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Event Recap: Ruth Noyes on ‘Relic translatio in early modern Baltic borderlands, c. 1500-1800

October 30, 2017

On Monday, October 23, art historian Ruth S. Noyes of Wesleyan University came to Yale to give a talk titled ‘Relic translatio in early modern Baltic borderlands, c. 1500-1800, and the modern afterlives of the Baltic relic.’ Dr. Noyes’ paper deals with the phenomenon of translatio: the removal of relics or other holy objects from one location to another.

Dr. Noyes presented three case studies of relic translatio: the relics of St. Casimir, currently located in Vilnius, Lithuania; the relics of St. Donatus of Münstereifel, currently in Krāslava, Latvia; the relics of St. Josaphat, currently in Vatican. Following closely the history of each relics, Dr. Noyes took an interdisciplinary approach to its analysis. She described the locations where the relics were held from the art history perspective, but was also concerned about the colonial history of the regions and notions of center and periphery (borderlands). Due to the unstable geopolitical situation in the Baltic region at the time, relics were often moved from one location to another in order to keep them safe from colonizers who often desecrated churches. Thus, protection and removal of relics was an anticolonial effort on part of the local population.

Professor Noyes also elaborated on the idea of the Baltics as ‘relic states’, discussing the ‘relationship between the figures of saints and that of colonial states, where story of mutation is echoed on both sides, where the death of a saint is used to revitalize the life of the state through repeated display.’ According to her, in the case of relic translatio, ‘the architecture of ritual gets folded into many forms of governmentality, religiosity, spirituality, and affect at different historical moments to suit different agendas, collective and individual.’

The talk was followed by a lively discussion: the audience commented on the interchangeability of the concepts of center and borderlands and on the way these concepts are constructed. The problem of ‘translating into modernity’ was raised: how can we relate to the history of relics from the point of view of modernity? As Professor Noyes pointed out, in the 20th century the discourse on saints and martyrs sometimes shifts into the discourse of victimhood, ‘where the relics become associated with victimized populations.’ The architecture of the churches in question was also discussed, and Professor Noyes talked about the role of baroque in borderlands and its colonial essence.

The talk was hosted by the Baltic Studies Program at the European Studies Council.


Written by Mariia Muzdybaeva, ER&S Master’s Degree student