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Agnes In Agony: Damasus, Ambrose, Prudentius, And The Construction Of The Female Martyr Narrative, Eric James Poche'
Agnes In Agony: Damasus, Ambrose, Prudentius, And The Construction Of The Female Martyr Narrative, Eric James Poche'
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation examines the earliest surviving sources on the virgin martyr Agnes. Agnes is significant due to the popularity of her cult and the large number of early sources recounting her martyrdom. This dissertation argues that the fourth-century bishops Damasus and Ambrose, along with the Christian poet Prudentius, helped construct the narrative of Agnes’ passion in order to help popularize her cult throughout western Christendom. In an effort to promote virgin asceticism to their communities, they endorsed Agnes as the dominant exemplum for female piety in the west. By doing so, they associated themselves with the influential martyr. Since Agnes …
Sulpicius Severus And Martin Of Tours: Defending A Mentor, Securing A Saint, Matthew Ryan Reed
Sulpicius Severus And Martin Of Tours: Defending A Mentor, Securing A Saint, Matthew Ryan Reed
LSU Master's Theses
Martin of Tours has become one of the most famous saints of Western Christendom, yet his life was shrouded in controversy. Martin’s initial fame in Aquitaine came from the circulation of Sulpicius Severus’ writings in the early fifth century. A pupil of the holy man and lawyer from Aquitaine, Severus used his pen to protect Martin’s sanctity from attacks by critics such as Ithacius and other members of the clergy. This thesis will use the three works of Severus, the Vita Martini, Chronicorum, and Dialogus to argue that Severus used a rhetorical strategy throughout his Martinian writings to secure Martin’s …
The Passion Over Perpetua: A New Approach To The Passio Perpetuae Et Felicitatis, Eric Poche
The Passion Over Perpetua: A New Approach To The Passio Perpetuae Et Felicitatis, Eric Poche
LSU Master's Theses
Although the Passio Santarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis has received much scholarly attention in the past twenty years, it has been used primarily as a source of information on the martyr Perpetua. Other aspects of the account, such as its Montanist theology and its unique portrayal of women have been largely ignored by scholars interested in tearing it apart for relavent information on Perpetua. The Passio contains three distinct portions, each produced by a member from the religious community of Carthage in the early third-century C.E. It therefore serves as a unique historical window into early Christian North Africa, displaying a …