Laura Mariotti

KU Leuven, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, PhD Student

Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma, Lettere e Filosofia, Graduate Student

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ἄλλος ἐξ ἄλλου γίνομαι

I am a PhD student in Early Christian Studies at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies (KU Leuven). My doctoral project focuses on Palestinian Monasticism. In particular, I explore the themes of perfection and orthodoxy in John Rufus' writings and Cyril of Scythopolis’ Monastic Lives. My project is part of the broader project Longing for Perfection. Living the Perfect Life in Late Antiquity – A Journey Between Ideal and Reality (founded by KU Leuven Research Council).

Previous degrees:
MA, Philology, Literature and History of Antiquity, summa cum laude, La Sapienza University of Rome, 2020
BA, Classics, summa cum laude, La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, 2018
Supervisors: Johan Leemans and Joseph Verheyden

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Papers by Laura Mariotti

‘Not Competing but Constructing Together'. The Use and Adaptation of Basil of Caesarea for Teaching and Writing: the Case of Cyril of Scythopolis and Theodore of Petra.

Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses vol. 99 issue 3, 2023

The article offers evidence of a remarkably dynamic reception and adaptation of Basil of Caesarea... more The article offers evidence of a remarkably dynamic reception and adaptation of Basil of Caesarea’s writings in sixth-century Palestinian monastic milieux. More specifically, the analysis focuses on an articulated and innovative notion of authorship that emerges in Theodore of Petra’s Life of Theodosius and Cyril of Scythopolis’ Monastic Lives. Cyril and Theodore conceive Basil’s writings not merely as ancient and authoritative reservoir of quotations but rather as raw material that the author freely recast, through adaptation, into new narrations and teachings. In this case, the theoretical and terminological framework of citation studies is not sufficient to capture the author's engagement with the old text. This engagement is that of a dynamic collaboration that results in a new text – a new building, in Theodore’s words – with dual authorship. Along with this, the present analysis offers two further contributions. Firstly, thanks to new data, this survey confirms, improves, and articulates our acquaintance with Basil’s circulation in sixth-century Palestine. Finally, the texts examined shed new light on the monastic practices of interiorization of revered authors’ writings. Basil’s writings undergirded the monks’ lives and literature to the extent that influenced and directed their spiritual journey.

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Presentations by Laura Mariotti

'Touching the Truth Every Day'. The Sensory Experience of the Holy Places within the Palestinian Doctrinal Debate, 'You Fill Up My Senses…' The Senses and the Divine in Late Ancient Christianity. A Small Symposium on the Occasion of Carol Harrison’s Francqui Chair (24 October 2023, KU Leuven)

The presentation discussed the sensory experience of the Holy Land (especially for what concerns ... more The presentation discussed the sensory experience of the Holy Land (especially for what concerns sight and touch), arguing that during the Christological debate following the Council of Chalcedon, the act of physically seeing and touching the Holy Places was used as an argument for the doctrinal debate. More specifically, for Chalcedonian writers, sight and touch testified to the Chalcedonian Christology.

Cyril of Scythopolis facing John Rufus. Competing Narratives of Holiness within Palestinian Monasticism, Translating Byzantium and Byzantium Translating (2-3 June 2023, Univie-CEU, Vienna)

Cyril of Scythopolis’ Monastic Lives (6th c.) stand out from other Greek hagiographical texts – b... more Cyril of Scythopolis’ Monastic Lives (6th c.) stand out from other Greek hagiographical texts – both in general and those specifically from Palestine – for their sharper polemical flair and their attempt to offer a comprehensive Chalcedonian interpretation of historical events well beyond the saints’ lives he is narrating. That is why reading him side by side with John Rufus, bishop of Maiuma in Palestine, can be particularly productive: John wrote in Greek a few decades before Cyril from an anti-Chalcedonian perspective, though his writings have for this reason only been preserved in Syriac translation.

In my paper, I will broach the question of how these two near-contemporary authors entered the ongoing Christological debates of their time through the biographies of saints and provided alternative and competing narratives with the aim of shaping their respective communities’ sense of identity and ideal of sanctity. By placing Cyril beside John and overcoming a scholarly tradition often too focused on Chalcedonian sources transmitted in Greek, I aim to contribute to a new understanding of Palestinian monastic spirituality, as well as to disclose Cyril’s engagement within local debates, his use of storytelling, and his role in creating a communal Chalcedonian memory.