Hagiography, Manuscript Transmission and Critical Editions: Some Methodological Considerations on a Class of Anonymous Texts

All texts produced in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages were subject to the hazards of textual transmission. But in the case of hagiography other dimensions should be considered. Consisting most frequently of anonymous texts, hagiography is one of those fields in which the actors of the transmission felt more free to rework and transform the written objects they were dealing with. The lives and deeds of saints were intensely copied, and most often they were recreated and changed into new forms and versions. Many times, this gave rise to new texts which corresponded to the needs of the social, religious and historical context, in a constant process of réécriture, as studied by Monique Goullet. Furthermore, they are not "just texts", but cult objects and exemplary models for a varied audience.

All these elements should be taken into account when studying and editing hagiographical texts. And several questions emerge. When does a copy of a text become a new text? When does the split of a line of transmission give rise to similar redactions of the same text or to new works to be considered individually? Is it possible to establish acceptable criteria for identifying each sort of phenomenon? What should be incorporated in a critical edition? These questions are crucial to fully understand the textual history of these texts and the implications when producing critical editions.

This lecture will try to answer some of these questions — and to propose a few more. Texts such as the Passio s. Adriani, the Vita s. Euphrosynae / s. Castissimae, and the Vita s. Constantinae (with the Passio s. Gallicani and the Passio s. Iohannis et Pauli) will provide case histories of different kinds and will allow us to work out a few methodological trends.