RT Article
T1 Martyrdom, Literary Experiment and Church Politics in Jerome’s Epistula Prima, to Innocentius, on the "septies percussa"
JF Vigiliae Christianae
VO 68
IS 4
SP 384
OP 408
A1 Coppieters, Steff
A1 Praet, Danny
A1 Bossu, Annelies
A2 Taveirne, Maarten
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2014
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1522187677
AB Jerome’s Epistula prima is a remarkably hybrid text. It contains a miraculous account of the trial and failed execution of a woman from Vercelli, who is falsely accused of adultery and eventually saved from further persecution by Jerome’s patron, Evagrius of Antioch. In our article we discuss the martyrological and novelistic elements of Jerome’s text and analyze how he related a cruel, but trivial trial with anonymous protagonists to contemporary Church politics and gave it an ascetical undertone. Furthermore, we link these elements to the interests of Jerome’s intended readership. Overall, we argue that Jerome wrote the Epistula prima not only as a hyper-rhetorical showcase to advertise himself as a Christian writer or to eulogize Evagrius, but that he included subtle yet meaningful literary and ideological references in his text.
K1 Jerome : Epistula prima : martyrdom : ancient novel : Church politics : asceticism : septies percussa
DO 10.1163/15700720-12341196