CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2017
| Author | Krivoshchekova, Viktoriia |
|---|---|
| Title | Signaculum secretorum: Episcopal Authority and Ritual in the Early Irish Church |
| Summary | The research focuses on the construction of episcopal authority through ritual narrative in Hiberno-Latin texts. Previously, the study of episcopal office in early medieval Ireland (c. 600-900) has been mainly connected with the debate over the organisation of the early Irish church, where monastic and clerical hierarchy were seen as confronting. Recent research has shown that bishops retained their high legal status and the authority in the sphere of pastoral care. However, the liturgical significance of episcopal office has been hitherto neglected by the scholars. This work sets out to cover this gap in scholarship and to investigate the question of how the image of episcopal authority was constructed through ritual narratives in Hiberno-Latin texts. The study adopts the understanding of ritual as a textual rather than an anthropological practice and, with the help of the cognitive approaches, views ritual descriptions as material for creating mental images of rituals by the audience. The main question is explored on three levels: first, the mindset—a conceptual framework which sets up the reference points for thinking about bishops in early medieval Ireland; second, the physical setting—the static environment of the ritual as conceptualised in writing; third, ritual performance—dynamic descriptions of such specifically episcopal rituals as ordination of clergy and consecration of churches. It is argued that texts can create powerful mental imagery which elucidates and strengthens the liturgical authority of episcopal office. |
| Supervisor | Ziemann, Daniel |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2017/krivoshchekova_vikto.pdf |
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