Dr Daniel Batovici

At One Remove: The Reception of the Literature Attributed to Early Christian Figures with Claimed Apostolic Connection

This project examines the late antique practice of assigning an apostolic connection to a series of writings attributed to (or focused on) early Christian characters like Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, or Dionysius the Areopagite, thought to have met central apostolic figures like Paul, Peter, or John. Unlike apocryphal works (centred on the apostles themselves and implicitly claiming their direct authority), this broadly transmitted literature draws on a derivate type of authority, offering its own brand of lateral access to idealised early Christian pasts, a venue still largely unexplored.

Since these writings were transmitted in Greek, Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Georgian and Slavonic manuscripts with titles and prefaces that make explicit that they are connected in some way to the apostles, the project studies the manners in which this generative connection determined how this literature was transmitted, translated and repurposed in liturgical, canonical, and broader ecclesiastical contexts.