Crucified Saints from Late Antiquity to the Modern Ages (Edited Volume)

CFP for the volume: Crucified Saints from Late Antiquity to the Modern Age

Ed. by Barbara Crostini and Anthony Lappin (Uppsala University, Sweden)

For the series: Sanctorum. Scritture, pratiche, immagini (http://www.aisscaweb.it/it/sanctorum-scritture-pratiche-immagini/)

Following a panel in January 2018 @ Cantieri dell’Agiografia II edizione, Rome, 18-19 January 2018, organized by AISSCA (Associazione Italiana per lo Studio della Santità, dei Culti e dell’Agiografia), we are preparing an expanded volume on this theme for the society’s series and we welcome proposals for papers. 

Proposals should be max. 300 words and be sent to [email protected] by

3 January 2019. Approved abstracts will be notified by 15 January. Final drafts (max. 10000 words) should be submitted by 15 March, and will be sent to be peer-reviewed before confirmed acceptance. The language of the volume is English.

This volume explores the theme of crucified saints in Christianity in an interdisciplinary and diachronic perspective. From Saint Paphnoutios to Saint Wilgefortis, from the Ten thousand soldiers on Mount Ararat to the Japanese martyrs, crucified saints have been both a local and a global phenomenon. They have inspired and captured the imagination of artists and faithful, but they have also been theologically challenging and at times strongly censured. Unease about direct comparisons to Christ has created divergent paradigms for his apostles, for example, so that traditions about how to represent or describe their manner of death are at times quite mixed (as in the case of Andrew). Conversely, other saints have become ‘crucified’, whether or not this has been their actual means of martyrdom. Exploring the motivations for stressing similarities or differences according to the specific historical circumstances is a driving theme in this volume.

Although the punishment of crucifixion is thought obsolete at an early date, recurrence of this form of torture throughout history has caused the theme of crucified saints to spread and revive on several occasions. Through the example of the narratives, artistic interpretations and cultic forms of these saints, whether as individuals or in a group, the following questions could be asked of the evidence: in what way are crucified saints a paradigm for the Christian? To what extent is a form of spiritual crucifixion in imitation of these saints preached or encouraged? Or is it in fact also discouraged? How do they compare with, relate to or are intentionally differentiated from Christ crucified? In what ways is this parallel exploited in their reception? Are there specific historical circumstances that enhance their popularity, for example by the way that they can be exploited as identity markers in multicultural communities? Is there a gender bias with respect to crucified women martyrs and children? What cultural role have crucified saints played in the various historical situations in which their memory has been evoked and their calling interpreted?

Displaying the variety of possible interpretations and uses across a range of examples has the cumulative effect of gathering together an often submerged and to many wholly unfamiliar tradition. Contextualization and critical assessment are expected standards for the contributions.