St Demetrios of Thessalonica Across Borders and Centuries: A Comparative Study of His Cult in Byzantium and Medieval Georgia

This paper, forming part of a larger project on the comparative study of saints’ cults in Byzantium and medieval Georgia, explores the evolution of the cult of St. Demetrios of Thessalonike across two distinct historical and geographical contexts. It represents the first attempt to trace how a single saint’s cult was transmitted, transformed, and reinterpreted between the Byzantine and Georgian worlds. The study identifies the main stages in the development of St. Demetrios’ cult in Byzantium, revises the chronology of his transformation into a “warrior” saint, and re-evaluates the dating of the miracle of the myrrh-streaming from his relics. Georgian material has revealed facts unknown—or now lost—to the Byzantine tradition: an alternative version of the saint’s martyrdom involving two weapons, previously unrecorded miracles, an unknown author (Basil of Philippi), and two hitherto unattested homilies (Basil of Philippi’s Praise and a reworked version of Emperor Leo VI’s Praise). The presence of these elements in Georgian texts indicates their Byzantine origin and points to two key conclusions: (a) the existence of a now-lost branch of St. Demetrios’ cult within Byzantium itself; and (b) close cultural—and possibly economic—interaction between Georgia and Thessalonike in the eighth–ninth centuries, otherwise unattested in written sources. Approaching these issues from a new comparative perspective demonstrates how the study of a saint’s cult can illuminate broader patterns of cultural, spiritual, and interregional connection in the medieval Christian world.