The Senses and Emotions in the Earliest Stories of Saints Boris and Gleb

What is it about?

This text is about Boris and Gleb, the first East Slavic saints. Killed in a power struggle in 1015, they were canonized to support Christianity and the dynasty. Their early hagiographies show vivid, even sensual details of their martyrdom and miracles.

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Why is it important?

This research is important because it looks at the earliest stories about Boris and Gleb in a new way. Traditionally, scholars have studied their hagiographies as historical texts, literary works, or examples of political and religious propaganda in early Kyivan Rusʼ. These approaches show how the saints helped legitimize both Christianity and the ruling dynasty. However, this study highlights something often overlooked: the strong use of sensory and even sensual details in the descriptions of Boris and Gleb’s martyrdom and miracles. By focusing on how the texts appeal to the senses—through images of pain, touch, sound, and emotion—the research opens new ways of understanding medieval spirituality and how believers connected to these saints.

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