Appeal of Saint Philotheus Kokkinus to the Lives of Saint Sabbas The Young and Nicodemus The Young in the context of Christian Ascetic Feat of Foolishness for Christ in Late Byzantium

Authors

  • Olga N. Afinogenova Moscow Theological Academy

Keywords:

Foolishness for Christ, history of Byzantium, hagiography, Philotheus Kokkinos, Leontius of Neapolis, Simeon of Emesa, Savva the Young, Nicodemus the Young

Abstract

The paper provides a brief overview of the phenomenon of Christian ascetic feat of foolishness for Christ in Byzantine history, with special attention to its earliest manifestations and the period of its existence in Late Byzantium. Two Lives of fools in Christ by Saint Philotheus Kokkinos — the holy martyr Nicodemus and venerable Savva the Young are examined in detail, and the attitude towards foolishness for Christ in Byzantium in the 14th century is clarified, taking into account the complex and ambiguous history of this phenomenon.

Author Biography

Olga N. Afinogenova, Moscow Theological Academy

Ph. D. (History), Associate Professor of the Department of History

and Theory of Church Arts (MDA), Head of the Editorial Department

of the Hagiography of the Eastern Christian Churches

(Church Research Center “Orthodox Encyclopedia”),

Moscow, Nizhnyaya Syromyatnicheskaya St., 10A, building 1

Downloads

Published

2025-03-20

Issue

No. 4(24) (2024)

Section

Historical theology