The Laity in the Middle Ages

by Vauchez, Andre; Bornstein, Daniel Ethan; Schneider, Margery J.

• ISBN13: 9780268012977
• ISBN10: 0268012970
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr

Summary

In these lively and incisive essays, Andre Vauchez, a leading French historian of medieval religious life, explores the religious beliefs and devotional practices of laypeople in medieval Europe.
Vauchez's previous books established him as an authority on medieval sanctity. In The Laity in the Middle Ages he turns his attention to the various forms of devotion that flourished on the fringes of officially recognized sanctity. The recurrent theme is the struggle, never entirely successful, of the Christian laity to carve out for themselves a religious role that would confer spiritual dignity on the circumstances and concerns of their daily lives.
This volume grapples with some of the most important and most difficult issues in medieval history: the nature of popular devotion, the role of religion in civic life, the sociology of religious attitudes and practices, and the relationship between the intersecting spheres of lay and clerical culture. The essays that examine how spiritual ideals of chastity shaped the social practice of marriage and how the intimate experiences of female visionaries and mystics impinged on the formal structure of the Church are a noteworthy addition to the rapidly growing body of literature on women in the Middle Ages.

Author Biography

Andre Vauchez is Professor of History at the University of Paris-X.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
The Emergence of the Laity Within the Church (Eleventh to Thirteenth Centuries)
The Idea of God	p. 3
The Middle Ages of "The People"	p. 27
The Laity in the Feudal Church	p. 39
The Crusades: The Masses Appear on the Scene	p. 45
A Twelfth-Century Novelty: The Lay Saints of Urban Italy	p. 51
Two Laypersons in Search of Perfection: Elzear of Sabran and Delphine of Puimichel	p. 73
Religion in Precept and in Practice
Lay Belief Around 1200: Religious Mentalities of the Feudal World	p. 85
The Pastoral Transformation of the Thirteenth Century	p. 95
"Ordo Fraternitatis": Confraternities and Lay Piety in the Middle Ages	p. 107
Medieval Penitents	p. 119
Liturgy and Folk Culture in the Golden Legend	p. 129
Anti-Semitism and Popular Canonization: The Cult of St. Werner	p. 141
Patronage of Saints and Civic Religion in the Italy of the Communes	p. 153
Women's Choice: Human Marriage Or Spiritual Nuptials
Female Sanctity in the Franciscan Movement	p. 171
Conjugal Chastity: A New Ideal in the Thirteenth Century	p. 185
The Virginal Marriage of Elzear and Delphine	p. 191
A Holy Woman During the Hundred Years' War: Jeanne-Marie of Maille	p. 205
The Inspired Word
Female Prophets, Visionaries, and Mystics in Medieval Europe	p. 219
Mystical Sanctity at the Time of the Avignon Papacy and the Great Schism	p. 231
Eucharistic Devotion and Mystical Union in Late-Medieval Female Saints	p. 237
The Reaction of the Church to Late-Medieval Mysticism and Prophecy	p. 243
Joan of Arc and Female Prophecy in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries	p. 255
Conclusion	p. 265
Notes	p. 271
Index	p. 333
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.