Book contents
- Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
- Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I An Act to Follow
- Chapter 1 A Cainite Invocation of Thecla?
- Chapter 2 Saint Thecla in Geʿez Hagiographical Literature
- Chapter 3 Versified Martyrs
- Chapter 4 The Reception of the Acts of Thecla in Armenia
- Chapter 5 Thecla beyond Thecla
- Chapter 6 Shifting the Poetics of Gender Ambiguity
- Part II An Act to Surpass
- Afterword
- Appendix Summaries of Texts
- Index
- References
Chapter 3 - Versified Martyrs
The Reception of Thecla from the Latin West to Medieval Ireland
from Part I - An Act to Follow
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 May 2022
- Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
- Thecla and Medieval Sainthood
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I An Act to Follow
- Chapter 1 A Cainite Invocation of Thecla?
- Chapter 2 Saint Thecla in Geʿez Hagiographical Literature
- Chapter 3 Versified Martyrs
- Chapter 4 The Reception of the Acts of Thecla in Armenia
- Chapter 5 Thecla beyond Thecla
- Chapter 6 Shifting the Poetics of Gender Ambiguity
- Part II An Act to Surpass
- Afterword
- Appendix Summaries of Texts
- Index
- References
Summary
Although there is no concrete surviving evidence that the Acts of Paul or the Passio sanctae Theclae circulated in Ireland, there are a number of references to Thecla in medieval Irish martyrologies and devotional literature. These sparse references to the proto-martyr are too few to reconstruct the true extent of her cult in medieval Ireland or to assess her possible impact on Insular hagiography. However, one curious uniting feature shared by these fragmentary references to Thecla is that they are all in versified form. Thecla is also venerated in litany-like verse prayers in both Old and Middle Irish where she is included in groupings of significant apostolic figures. Late antique and early medieval continental Latin sources in which Thecla is referred to in a similar context may provide the likely roots of transmission. These possible Latin sources, however, are not all in verse form. Therefore, the choice of a poetic medium coupled with the use of the vernacular may provide precious evidence for the intended audience and reception milieu of such popular hagiographical texts.
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- Thecla and Medieval Sainthood<I>The Acts of Paul and Thecla</I> in Eastern and Western Hagiography, pp. 85 - 109Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022