The Cults of Holy Rulers in the Early Medieval Europe: The Interaction between Religious and Political Aspects

In this paper, we have made an attempt to review the complex interaction between two spheres of consciousness, political and religious, based on various cults of the saint rulers. The cults of the saint rulers have a special place among the medieval cults. They were linked with the objectives of pol...

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Main Authors: N.Yu. Bikeeva, A.D. Mokropolova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Kazan Federal University 2016-12-01
Series:Ученые записки Казанского университета: Серия Гуманитарные науки
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Online Access:https://kpfu.ru/portal/docs/F921024460/158_6_gum_3.pdf
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author N.Yu. Bikeeva
A.D. Mokropolova
author_facet N.Yu. Bikeeva
A.D. Mokropolova
author_sort N.Yu. Bikeeva
collection DOAJ
description In this paper, we have made an attempt to review the complex interaction between two spheres of consciousness, political and religious, based on various cults of the saint rulers. The cults of the saint rulers have a special place among the medieval cults. They were linked with the objectives of political ideology and the sacralization of power. The connection between kingship and sainthood was common in Europe during the period of the 6th – 11th centuries. The analysis of different types of medieval saint rulers has been performed – Frankish queens, such as Chrodechild (Clotild), Radegund, Balthild (Bathild), as well as King Olav II of Norway. Two types of sources, which reflect the category of sainthood from different approaches, have been considered: hagiographic (Vitae) and literary (Saga). The analysis of these sources has demonstrated the existence of two ideological traits: one, more dominant, is tied up with the system of Christian religious conceptions, the latter one reflects both Christian and traditional Viking’s observances. The image of a holy woman was consistent with the traditional model of holiness and reflected more negative assessment of secular authority by the church consciousness. At the same time, the Lives of saint queens represented them as a model of Christian ruler. The contrast between “secular” and “spiritual” in the image of St. Olav seems less obvious. The Norwegian king was depicted not only as a carrier of the Christian virtues, but as a mighty and valiant ruler. Therefore, it has been revealed that the cults of the saint rulers reflect different dominant social perceptions of authority.
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series Ученые записки Казанского университета: Серия Гуманитарные науки
spelling doaj-art-ea03e15e98e34d9c8800adfa90f8f2bb2025-01-02T20:25:34ZengKazan Federal UniversityУченые записки Казанского университета: Серия Гуманитарные науки2541-77382500-21712016-12-01158614481458The Cults of Holy Rulers in the Early Medieval Europe: The Interaction between Religious and Political AspectsN.Yu. Bikeeva0A.D. Mokropolova1Kazan Federal University, Kazan, 420008 RussiaKazan Federal University, Kazan, 420008 RussiaIn this paper, we have made an attempt to review the complex interaction between two spheres of consciousness, political and religious, based on various cults of the saint rulers. The cults of the saint rulers have a special place among the medieval cults. They were linked with the objectives of political ideology and the sacralization of power. The connection between kingship and sainthood was common in Europe during the period of the 6th – 11th centuries. The analysis of different types of medieval saint rulers has been performed – Frankish queens, such as Chrodechild (Clotild), Radegund, Balthild (Bathild), as well as King Olav II of Norway. Two types of sources, which reflect the category of sainthood from different approaches, have been considered: hagiographic (Vitae) and literary (Saga). The analysis of these sources has demonstrated the existence of two ideological traits: one, more dominant, is tied up with the system of Christian religious conceptions, the latter one reflects both Christian and traditional Viking’s observances. The image of a holy woman was consistent with the traditional model of holiness and reflected more negative assessment of secular authority by the church consciousness. At the same time, the Lives of saint queens represented them as a model of Christian ruler. The contrast between “secular” and “spiritual” in the image of St. Olav seems less obvious. The Norwegian king was depicted not only as a carrier of the Christian virtues, but as a mighty and valiant ruler. Therefore, it has been revealed that the cults of the saint rulers reflect different dominant social perceptions of authority.https://kpfu.ru/portal/docs/F921024460/158_6_gum_3.pdfsainthoodearly middle ageshagiographysaint queenscults of saint rulersradegundolavsagachristianization
spellingShingle N.Yu. Bikeeva
A.D. Mokropolova
The Cults of Holy Rulers in the Early Medieval Europe: The Interaction between Religious and Political Aspects
Ученые записки Казанского университета: Серия Гуманитарные науки
sainthood
early middle ages
hagiography
saint queens
cults of saint rulers
radegund
olav
saga
christianization
title The Cults of Holy Rulers in the Early Medieval Europe: The Interaction between Religious and Political Aspects
title_full The Cults of Holy Rulers in the Early Medieval Europe: The Interaction between Religious and Political Aspects
title_fullStr The Cults of Holy Rulers in the Early Medieval Europe: The Interaction between Religious and Political Aspects
title_full_unstemmed The Cults of Holy Rulers in the Early Medieval Europe: The Interaction between Religious and Political Aspects
title_short The Cults of Holy Rulers in the Early Medieval Europe: The Interaction between Religious and Political Aspects
title_sort cults of holy rulers in the early medieval europe the interaction between religious and political aspects
topic sainthood
early middle ages
hagiography
saint queens
cults of saint rulers
radegund
olav
saga
christianization
url https://kpfu.ru/portal/docs/F921024460/158_6_gum_3.pdf
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