Religion, Spirituality, Immortality, and Renown

This contribution draws on certain themes which, from Late Antiquity onwards, help us to focus on the complex relationship between Christian perfection embodied by exemplary figures (objects of admiration or sometimes dislike, but not always imitable) and the main forms of social mediation of their fame. It will be seen that the mechanisms for transmitting hagiographic memory are almost identical to those of any mythology, with frequent narrative reworkings of histories of saints at different times and places. However, hypotheses will also be offered for understanding the social function of sanctity in the Middle Ages from the distinctive perspective of the structural relationship between religious fame and infamy.