Holy Fools in Byzantium and Beyond (Oxford Studies in Byzantium)

"In this study, Sergey A. Ivanov examines the phenomenon of holy foolery from a cultural standpoint. Adopting a diachronic approach, he identifies the prerequisites for holy foolery, considers the way it was shaped in the religious mind, and follows the emergence of the first hagiographic texts describing these paradoxical saints. In exploring the subsequent tradition of holy foolery, he shows how the genuinely insane could be promoted to the ranks of holy fools, as new generations of hagiographers attempted to read insanity in the light of the established canon. He also uncovers a large number of Byzantine and Old Russian sources dealing with holy fools who, for various reasons, were not entered into the official lists of saints."--Jacket.