The aim of the project is to investigate the origins and character of the Byzantine cult of Mary by surveying all sources up to the end of Iconoclasm (843). Chronologically the emphasis will be on the sixth century. The working hypothesis proposes that the intercessory function of Mary was the primary social factor promoting the emergence of her cult. In addition to the method of the conventional textual analysis used in Byzantine studies, systematic and critical questioning of the social aspect will employ the cross-reading technique used in gender studies. The results will clarify that dimension of the life of early Byzantines which they themselves took for granted but which is missing for us. Thus both the question, why the Byzantines felt that they needed Mary’s intercession to the degree that it characterizes Byzantine cult as a whole, and the implications of this need for their mentality and behaviour will be presented for scholarly discussion. The prevailing “goddess theory” is challenged, and further, the reasons for the differences between the Marian cults of East and West illuminated..

Mitarbeiter

• Univ.-Prof. Dr. Johannes Koder (Projektleiter)
• ao. Prof. Dr. Leena Mari Peltomaa