HAGIOGRAPHY


Meaning of HAGIOGRAPHY in English

n.

Literature describing the lives of the saints.

Christian hagiography includes stories of saintly monks, bishops, princes, and virgins, with accounts of their martyrdom and of the miracles connected with their relics, tombs, icons, or statues. Written as early as the 2nd century and popular during the Middle Ages, hagiographies focus on lives of individual saints or on stories of a class of saints (e.g., martyrs).

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.      Краткая энциклопедия Британика.