A Note on Hegesippus’ Account of the Death of James in the Light of Ancient Fulling Practices
Open accessAbstract
Scholars have long attributed to Hegesippus the view that James the Just was beaten to death by a fuller with the implement presumed to be associated with his trade, a fuller’s bat. Although this interpretation has a long history, attention to the evidence of ancient fulling practices and the terminology associated with it shows that this interpretation rests on an anachronistic understanding of fulling. The present argument examines the fragment from Hegesippus in the light of ancient fulling practices and its early translation into Latin and Syriac, concluding that the wooden implement in question is more likely associated with the process of drying or pressing fulled garments than beating cloth.
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- Authors
- Edsall, B. A.
- Affiliations
- Australian Catholic University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Edsall, Benjamin A
- ORCID
- Edsall, Benjamin A
- Venue
- The Journal of Theological Studies
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2026-07-11
- Volume
- 77
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 593-601
- ISSN
- 0022-5185 (ISSN-L)
- 1477-4607
- OpenAlex
- W7168024629
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Journal of Theological Studies (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Biblical Studies and Interpretation
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Classical Antiquity Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Classics › Byzantine Studies and History
- Keywords
- Hegesippus, James the Just, fulling, anachronism, early Christian apocrypha, Latin translation, Syriac translation
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