ChrisVirIll · Christian Illustrious Men: Christian Culture and Identity from Eusebius of Caesarea to Isidore of Sevilla
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2021-11-01 → 2023-10-31
- EU contribution
- €178,320
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Christian Illustrious Men: Christian Culture and Identity from Eusebius of Caesarea to Isidore of Sevilla
This research project focused on the role of early Christian 'De viris illustribus' (DVI) in shaping Christian cultural identity. In contemporary scholarship, DVIs are often underexplored, primarily used for prosopographical data. However, this project highlighted their importance in understanding the literary Christian culture of late antiquity and their significance for the evolution of Western and European culture. The main objective was to examine how knowledge was produced, institutionalized, canonized, and contested through the DVIs. This included analyzing their transformation across learning centers such as Caesarea, Bethlehem, Marseilles, Seville, and Toledo, and focusing on Pamphilus of Caesarea’s influence on Eusebius’ Historia ecclesiastica and Jerome’s DVI. The project sought to understand how these works were influenced by and reflected their political, social, cultural, and religious contexts. The conclusion of the project revealed that DVIs were instrumental in establishing Christian cultural identity, closely linked with literary history, theology, and practice. It emphasized Pamphilus of Caesarea’s role in promoting post-biblical authors, particularly Origen of Alexandria, and preserving the Origenian legacy. The study showed that the evolution of Christian literary culture in the DVIs of Jerome, Gennadius, and others was not only influenced by Eusebius’ literary catalog but also heavily reliant on Pamphilus' scholarly practices. Ultimately, the project determined that DVIs were more than precursors to modern patrologies. They were complex literary constructs that mirrored shifts in cultural priorities and identities within early Christian societies. The project illuminated how early Christians navigated their cultural and intellectual heritage, contributing significantly to understanding the Christianization of the Roman Empire and the legacy of Christian literary culture.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
This project aims to provide a multi-focal, trans-historical and trans-local analysis of the late antique Christian De viris illustribus (=DVI). It will demonstrate, against past analyses which have considered them as inert, timeless literary traditions, that the DVIs are deeply anchored into specific social, religious and historical contexts that they actively contributed to shape. ChrisVirIll will therefore shed new light on the impact of late antique literature on Christian identity and society. While the reception of these DVIs has been studied in quite some detail due to their success from the Middle-Ages on, their original purpose, context and meaning have received little attention. Yet, their success and impact on later periods cannot be fully grasped without a more comprehensive understanding of their initial production. This innovative project aims to fill this gap by offering answers on why and how, from the Constantinian turn, Christian authors appropriated the genre of the DVI, and how, from the time of Theodosius, through multiple continuations, they were developed to eventually reach ""canonization"" in later centuries. It will specifically focus on how this literary form was exploited to dynamically respond to new societal challenges and how they impacted the Christians' cultural identity. Providing a comprehensive, comparative and interdisciplinary analysis of these writings, this project will combine traditional philological-historical close-reading with insights from social and cultural studies (including gender studies). I believe that, thanks to this fellowship, my expertise in the history and literature of this period will help me reach my ambition of re-embarking on an academic career.""
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN · LeuvenCoordinatorBelgium
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union