"Martyrdom of John of Phanidjoit" as Historical Source
Frangulian Lilia Rubenovna
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Submitted: 12.07.2020
Abstract. The paper analyzes the hagiographical text with a view to determine whether it contains historically valuable information. The article discusses specificity of this genre which strictly follows the canonical tradition and is characterized by a great number of topoi. "Martyrdom of John of Phanidjoit" was written by an eyewitness, priest Mark. John converted to Islam from Christianity, but later on decided to return to the Christian faith and thereafter was subjected to execution. Scientific originality of the study lies in the fact that personages and storylines of this monument are analyzed from the viewpoint of historical reliability. The research findings are as follows: the author proves that certain issues were truly described by the hagiographer and the mentioned text can serve as a source for studying this period of the Coptic history.
Key words and phrases: агиографический текст как исторический источник, "Мученичество Иоанна Фаниджойтского", вероотступничество, hagiographic text as historical source, "Martyrdom of John of Phanidjoit", apostasy
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