Die Macht Der Weisheit: Das Bild Des Bischofs in Der Vita Augustini Des Possidius Und Anderen Spataniken Und Fruhmittelalterlichen Bischofsviten ... of Christian Thought) (German Edition) - Hardcover

Elm, Eva

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9004128816 ISBN 13: 9789004128811

Publisher: Brill Academic Pub, 2002

Synopsis

The Vita Augustini of Possidius has long stood in the shadow of the Confessions, in comparison to which it was considered the unremarkable work of a mediocre author. Only in the last decade have scholars begun to appreciate its value as an historical and hagiographical text. The present study extends the lines of reappraisal by making the entire literary genre 'the episcopal biography' the subject of its investigation. It offers detailed analysis of the episcopal biography from late antiquity through the ninth century, together with its most important model, the hellenistic 'Lives' of philosophers. Thus the author achieves not only a scholarly reassessment of the Vita Augustini, but a reevaluation of one of the most important literary subgenres of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages.

About this title

Review:

'This outstanding study of "the power of wisdom" focuses on biographies of bishops in the Roman West, beginning with Pontius's Life of Cyprian (late third century), through their development in late antiquity, and down to the ninth century...With similar precision Elm investigates other bishop's biographies in their historical context, extracting the man from the model, the biographer's method from the message. In each instance she provides exceptionnally rich insights into the biographer's craft and the formation of enduring Bischofsbilder for western Europe. Her work merits exceptional praise.'
Carole Straw, Speculum, 2005.

About this edition

• Publisher: Brill Academic Pub
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 9004128816
• ISBN 13: 9789004128811
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320