The Martyrdom of the Three Children Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, as depicted in the manuscript Vatican, BAV gr. 1613 (10th/11th c.), f. 251 (detail), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ananias,_Azarius_and_Misael_(Menologion_of_Basil_II).jpg . In ancient times, losing one’s head was not an exceptional occurrence. Wars, conflicts of all kinds, and punishments could easily result in death by decapitation. Among those condemned to this type of death, hagiographic texts pr

Image of Thecla on a Coptic eulogy ampulla (6th/7th c.), Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts de Byzance et des Chrétientés en...

The synaxarion of Pope Gregory I in the manuscript Sinai Gr. 548 (10th c.), f. 142r, https://www.loc.gov/resource/amedmonastery.00279380...

Emperor Theophilos and his court, as depicted in the manuscript Madrid, Gr. Vitr. 26-2, 12th c. (Chronicle of Skylitzes), f. 42v,...