Marriage in Byzantium - Christian Liturgical Rites From Betrothal to Consummation

Across cultures, weddings have historically represented some of the most important and extravagant celebrations. This is the first comprehensive study of marriage rituals in the Eastern Mediterranean world of Byzantine Christianity. Using a large corpus of unedited liturgical manuscripts as well as other evidence from jewelry and law to visual representations and theological treatises, Gabriel Radle reconstructs the ceremonies used by the Byzantines to formalize the marriage process, from betrothal to rites of consummation. He showcases the meanings behind rituals of kinship formation and sexual relations and explores how the practice of Byzantine Christianity crossed fluid borders between the church and the domestic sphere. The book situates the development of Byzantine Christian marriage traditions alongside those of other religious communities and, in placing liturgical manuscripts at the heart of this study, paves new methodological paths for the use of ritual sources in the writing of Byzantine history.

About the author

Gabriel Radle is Assistant Professor of Liturgical Studies at the Divinity School and Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University. He previously served as the Rev. John A. O'Brien Assistant Professor of Liturgical Studies in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He has held international fellowship appointments at Dumbarton Oaks, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Princeton University, as well as a Humboldt Fellowship at the University of Regensburg. He specializes in late antique and medieval Christian liturgy and has published numerous articles and chapters, along with four coedited volumes on Eastern Christian ritual culture.

Product details

• Authors: Gabriel Radle, Gabriel (University of Notre Dame Radle, Gabriel (Yale University Radle, Radle Gabriel
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.01.2025
• EAN: 9781009469562
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0946956-2
• No. of pages: 468
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Marriage & Family, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion, RELIGION / Christian Rituals & Practice / Worship & Liturgy, RELIGION / Christianity / General, HISTORY / Byzantine Empire, Christianity, CE period up to c 1500, Sociology: family & relationships, Ancient History, Christian liturgy, prayerbooks & hymnals, Ancient history: to c 500 CE, Sociology: family and relationships, C 500 CE To C 1000 CE, Byzantine Empire, Prayers and liturgical material