Human and Miraculous in the Life of Anthony Kauleas by Nicephorus Gregoras

Abstract

In 1340ies, Nicephorus Gregoras authored the Life of the Patriarch of Constantinople Anthony II Kauleas (BHG 139b) drawing on the 10-century Life and Praise by Nicephorus the Philosopher (BHG 139). Rewriting this source Gregoras took liberty of freeing the biographical part of his narrative from supernatural elements and at the same time enriched the saint’s story, first, with pseudo-scientific asides on the ways the human mind works, and second, with insights into the hero’s emotional life. As a result, the holy man portrayed by Gregoras was more human and more close to the reader than that of the earlier version.

Keywords

• никифор григора, антоний кавлей, агиография, метафразирование, эпоха палеологов, константинопольский патриархат, топосы