Gallaecia and its isolation The first and commonsensical meaning of periphery is that of an area closest to the outer of a given space perceived as ‘the centre’: an external boundary or region. In this physical sense, Gallaecia, turned into a province by Diocletian’s reform, was situated on the furtherst borders of the Roman world. Gallaecia was a finis terrae in the west of the Empire, the most remote province of Hispania, which itself was seen by imperial authors as an outermost boundary.1 However, this concept of remoteness and distance, of eccentricity, was not only perceived by those writing in the centre of power, be it in Rome or in the East.
    [Show full text]
  • The Blood of the Martyrs: the Attitudes of Pagan Emperors and Crowds Towards Christians, from Nero to Julian
    The Blood of the Martyrs: The Attitudes of Pagan Emperors and Crowds Towards Christians, From Nero to Julian Domenico Miletti Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master’s degree in Classical Studies Department of Classics and Religious Studies Faculty of Arts and Sciences University of Ottawa © Domenico Miletti, Ottawa, Canada, 2016 Abstract This MA thesis will discuss the reception of common, non-scholarly polytheists (pagans) to the persecution of Christians from the early empire until the Great Persecution (303-313, 322-324). Though modern scholars have addressed this issue and asserted that there was a change in attitude, many have not developed this into anything more than a passing statement. When chronologically analyzing the Christian acts, passions, letters, and speeches recounting the deaths of martyrs deemed historically authentic, and accounting for the literary and biblical topoi, we can demonstrate that the position of non-Christians changed. The methodology of this thesis will chronologically assess the martyr acts, passions, speeches, and letters which are historically accurate after literary and biblical topoi are addressed. These sources are available in the appendix. Throughout this analysis, we will see two currents. The primary current will seek to discern the change in pagan reception of anti-Christian persecution, while the second current will draw attention to the Roman concept of religio and superstitio, both important in understanding civic religion which upheld the pax deorum and defined loyalty to the Roman order through material sacrifices and closely connected to one's citizenship. Religio commonly denoted proper ritual practices, while superstitio defined irregular forms of worship which may endanger the state.
    [Show full text]
  • 14 Augustine's Secular City
    14 AUGUSTINE’S SECULAR CITY Robert Dodaro ‘I need not describe the power of patriotic love (caritas patriae), for you know it already; it alone could justly take precedence over affection for our parents’. So begins Nectarius, an elderly resident of Calama, in a letter addressed to Augustine, the Catholic bishop of Hippo Regius, some 65 km northwest. If a good man’s service of his home town had any limit or terminus, then by now I might deserve to excuse myself worthily from my duties to it. On the contrary, though, one’s affection and gratitude for one’s city grows as each day passes; and the nearer life approaches to its end, the more one desires to leave it flourishing and secure. That is why I am delighted before all else to be conducting this discussion with a man who is thoroughly well educated. 1 Nectarius is a pagan and a former official in the imperial civil service. 2 The ‘discussion’ that he opens with Augustine concerns the recent outbreak of ferocious, anti-Christian violence in Calama, his home town. On 1 June AD 408 and on two successive days a week later, rioting between devotees of a local pagan cult and the city’s Catholics seriously disrupted the peace. As Augustine later recounts the incident, violence first broke out when Possidius, the city’s bishop and a close friend, intervened to impede certain rites connected with an unspecified pagan festival. During the ensuing confrontation, stones were hurled at the bishop’s church as a reprisal for his interference.
    [Show full text]
  • Prudentius, Poetry and Hispania
    ORBIT - Online Repository of Birkbeck Institutional Theses Enabling Open Access to Birkbecks Research Degree output Prudentius, Poetry and Hispania http://bbktheses.da.ulcc.ac.uk/38/ Version: Full Version Citation: Hershkowitz, Paula (2013) Prudentius, Poetry and Hispania. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London. c 2013 The Author(s) All material available through ORBIT is protected by intellectual property law, including copyright law. Any use made of the contents should comply with the relevant law. Deposit guide Contact: email PRUDENTIUS, POETRY AND HISPANIA Paula Hershkowitz Department of History, Classics and Archaeology Birkbeck, University of London Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The work presented in this thesis is my own ................................................................ Paula Hershkowitz 1 ABSTRACT The thesis focuses on the martyr poetry of Prudentius. It argues that we cannot fully understand his verses without contextualising the poet within his physical environment, in particular that of Hispania, his homeland. Although literary sources can provide information about Prudentius and his work, it is only by accessing evidence from the archaeological and visual record when studying his poetry that its purpose can be fully understood. Chapter I serves as an introduction to Prudentius. It examines the information he gives us about himself in his poetry and discusses the historical context and background of his work. Chapter II identifies the audience of Prudentius and proposes a role for him as villa-poet to the elite of Hispania. It questions the extent to which this audience were, during his lifetime, committed to the Christian religion. Chapter III analyses the martyr poems in detail, especially those located in Hispania.
    [Show full text]
  • 258510934.Pdf
    Late Roman Spain and Its Cities This page intentionally left blank Ancient Society and History Late Roman Spain MICHAEL KULIKOWSKI and Its Cities The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore © 2004 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2004 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Johns Hopkins Paperback edition, 2010 987654321 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition of this book as follows: Kulikowski, Michael, 1970– Late Roman Spain and its cities / Michael Kulikowski. p. cm. — (Ancient society and history) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8018-7978-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Cities and towns—Spain—History—To 1500. 2. Spain— History—To 711. I. Title. II. Series. HT145.S7K838 2004 307.76Ј0946—dc22 2004001111 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 13: 978-0-8018-9832-7 ISBN 10: 0-8018-9832-3 a mi padre por todos los años y todos los libros This page intentionally left blank Divina natura dedit agros, ars humana aedificavit urbes. —Varro, De re rustica 3.1.4 A culture, we all know, is made by its cities. —Derek Walcott, “The Antilles: Fragments of Epic Memory” This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Illustrations xiii Preface xv One The Creation of Roman Spain 1 Tw o Urban Institutions in the Principate 17 Three Urban Institutions in the Third and Fourth Centuries 39 Four Diocletian and the Spanish
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of the Rhetoric of the Early Sermons of St
    A STUDY OF THE RHETORIC OF THE EARLY SERMONS OF ST. AUGUSTINE John K. Wall Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the Department of History, Indiana University March 2012 Accepted by the Faculty of Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. ___________________________________ Eric L. Saak Ph.D., Chair ____________________________________ Erik L. Lindseth Ph.D. Master’s Thesis Committee ____________________________________ Thomas J. Davis Ph.D. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project would have been impossible without the support and great patience of my wife, Christina, and she deserves my greatest thanks. I undertook graduate studies after encouragement and guidance from David Gellman, as well as the support of John Dittmer and Andrea Sununu. I would never have found an interest in Augustine without the instruction of Noah Lemos and Rick Gamble. Each of my graduate professors pushed me toward the focus that this project eventually took, including Kevin Robbins, Jason Kelly, Bob Sutton and most especially, Eric Saak. My understanding of Augustine’s rhetoric was shaped by the incisive comments of Calvin Troup. Finally, since this is a paper on preaching, I must also thank the two men—Mark Melton and Michael LeFebvre—under whose sermons I sat and profited during this research. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction ..........................................................................................................1
    [Show full text]
  • MARTYROLOGY the Demographics of Christian Martyrdom, AD 33–AD 2001
    Part 4 MARTYROLOGY The demographics of Christian martyrdom, AD 33–AD 2001 People will do to you exactly what they did to me. —Jesus to his disciples (John 15:21, Contemporary English Version) We share in the terrible sufferings of Christ. —Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 1:5, Contemporary English Version) I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne... And I heard the number of the sealed: 144,000. —Revelation 6:9, 7:4, RSV; Sealing of the Martyrs Martyrdom is a charism of the Spirit. —C. H. Pinnock, Flame of love: a theology of the Holy Spirit, 1996 Demographics is both a science and an art. Part 4 applies this knowledge to a startling phenomenon: the killings of 70 mil- lion Christians across the centuries and in every country. The data are sufficiently dense, detailed, and incontrovertible that this Part arrives at firm totals and trends. Even ongoing rates of martyrdom are calculated, which bishops, evangelists, for- eign missionaries, clergy, church leaders, as well as layper- sons should be prepared to face. The demographics of Christian martyrdom, AD 33-AD 2001 AN OVERVIEW OF MARTYRDOM Graphic 4-1. Location of the 76 worst situations of mass martyrdom in Christian history (all with over 100,000 martyrs each). This section of the survey presents the evidence for the startling conclusion that, over the 20 centuries of the Christian faith, some 70 million Christians have been murdered for that faith and hence are called martyrs.
    [Show full text]
  • ICOMOS Hill, with the Seat of the Provincial Government, the 1
    The architectural ensemble known as the Provincial Forum is considered to be one of the largest and best documented fora Tárraco (Spain) of the Roman world. This large group of buildings, the seat of the Concilium provinciae Hispaniae citerioris, determined No 875rev the layout of the existing old town, where most of the architectural elements survive, some to a height of up to 11m. It was a large complex (7.5ha) spread over three terraces used for high-level political purposes and to bring the communities of Hispania Citerior into the Roman Empire, as shown by the iconography of sculptural and decorative finds. The architectural details and the use of Identification imported materials are taken as evidence of its architects and craftsmen having been brought in from Rome. Nomination The archaeological ensemble of Tárraco The work of these Italian specialists is also to be seen in the three Roman structures used for public performances: the Location Autonomous Community of Catalonia, theatre, amphitheatre, and circus. The theatre, the only one Province of Tarragona known in Catalonia, is linked with the Forum, and together they formed the centre of the Imperial cult in the Augustan State Party Spain and Julio-Claudian periods. Date 1 July 1997 Much of the Basilica (courthouse) survives in the Colonial (Town) Forum, together with other buildings, such as a temple. Archaeological excavations in this area have revealed the layout of the administrative centre, and also the street pattern in the adjacent residential area. Justification by State Party The construction of the amphitheatre is somewhat unusual, since it is partly set into the natural rock and partly The town of Tárraco is the first and oldest Roman settlement constructed on vaults in opus caementicium.
    [Show full text]
  • Towards a Reading of Augustine's Female Martyrs
    Durham E-Theses Sanctae Famulae Dei: Towards a Reading of Augustine's Female Martyrs MARTIN, ELENA,RITA How to cite: MARTIN, ELENA,RITA (2009) Sanctae Famulae Dei: Towards a Reading of Augustine's Female Martyrs, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/50/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Sanctae Famulae Dei: Towards a Reading of Augustine’s Female Martyrs Elena Martin PhD Thesis Department of Theology and Religion Durham University 2009 The material in this thesis is my own work, and has not been submitted for a degree in this or any other university. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation should be published in any format, including electronic, and the Internet, without the author‟s prior written consent. All information derived from this thesis must be acknowledged appropriately.
    [Show full text]
  • Killing with Impunity: St. Augustine & Giorgio Agamben on Sovereignty
    Killing with Impunity: St. Augustine & Giorgio Agamben on Sovereignty John W. Peck, SJ Boston College School of Theology & Ministry Although the contemporary Italian political philosopher Giorgio Agamben is not a religious thinker, there is a remarkable affinity between aspects of his thought and that of St. Augustine of Hippo. This paper attempts to show that, like Agamben, Augustine locates the origin of sovereignty in the sovereign’s decision to place some person(s) outside the protection of law. Moreover, both thinkers are alert to the fact that, given the structure of sovereignty, sovereign authority’s decision to deprive persons of legal protection is not subject to oversight, even when the sovereign acts unjustly. In other words, Augustine and Agamben agree that sovereigns murder with impunity. To prove this thesis, the paper first outlines Agamben’s account of how sovereignty constitutes itself, namely, through the exclusion of “bare life.” Next, it examines several texts from The City of God to show that Augustine holds a similar theory regarding the historical origins and character of political authority. Finally, the paper considers how Augustine’s Regula ad servos Dei anticipates Agamben’s call to found political communities outside the purview of law. I. Introduction Michel Foucault has famously proposed Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon as the architectural paradigm of modern society. In Bentham’s prison design, the few guards stationed in the central tower observed the inmates arranged in the multi-floor cylindrical structure around them. The inmates, in contrast, never knew with certainty whether or not they were being observed; they only knew that they might have been.
    [Show full text]