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- Title
Torture and truth in late antique martyrology.
- Authors
Grig, Lucy
- Abstract
This article looks at descriptions of torture in hagiographical texts, analysing the significance of representations of violence and suffering in late antique Christian discourse. Seemingly redundant descriptions of torture in texts such as Prudentius's Peristephanon can be contextualized within a broader late antique concern with violence and pain. These descriptions should also be seen as playing a central role in constructing the power of the martyr, and that of his or her church. Close readings of several martyr acts show how the torture process (the quaestio) was rewritten to suit the needs of a new era: that of the Church Triumphant.
- Subjects
TORTURE; HAGIOGRAPHY; VIOLENCE; MARTYRS; ANTIQUES
- Publication
Early Medieval Europe, 2002, Vol 11, Issue 4, p321
- ISSN
0963-9462
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.0963-9462.2002.00114.x