“Revolutionizing Christian Communication with the Divine. Martyrs and their Veneration in Late Antique” is the title of the upcoming online lecture of the 6th Lecture Cycle on Late Antiquity “When our World Became Christian”, which is organized by the Undergraduate Programme “Studies in Hellenic Culture” of the Open University of Cyprus (OUC). The guest speaker is Professor Johannes Hahn, University of Münster. The lecture will take place on the 24th of April at 19:00 pm (GMT+3), and will be broadcast online via the OUC’s distance learning tools at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/bdew2azv
Registrations link: https://forms.office.com/e/5AqsXLDLNE
The Lecture Series is supported by the Students and Alumni Association of the “Studies in Hellenic Culture” Programme and Fata Libelli bookstore. The communication sponsor is the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
The Constantinian revolution paved the way for Christianity to become the majority religion in the Roman Empire and then the state religion. However, the legalisation of the church by no means implied a dynamic opening towards the population of the empire: various problems within the church only now became apparent. The public festive culture in the countless societies of the empire, although not longer characterised by religious practices, was far superior to the few festivals of the church. The appeal of the church beyond its spiritual message proved to be socially very limited. In fact, the Christian festival calendar we are familiar with today largely only developed in the 4th century and did not allow for exuberant celebrations. However, the explosive development of the cult of the martyrs, which had only emerged in the 2nd half of the 3rd century in the course of the persecution of Christians, gave rise, in the fourth century, to a popular culture of celebration in the cemeteries and martyria, which included feasting and entertainment. These practices were initially opposed by the church organisation, then reluctantly accepted and attempts were made to control them. In fact, individual access to the places of worship and relics of the martyrs opened up the possibility of personal access to sanctity and charisma and the development of a religiosity that escaped the control of the official church. The veneration of martyrs and saints now left its mark on religious life in late antiquity and permanently changed Christian piety and faith practice as well as church liturgy.
Professor Dr Johannes Hahn studied philosophy, history and archaeology in Munich, Heidelberg, Oxford and Berlin, where he graduated with an M.A. in philosophy in 1982. He has been an assistant professor at the University of Heidelberg since 1982, where he received his doctorate in ancient history in 1986 and his habilitation in 1993. After teaching at the Universities of Erfurt, Cologne and Freiburg, he was appointed full professor at the University of Münster in 1996. This was followed by visiting professorships in Princeton, Erlangen, Budapest and Nijmegen. The Eötvös Lórand University of Budapest awarded him the title of doctor et professor honoris causa in May 2021.
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