MOSCULT & ORTHPOL Workshop “Strategies of Sainthood: Local Saints in Premodern Eastern and South Eastern Europe”

The veneration of local saints has been a fundamental component of incorporating newly baptized territories into the Eastern Christian world. Byzantine liturgical practice, hagiography, and iconography provided a rich basis for developing a cult of local saints in premodern Eastern and South Eastern Europe. However, most of these components were blended into local strategies for asserting sainthood, specifically tailored to local needs. This workshop will focus on (but not be restricted to) saint-making, ritual, and cult development, veneration and transfer of relics, the establishment of local shines, pilgrimages, transfer of knowledge and practices, and ecclesiastical and political uses of locally defined sainthood. We aim to discuss the dynamic process of saint-making and the veneration of local saints in premodern Eastern and South Eastern Europe through an integrated approach drawing from historical, literary studies and art history.