Tragic, Satirical, and Comedic Plots in Byzantine Court Documents

In some instances, reports from ecclesiastical courtrooms read like the final acts of a tragedy, with consequences – both in the temporal social realm and in the eternal spiritual domain – weighing heavily on the participants. The final judgment of the court is not the Last Judgment. Thus, the matter continues as an open-ended spiritual drama, even after the case is closed. This paper looks into the literary elements in judicial accounts of dramatic events and the suffering of those involved (11th–13th centuries). Correspondence and documents related to episcopal courts – where dramatic episodes unfold through confessions of penitents or pleas for relief from supplicants – serve as the primary area of investigation. The goal is to examine storytelling in these sources. The main focus is on tragic plots, on pitiable and fearful actions, with satirical and comedic episodes considered to a lesser extent, in order to explore how non-fiction writing engages with both literary and vernacular traditions. Special attention is given to the narrative modes of direct and indirect speech, the use of literary devices and allusions, and the broader influence of secular and religious texts, including apocryphal tours of hell. The approach entails distinguishing, where relevant, between three dimensions of the text: first, the recurring structural and stylistic features that point to the use of a deposition template; second, the narrative tones likely introduced by learned bishops or clerical notaries who mediated or reshaped the testimonies; and third, the elements that may reflect the authentic voice or personal expression of the individual appearing before the court.