La Vie d'Etienne le Jeune par Étienne le Diacre

The Life of Stephen the Younger is one of the rare sources for Byzantium in the ’Dark Ages’ and one of the key witnesses to the history of Iconoclasm. This book presents a new edition of the text, together with a French translation and commentary, and an important introduction. Stephen was a hermit, killed in 765 at the order of the emperor Constantine V; his Life was written in 809, some forty years after the 7th Ecumenical Council, Nicaea II, at which Orthodoxy was affirmed. Professor Auzépy shows how the Life reflects the politics of the era, both those of the patriarchate on which the author depended, and of the female monastery near which Stephen had lived, and transforms the probable victim of a failed political plot into a Christ-like figure martyred by a diabolic emperor. La Vie d’Etienne le Jeune est une des rares sources sur l’histoire de Byzance durant le Haut Moyen-Age et un témoignage majeur de la querelle iconoclaste. Cet ouvrage, comprenant une importante introduction, présente une nouvelle édition du texte, accompagnée d’une traduction française annotée. Etienne est un ermite qui fut assassiné en 765 sur l’ordre de l’empereur Constantin V. Sa Vie fut écrite en 809, une quarantaine d’années après le septième concile Å“cuménique de Nicée II, au cours duquel fut affirmé l’Orthodoxie. Le professeur Auzépy démontre comment la Vie reflète les enjeux politiques de cette époque, ceux du patriarcat dont l’auteur dépendait comme ceux du monastère de femmes auprès duquel Etienne a vécu, et comment la Vie transforme son héros, probablement mis à mort dans le cadre d’un complot, en une figure de saint moine martyrisé par un empereur diabolique. Winner of the "Prix Charles Diehl de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 1999".

'This volume is a mine of information for the historian, but also a delight for the philologist. The complicated manuscript tradition is carefully handled, and constantly illuminated with intelligent insights and a wealth of erudition...outstanding.' The Catholic Historical Review 'This critical edition of the Life of Stephen the Younger, one of the most important sources for the religious history of eighth-century Byzantium, is cause for celebration...Auzépy’s translation, the first into a modern language, includes excellent annotation regarding everyday life in Dark Age Byzantium.' Religious Studies Review, Vol. 25, No. 2 'The Life of St Stephen the Younger is a text which every student of Byzantine iconoclasm ought to read. This long-awaited critical edition, executed with such care by an editor with a remarkable knowledge of contemporary and related literature, is well worth buying.' Sobornost, Vol. 21, No. 1 'The translation is clear and readable, and...it is an accurate rendering of the Greek text. The extensive annotation will prove invaluable to all future readers of the vita, as it explains obscure allusions, provides information on prosopography and topography, and warns which passages should be read with caution...the book has been carefully prepared, with scrupulous attention to the accuracy of the Greek text and apparatuses, as well as excellent indices in both French and Greek.' Byzantinische Zeitschrift, Vol. 92, No. 2 Winner of the 'Prix Charles Diehl de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 'Her edition of the vita is splendid.' Journal of Theological Studies, vol. 51, no. 1 'After giving us an excellent critical edition of VSJ in 1997, Marie-France Auzépy has followed it up with a detailed discussion of it, focussed not so much on the historical reliability of the text as on its literary construction and ideological content... [she] breaks new ground in subjecting a Byzantine hagiographical text to a close literary analysis an

Marie-France Auzepy, Universite de Paris VIII, France