Monks, Laymen, and Christian Ritual
by
Claudia Rapp
Language: English
Release Date: February 1, 2016
Among medieval Christian societies, Byzantium is unique in preserving an ecclesiastical ritual of adelphopoiesis, which pronounces two men, not related by birth, as brothers for life. It has its origin as a spiritual blessing in the monastic world of late antiquity, and it becomes a popular social...