Доклады Международного конгресса ИИСАА. Т. 1

Доклады Международного конгресса по источниковедению и историографии стран Азии и Африки. Т. 1. 2020 103 Vassilios Christides (Institute for Graeco-Oriental and African Studies, Kryoneri Attikis, Greece; University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa) Legend and History in Hagiography. Two Significant Hagiographical Sources: The Martyrdom of Saint Arethas and his Companions (BHG 166) and The Narration of the Discovery of the Relics of Saints Valerius, the Bishop, Vincentius, the Deacon, and Eulalia, the Virgin Summary: Hagiography, in spite of its basically legendary nature, can provide valuable historical elements which illuminate details omitted in the information provided by historical sources and epigraphy. The present communication intends to show the historical validity of two hagiog- raphical works which are extensively discussed, i. e. The Martyrdom of Saint Arethas and his Companions (BHG 166) and The Narration of the Discovery of the Relics of Saints Valerius, the Bishop, Vincentius, the Deacon, and Eulalia, the Virgin . In addition to the description of the conflict between Jewish and Christians in the Himyarite Kingdom in the sixth century AD., The Martyrdom of Saint Arethas provides invaluable information on the unique freedom of the international naviga- tion which prevailed in the Red Sea and beyond in the 6 th century AD. Byzantine and Persian ships sailed side by side without any direct military conflict. Moreover, The Martyrdom contains some interesting sidelights concerning sea warfare in the 6 th century which do not appear in strictly historical sources. The second hagiographical work, The Narration of the Discovery of the Relics of Saints Valerius, the Bishop, Vincentius, the Deacon, and Eulalia, the Virgin , reports the transportation of the relics of these saints from Spain to Greece in the ninth century although Eulalia had lived a century earlier. Actually, such transpor- tation never occurred since neither these saints nor their relics left Spain. In spite of the legendary frame of this narration, it provides valuable information about the expansion of the Arab Emirate of Crete towards certain unknown islands in the southern Aegean. To conclude, the Byzantine hagiographical works, as it is clearly shown in the above-mentioned narrations, provide important historical information inserted in their religious narration. The reader should also disregard certain easily understandable, mythological elements, as for example miracles which frequently appear disrupting the proper sequence of the narration.