Sainthood in the Later Middle Ages

by Andri Vauchez , Translated by Jean Birrell

• ISBN13: 9780521619813
• ISBN10: 0521619815
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-02-17
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This is a standard work of reference for the study of the religious history of western Christianity in the later middle ages which, since its original publication in French in 1981, has come to be regarded as one of the great contributions to medieval studies of recent times. Hagiographical texts and reports of the processes of canonisation - a mode of investigation into saints' lives and their miracles implemented by the popes from the end of the twelfth century - are here used for the first time as major source materials. The book illuminates the main features of the medieval religious mind, and highlights the popes' attempts to gain firmer control over the wide variety of expressions of faith towards the saints in order to promote a higher pattern of devotion and moral behaviour among Christians.

Table of Contents

List of plates	x
List of maps	xv
List of tables	xvi
Foreword by Richard Kieckhefer	xix
Preface to the English edition	xxiii
List of abbreviations	xxv
Introduction	1	(8)
Book I The Church and the cult of the saints in the medieval West	9	(132)
PART I CONTROL OF THE CULT OF THE SAINTS FROM ITS ORIGINS TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY	11	(48)
1 Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages: 'vox populi' and episcopal power (third to tenth centuries)	13	(9)
2 Towards papal reservation of the right of canonization (eleventh to thirteenth centuries)	22	(11)
3 The process of canonization from its origins to its classical form (c.1200 to c.1270)	33	(26)
PART II THE CHURCH AND THE CONTROL OF SAINTHOOD IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES (c.1270–c.1430)	59	(46)
4 The evolution of the role of canonization: from control to selection	61	(24)
5 'Sancti' and 'bead'	85	(20)
PART III THE RISE OF THE CULT OF THE SAINTS AND THE ASSERTION OF 'MODERN' SAINTHOOD	105	(32)
6 The role of the papacy	109	(4)
7 The role of the regulars	113	(15)
8 The secular clergy and the laity	128	(9)
Conclusion to Book I The cult of the saints between universalist aims and the rise of particularisms	137	(4)
Book II Typology of medieval sainthood	141	(282)
PART I POPULAR SAINTHOOD AND LOCAL SAINTHOOD	145	(102)
9 Popular sainthood	147	(10)
10 Local sainthood	157	(90)
PART II OFFICIAL SAINTHOOD: FORMS AND CRITERIA OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION ACCORDING TO PROCESSES OF CANONIZATION	247	(166)
11 Typology of official sainthood: quantitative aspects	249	(36)
12 Forms of sainthood and ways of life	285	(102)
13 The evolution of the criteria of sainthood from the late twelfth to the early fifteenth centuries	387	(26)
Conclusion to Book II The Roman Church in the face of popular and local sainthood: a silent rejection	413	(10)
Book III The signs and signification of sainthood	423	(112)
PART I THE MANIFESTATIONS AND EFFECTS OF SAINTHOOD IN THE POPULAR MIND	425	(54)
14 'Virtus': the language of the body	427	(17)
15 The structures and expansion of the field of the miraculous	444	(35)
PART II THE ROMAN CHURCH AND SAINTHOOD	479	(48)
16 The Holy See and the critique of miracles	481	(18)
17 The life and virtues of saints in the processes of canonization	499	(28)
Conclusion to Book III The hagiographical mentality and the popular mind	527	(8)
General conclusion	535	(5)
Appendix 1	540	(15)
Appendix 2	555	(4)
List of sources	559	(25)
Bibliography	584	(35)
Bibliographical update	619	(3)
Index of places	622	(6)
Index of persons	628	(14)
Subject index	642