Miracula Sancti Demetrii

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Miracula Sancti Demetrii : manuscript from the 7th century

The Miracula Sancti Demetrii ( Miracles of St. Demetrios ) are a hagiographic text from the 7th century. It is a compilation of "miracles" of the city saint of Thessaloniki , St. Demetrios of Thessaloniki . Due to the lack of sources at that time, the text is a unique historical testimony to the history of the city and the early Slavic tribes in the Balkans.

The text is divided into two parts in which theological explanations alternate with historical descriptions. The first part was written around 610/620 and was probably written by Archbishop John of Thessaloniki. There, 15 events are described in the form of homilies and sermons, in which St. Demetrius protected the city from epidemics and sieges by Avars and Slavs through his supposedly miraculous work. The period covered roughly covers the years from 580 to 610.

The second part was written at the end of the 7th century and was written by another unknown author. This part describes the events around Thessaloniki more in the style of a historical representation and is considered to be largely reliable. A temporal break can be determined here, so that the period from 614 to approx. 640 and from 674 to 685 is treated. The author is closer to the Slavic immigrants and calls them our neighbors . This part has only been preserved in a single copy.

expenditure

  • Paul Lemerle: Les plus anciens recueils des miracles de saint Démétrius et la pénétration des Slaves dans les Balkans. Éditions du Center National de la Recherche Scientifique, 2 vols., Paris 1979–1981. (authoritative edition with commentary)

literature

  • Johannes Karayannopulos and Günter Weiß: Source studies on the history of Byzantium (324-1453) . 2 vol., Wiesbaden 1982, p. 309f. (No. 145).
  • Paul Speck: De miraculis Sancti Demetrii, qui Thessalonicam profugus venit, or: Heretical about the miracle stories of St. Demetrios and his basilica in Thessalonica. In: S. Kotzabassi and P. Speck (eds.): Varia IV Poikila Byzantina 12, 1993, pp. 255-532.
  • Paul Speck: Again to the Miracula Sancti Demetrii: The version of the Anastasius Bibliothecarius. In: T. Pratsch (Ed.): Varia V Poikila Byzantina 13, 1994, pp. 317-429.