The Cult of Saints in Mainz and Heidelberg

Bryan Ward-Perkins writes: ‘In November I visited Mainz and Heidelberg to give general introductory talks about our project at the two universities’ Ancient History seminars.  Such talks are largely given to spread the word that a big project is underway, and to explain how we are setting about collecting and tagging the evidence from all six languages of early Christianity and across all types of evidence – from passing references to shrines in papyrus documents to full-blown Lives of saints, by way of dedicatory inscriptions, martyrologies, homilies, etc.  But it is also very useful to address different audiences from different scholarly traditions, to see how we need to refine our own approaches, or, at the very least, justify the limitations on our project that the pressures of time dictate.  In producing a searchable corpus of all the available evidence up to c.700 AD (or at least of as much of it as possible), we are inevitably having to cut some corners, since completeness in this context is more important than perfection – but, at the same time, these corners need to be cut in a suitably scholarly way!  There is no better way of refining our thinking on how to do this than to talk to as many established scholars, students, and members of the wider public as possible.’