1. Terminology
Hagiography (from Greek hágios, “holy,” and graphḗ, “writing”) is the conventional modern term for the representation of saints, usually in the form of a Christian biography meant to be edifying to the reader [19. 1]. In an extended sense, hagiography (or better: hagiology) can also mean academic engagement with the historiography of the saints. Both meanings first appeared in the 19th century. In late antiquity, hagiographa was a ter…