Dr. Thomas Heffernan Awarded A Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities
Dr. Thomas Heffernan was awarded a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities for his work in hagiography, particularly for the work he has been doing on the Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis, one of the very first autobiographies written by a female in the western tradition. The Passio is an historical document of great importance for the light that it sheds on the conflict between the Roman state and an emerging apocalyptic Christianity movement. The Acts of the Christian Martyrs illustrate the transformation of certain latent traditions in Christian theology into a fully-blown ideology of self-sacrifice. A Passio is a type of Acta where the emphasis, however, is decidedly on the persecution side of the narrative. Documents like the Passio were used by these emerging Christian communities to give them heart in the bleakest of times, typically when persecutions were at their height. Dr. Heffernan's fellowship from the NEH will enable him to complete a critical edition of the Passio by examining all the extant manuscripts (mostly late-10th through 12th century). The final critical edition will consist of a translation of the Passio with a facing page Latin text. A substantial introduction will cover the literary tradition, sources, manuscript history, and historiography of the work. The edition will also feature a detailed textual commentary and extensive annotations.