Relics, war, and power: political and military uses of Christian relics in Byzantium and the medieval West (c.600-1200 C.E.).

• Applicant: Joaquin Serrano del Pozo, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Medieval History ; Ancient History ; Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 559011388

For centuries, Christians have venerated the mortal remains of holy figures and objects sanctified by their contact as relics, believing in their holiness and miraculous powers. However, until the second half of the twentieth century, most scholars neglected the cult of relics, regarding it as a product of medieval ignorance and superstition. This perspective started changing in the 1960s-1970s, specially with the studies of Peter Brown, which showed the cult of saints – and of relics – as a cultural revolution of Late Antiquity. In the last years, remarkable new approaches and methodologies for the academic study of relics have been developed, such as the study of the sensorial aspects involved in their veneration. This research proposes an examination and comparison of the use of Christian relics in military contexts by the rulers of Byzantium and the various polities of the Latin-West between the 7th and 12th centuries. The study will contrast written literary sources, such as chronicles and hagiographies, with material, epigraphic and iconographic evidence, such as relics and reliquaries (with their art and inscriptions). The main objective is to understand the sociocultural function and meaning behind the use of Christian relics in war and military contexts in the medieval Mediterranean world. The research has a double theoretical background, combining "war and society studies" and the "theory of agency of things." Accordingly, the project seeks to identify a set of beliefs and social practices of the past and to understand their sociocultural function through a critical examination of different primary sources. Furthermore, relics are conceptualized as “charismatic objects”: material things with agency that, within a certain cosmological frame, can cast a strong aura of power and awe, creating relations of power, narratives of authority, community, and identity. Thus, this study approaches Christian relics as possible elements of symbolic capital, used by medieval rulers in performative rituals and ceremonials for the sacralisation and legitimation of political power. This project is original and innovative. First, the military use of Christian relics is a highly understudied topic. Moreover, this will be the first study on the subject that analyses different territories, considering the Euro-Mediterranean world as an interconnected space. Second, the research is not limited to written texts or material sources; with an interdisciplinary approach, it examines a wide range of evidence. Third, it incorporates new perspectives such as the concept of “charismatic objects” and the theory of the agency of things. Finally, the project is relevant because it explores the relationship between material culture, supernatural beliefs, power, religion, and war across the medieval Euro-Mediterranean world.

• DFG Programme: WBP Position