According to legend, the Virgin appeared one Christmas Eve to an artless young man standing in one of Constantinople's most famous Marian shrines. She offered him a scroll of papyrus with the injunction that he swallow it, and following the Virgin's command, he did so. Immediately his voice turned sweet and gentle as he spontaneously intoned his hymn "The Virgin today gives birth." So was born the career of Romanos the Melodist (ca. 485-560), one of the greatest liturgical poets of Byzanti...

According to legend, the Virgin appeared one Christmas Eve to an artless young man standing in one of Constantinople's most famous Marian shrines. She offered him a scroll of papyrus with the injunction that he swallow it, and following the Virgin's command, he did so. Immediately his voice turned sweet and gentle as he spontaneously intoned his hymn "The Virgin today gives birth." So was born the career of Romanos the Melodist (ca. 485-560), one of the greatest liturgical poets of Byzanti...

Sex is a difficult issue for contemporary Christians, but the past decade has witnessed a newfound openness regarding the topic among Eastern Orthodox Christians. Both the theological trajectory and the historical circumstances of the Orthodox Church differ radically from those of other Christian denominations that have already developed robust and creative reflections on sexuality and sexual diversity. Within its unique history, theology, and tradition, Orthodox Christianity holds rich re...

This collection explores how the body became a touchstone for late antique religious practice and imagination. When we read the stories and testimonies of late ancient Christians, what different types of bodies stand before us? How do we understand the range of bodily experiences—solitary and social, private and public—that clothed ancient Christians? How can bodily experience help us explore matters of gender, religious identity, class, and ethnicity? The Garb of Being investigat...

This book examines the many ways Byzantines lived with their trees. It takes seriously theological and hagiographic tree engagement as expressions of that culture’s deep involvement—and even fascination—with the arboreal. These pages tap into the current attention paid to plants in a wide range of scholarship, an attention that involves the philosophy of plant life as well as scientific discoveries of how communicative trees may be, and how they defend themselves. Considering writings on a...

How can we study the late ancient and Byzantine history from ecological perspectives? How might one grapple with the more-than-human in sources and media created by humans? Exploring the diverse ways in which pre-modern texts engaged with the broader natural world, this book presents scholarly ventures into the terrains of the past. From the ancient treatises on dreams to monastic tales from the Hexameron literature to the Byzantine romance, from the Exeter Bo...

What is the role of gender in Eastern Christianity? In this volume, Orthodox experts of different disciplines and cultural backgrounds tackle this complex question. They engage critically with gender issues within their own tradition. Rather than simply accepting pervasive assumptions and practices, the authors challenge readers to reconsider historically or theologically justified views by offering nuanced insights into the tradition. The first part of the book explores normative position...

This book explores how the Virgin Mary's life is told in hymns, sermons, icons, art, and other media in the Byzantine Empire before AD 1204. A group of international specialists examines material and textual evidence from both Byzantine and Muslim-ruled territories that was intended for a variety of settings and audiences and seeks to explain why Byzantine artisans and writers chose to tell stories about Mary, the Mother of God, in such different ways. Sometimes the variation reflected the...

Conny Blank erhält den Hilferuf einer Nixe. Sie soll als Vermittlerin dienen, um die Menschen auf Wangerooge vor einer Sturmflut zu warnen. Conny reist an die Nordsee. Doch so sehr sie sich auch bemüht, niemand will ihren Worten Glauben schenken. Wie von der Nixe prophezeit beginnt der Sturm und er bringt einen noch größeren Schrecken nach Wangerooge, als es ein Sturm allein jemals könnte. Einen Schrecken, der 600 Jahre lang auf dem Meeresboden lauerte ...

London 1895. Grauenvolle Morde geschehen in der englischen Metropole. Frauen werden aufgefunden, bestialisch abgeschlachtet. Schon mehren sich die Gerüchte, dass Jack the Ripper wieder am Werk ist. Oder macht ein Nachahmungstäter die Stadt unsicher? Die Polizei glaubt, es mit dem alten Schrecken zu tun zu haben. Doch auf mich, Lord Becket, wirkt das alles wie ein Ritual. Aber welches? Oder ist gar etwas Teuflisches am Werk?

In der Nähe der mittelalterlichen Stadt Bedburg-Altkaster gab es einen grausamen Doppelmord. Nach den tödlichen Verletzungen der Opfer zu schließen, wurden sie durch einen Wolf getötet. Der Mord geschah an der Stelle, an der früher der Ort Epprath lag, der dem Kohleabbau zum Opfer fiel. Man munkelt schon, dass die Sage wahr ist und der Werwolf von Epprath wieder aufgetaucht sei, denn nachdem mehrfach Wolfsgeheul zu hören war, hatten ihn Zeugen gesehen. Ich, Christoph Schwarz, sollte der Sa...

In Magdeburg geschehen seltsame Dinge. Immer wieder ertrinken Menschen in der Elbe. Andere wollen eine Nixe gesehen haben. Conny Blank, die Partnerin von Christoph Schwarz, übernimmt diesen Fall und fährt nach Magdeburg. Dort findet sie heraus, dass mehr an der Sache ist, als zuerst angenommen ...