Reading the Proems of Middle Byzantine Hagiography through Biblical Intertextuality

Abstract Hagiographical proems emerge as crucial sources for contextualising authors and their intended audiences. In Byzantine hagiographical works produced from the late eighth to early eleventh centuries, proems are highly rhetorical and standardised in their language. This standardisation makes it difficult for scholars to situate hagiographers within their social and intellectual networks. I argue that when facing this challenge we can benefit from the study of biblical intertextuality, and select the proem of the Life of Patriarch Nikephoros by Ignatius the Deacon as a case study.