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Full-Text Articles in History

Blood Sacrifice: The Connection Between Roman Death Rituals And Christian Martyrdom, Angela Dawne Kennedy Dec 2014

Blood Sacrifice: The Connection Between Roman Death Rituals And Christian Martyrdom, Angela Dawne Kennedy

Honors Theses

Scholars from a variety of disciplines have done some incredible work on the subject of martyrdom, but the story is far from complete, particularly in terms of how and why it was so similar to the Roman concept of public deaths. The primary sources include the surviving Christian martyrologies, Greco-Roman philosophical treatises, and Roman, Christian, and Jewish histories. Martyrdom itself was a tool of assimilation that somehow bridged the communities of the empire together. There is a huge body of information in a variety of genres that contribute to this project. But there exists a hole in the combined scholarship …


Brides Of Christ: An Examination Of Female Sainthood, Zachary J. Ridder May 2014

Brides Of Christ: An Examination Of Female Sainthood, Zachary J. Ridder

Honors Theses

The history of the Catholic Church is replete with examples of virtuous men and women leading holy lives as an inspiration to others. While male saints certainly outnumber women it is impossible to read through the list of canonized individuals without noticing the large number of women who have been acclaimed as saints. What led the male dominated church to raise these women to stand as equals with popes and apostles? The answer lies in virtue and the means by which these women acquired it. Some were mystics like Hildegard of Bingen, others were martyrs like St. Perpetua but all …