Undergraduate Course: Making Saints: Hagiography and the Holy in Late Antiquity (CLGE10020)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course explores the nature of hagiography - the writing of saints' lives and deaths - and the production of sanctity in Late Antiquity. Students will explore the creation and veneration of saints through an interdisciplinary approach, taking in a wide variety of primary sources, material as well as textual, from across the diverse world of Late Antiquity. The course explores how constructions of the holy both reflected and shaped religious, cultural and gendered identities in an era of transformation. |
| Course description |
This course provides an in-depth introduction to the development of the cult of the saints and hagiography - the writing of saints' lives and deaths - in Late Antiquity, beginning with its origins in the ancient world. The study of hagiography and the holy will enable students to enrich their understanding of social, cultural and religious history, including the history of marginalised groups.
Through a range of thematic seminars students will explore a diverse range of material from across the ancient and late ancient world, including texts in translation originally written in a whole range of languages, such as Syriac and Hebrew as well as Greek and Latin. We shall also look at the material culture associated with the cult of the saints, including cult sites, relics and iconography. Student will thereby develop their skills in the close reading of ancient and late ancient texts in translation, as well as in the interpretation of material culture. Topics and genres studied will include ancient biography, gospel literature, martyrdom, gender and sexuality in hagiography, pilgrimage, relic cult and saintly materiality.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | The course is available to all students who have progressed to Honours. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics or History at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses.
As numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Exam:
2-hour exam (50%)
Coursework:
3000-word piece of coursework (50%)
|
| Feedback |
Students will receive feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours for this course or by appointment. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 120 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- discuss a range of primary sources relating to the cult of the saints and the holy, placing them in their proper historical context in class discussion and in written coursework and exam.
- reflect critically on a range of critical, literary and historical approaches to hagiography and related literatures in class discussion and in written coursework
- construct a sustained piece of writing that reflects academic skills and judgement in relation to both primary sources and secondary scholarship in written coursework
- demonstrate close-reading and interpretative skills in the analysis of textual passage in written examination
- demonstrate skills in the interpretation of images and plans in written examination
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Reading List
Avemarie, F, Henten, J.W. van, Furstenburg, Yair (eds) (2023) Jewish Martyrdom in Antiquity: From the Books of Maccabees to the Babylonian Talmud. Leiden.
Brown, P. (1981) The Cult of Saints: Its Rise and Function in Late Antiquity. Chicago.
Burrus, V. (2004) The Sex Lives of Saints: An Erotics of Ancient Hagiography. Philadelphia.
Frank. G. (2000) The Memory of the Eyes: Pilgrimage to Living Saints in Late Antiquity. Berkeley.
Hägg, T. (2012) The Art of Biography in Antiquity. Cambridge.
Harvey, S. A., and Brock, S. P. (1987) Holy Women of the Syrian Orient. Berkeley.
Harvey, S.A. (1990) Asceticism and Society in Crisis: John of Ephesus and the Lives of the Eastern Saints. Berkeley.
Lapidge, M. (2018) The Roman Martyrs: Introduction, Translations, and Commentary. Oxford.
Moss, C. (2012) Ancient Christian Martyrdom: Diverse Practices, Theologies, and Traditions. New Haven.
Sahner, C. (2018) Christian Martyrs under Islam: Religious Violence and the Making of the Muslim World. Princeton.
Wisniewski, R. (2019) The Beginnings of the Cult of Relics. Oxford.
Yasin, A.-M. (2025) "The Material Culture of Saint Veneration", in L.V. Rutgers et al, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Late Antique Art and Archaeology, Vol. 1 (Cambridge): 78-89 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will be able to:
Assimilate, process and communicate a wide range of information from various sources.
Process and critically assess information derived from textual and material evidence alike,utilising theoretical and methodological knowledge and skills specific to the subject area.
Provide clear written and oral analyses based on literary, archaeological and historical information.
Construct and pursue a coherent argument driven by analysis of the primary source material.
Analyse, assimilate and deploy critically a range of secondary literature relevant and essential to the student's individual research subject.
Exercise independence of judgment and an ability to evaluate the work of others |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Lucy Grig
Tel: (0131 6)50 3579
Email: Lucy.Grig@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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