Brother-Making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium: Monks, Laymen and Christian Ritual by Claudia Rapp (review)

In this important book, Claudia Rapp traces the development of the Byzantine rite of adelphopoiesis, or brother-making, which first appeared in the eighth century CE and was later common in the Byzantine Empire and persisted beyond the end of the empire in eastern Europe up until the twentieth century. Adelphopoiesis was a ceremony performed in church via prayers and ritual to unite two people into a sibling-like relationship. We know of the rite through references to it in medieval histories and other records and to many examples of prayers for use in liturgies. Rapp sees adelphopoiesis as both a religious act and something “extremely malleable to people’s needs” (247), and she describes how it was used to “strengthen group cohesion” (247) and to help build connections between persons (usually men, though not always) of different status. The rite has understandably attracted attention over the years, as it appears to be a precursor to gay marriage.

In the introduction, Rapp sets her study apart from John Boswell’s 1994 book Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe, arguing against his analysis that the ritual was a form of sanctioning of same-sex relationships and that the monastic origins of the rite in late antiquity are important for understanding and explicating brother-making.¹ In chapter 1, “Social Structures,” Rapp delineates various social relationships (for example, adoption, godparenthood, friendship, sworn brotherhood) in Byzantium that were similar to adelphopoiesis. Returning to her differences with Boswell and rejecting some of the arguments of Alan Bray, the chapter delimits her study to a history of the rite; she steers away from same-sex eroticism.² As the rites do not mention same-sex sexual activity, this is something upon which she will not speculate: “My analysis of the prayers will, I hope, show that the ecclesiastical ritual of brother-making was not formulated with a view to include a sexual dimension. It is difficult to see any further when the bedroom lights are out” (47).

Chapter 2, “The Ritual of Adelphopoiesis,” features a discussion of dispersed evidence of the ritual across a wide variety of manuscripts, the geographical distribution of the rite, and speculations on its purposes: “[The rituals] could be used to bless a close spiritual friendship of two monks,” Rapp argues, “or to help two laymen to end a quarrel—or perhaps as an encouragement of two laymen who were on the same spiritual journey or pilgrimage, or indeed to make peace between two monastic brethren” (86–87). Rapp surveys the beginnings of adelphopoiesis in chapter 3, “The Origins: Small Group Monasticism in Late Antiquity.” The master-disciple relationship in eremitic withdrawal from society is for Rapp the structure from which adelphopoiesis developed: “This kind of relationship constitutes the monastic origin of adelphopoiesis” (109). A theme also developed in this chapter that becomes important for the analysis in the next one is the notion that over the centuries “adelphopoiesis developed into a boundary-crossing strategy that was a convenient social tool for monks and laymen . . . and even for people of different socioeconomic status” (179).

Chapter 4, “The Social Practice of Brother-Making in Byzantium,” looks at the role that adelphopoiesis played in Byzantine society in ecclesiastical and nonecclesiastical settings. The ritual frequently appeared to be a method of social advancement. A case study of adelphopoiesis as it was employed by the (eventual) emperor Basil I provides an illuminating example (201–10). There also emerged concerns about brotherhoods being contracted between individuals who were not monks with those who were. Even though adelphopoiesis was frequently about boundary crossing, this was a boundary that made ecclesiastical authorities particularly nervous.

“Prescriptions and Restrictions in Byzantium” is the fifth chapter. In an effective question-and-answer format, Rapp delineates various debates about the regulation of adelphopoiesis between ecclesiastical and civil authorities. This chapter brings home the ways in which this rite had earned widespread social...