The Palaiologan period witnessed a notable flourishing of Byzantine hagiography, as new works appeared, while older ones came back in vogue or were rewritten and refashioned. The Life of Andrew the Fool for Christ’s Sake (BHG 115z) in particular, originally written most likely in the tenth century, seems to have rekindled the interest of the Byzantines with ease and was tirelessly copied and remodeled. The trend caught the attention of the Orthodox Slavs and a few translations of the Life appeared in medieval Bulgaria. While the extended Life of Andrew the Fool initially was copied as a self-standing codex, or in strictly hagiographic collections, other variants of the text are found in florilegia, which included very different compositions. This lecture will focus on the origins and contents of these collections, which are often characterized by their own internal logic, reflecting the personal preferences of the literati who commissioned or compiled them. It will explore the possibility that certain patterns might be at work, shaped by a specific literary and cultural context.
Lilly Stammler was educated first at Sofia University, Bulgaria (BA in Bulgarian philology), and then at CEU, Budapest, Hungary (MA in Medieval Studies) and at Oxford University, UK (MSt in Byzantine Studies). In Britain, she studied under Catherine Mary MacRobert, James Howard-Johnston, and Marc Lauxtermann. Her research interests are focused on Church Slavonic palaeography, Byzantine palaeography, Byzantine literature, translations, medieval text formation and transformation. Presently, she works at the Centre for Slavo-Byzantine Studies "Prof. Ivan Duychev" at Sofia University, Bulgaria.
Zoom link:
https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/96720584787?pwd=R0d0Y3hJTDMwNmcwZjYyUTJ4Q0RKdz09
Meeting ID: 967 2058 4787
Passcode: medpub
For non-CEU community members, in-person attendance of the lecture is linked to registration. Registration deadline: November 8.