Of Relics and Men

Of Relics and Men: Sacred Objects and Salvation in Jacobus' Hagiography

Coming in contact with the divine is an idea that has fascinated humanity since the beginning of time. In Christian hagiography, writings on the lives of saints, we are met with humans who have gained this type of access to their God. These individuals live exemplary and holy lives that inspire others to accept the Christian faith. However, it is not only the lives of these saints that bring unbelievers to salvation. The relics left behind by saints are often deeply associated with the conversion and subsequent salvation experience of individuals.

In order to understand how relics were involved with salvation in these stories, it is important to be familiar with what salvation and relics actually are. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines salvation as “the act of saving someone from sin or evil, the state of of being saved from sin or evil. Something that saves someone or something from danger or a difficult situation” (“Salvation”). The same dictionary defines relic as “something that is from a past time, place, culture, etc. An object (such as a piece of clothing or the bone of a saint) that is considered holy” (“Relic”). Both the term salvation and relic have a deep religious significance within the Christian context so it is no surprise that they are found in hagiographical accounts. In Jacobus de Voragine's hagiography, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, saints, for the most part, follow a specific archetype that usually concludes with them being martyred in some gruesome way. Some, but not all, of these saints leave behind a relic or relics. These relics have an element of the miraculous and the divine attached to them. The likelihood of these relics actually performing miracles is slim, but what is important is the truth contained within the essence of the relic. Although the relic might not actually cure someone's mother from consumption, it could work as an object of faith...