The Byzantine Hagiographic and Hymnographic Texts on St. Parasceve of Epibatae

This monograph sets out to elucidate the initial, Byzantine period in the history of the cult of St. Parasceve of Epibatae, which has remained in the shadows for a range of reasons, through the publication of the critical edition of the saint's surviving Byzantine Vita (BHG 1420z). A meticulous paleographic, historical, textological and linguistic analysis of this text proves that it can be regarded as Deacon Vasilikos' "lost" vita, written in the twelfth century during the reign of Patriarch Nicholas IV Mouzalon and Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.

The monograph also seeks to outline the "sacred" geographical network through which the saint's cult initially spread, and to shed light on the historical and literary context as well as the particular features of the Byzantine hagiographic tradition. It arrives at solid and clear conclusions regarding the Vita's influence on and contribution to the formation and development of the Slavonic literary tradition relating to the saint. The results of the study show that the oldest Slavonic canon is actually based on Deacon Vasilikos' Vita and not on the preserved Slavonic vitae of the saint, and that from the mid-fourteenth century the Slavonic hagiographic tradition developed independently of the Byzantine one.

In addition, the monograph proves that after the transfer of the saint's relics from Kallikrateia to different political and cultural centers in the Mediaeval Balkans, St Parasceve of Epibatae was not entirely forgotten in Byzantium, and that her memory was obviously revived in the Greek environment both by the "resurrection" of the Byzantine synaxarion and its enrichment with new stories of Modem Greek origin in the seventeenth century.

Foreword
Preface
History of the studies of the hagiographic tradition and of the cult of St. Parasceve of Epibatae
Manuscripts
Dating and authorship. Genre characteristics of the Byzantine vita
Language and style. Literary sources
New historical facts in the Byzantine vita related to the cult of St. Parasceve of Epibatae
The Byzantine vita and the Slavonic and Modern Greek hagiographic tradition about St. Parasceve of Epibatae
The Byzantine vita and the Byzantine and Slavonic hymnographic tradition about St Parasceve of Epibatae
Text
Modern Greek Vita of St. Parasceve of Epibatae in cod. NLG 2943
Byzantine synaxarion published under the name of Meletios Syrigos
Резюме (Summary in Bulgarian)
Figures
Index of orthographic mistakes in codices
Abbrevitions and bibliography