Burning Bodies
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He finds that this imagery is more than a literary curiosity; it is, in fact, a formative historical agent.
Companion to the Eucharist in the Middle Ages
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This volume presents the medieval Eucharist in all its glory combining introductory essays on the liturgy, art, theology, architecture, devotion and theology from the early, high and late medieval periods.
Corpus mysticum: the Eucharist and the church in the Middle Ages: historical survey
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One of the major figures of twentieth-century Catholic theology, Henri Cardinal de Lubac was known for his attention to the doctrine of the church and its life within the contemporary world. In Corpus Mysticum de Lubac investigates a particular understanding of the relation of the church to the eucharist. He sets out the nature of the church as communion, a doctrine that influenced the thinking of the Second Vatican Council.
A History of the Church in the Middle Ages
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"Conceptually well organized, stylistically clear, intellectually thoughtful, and pedagogically useful." - Thomas Head, Speculum "For its humane and learned approach to its enormous canvas, as well as for the cogency with which it penetrates at speed to the essentials of a vanished historical epoch, this History of the Church in the Middle Ages deserves a very wide audience indeed." - Barrie Dobson, English Historical Review "To have written a scholarly and very readable history of the Western Church over a millennium is a remarkable tour de force, for which Donald Logan is to be warmly congratulated." - C.H Lawrence, The Tablet "A feat of historical synthesis, most confident in its telling of the coming of Christianity. Books like Logan's are needed more than ever before." - Miri Rubin, TLS In this fascinating survey, F. Donald Logan introduces the reader to the Christian church, from the conversion of the Celtic and Germanic peoples to the discovery of the New World. He reveals how the church unified the people of Western Europe as they worshipped with the same ceremonies and used Latin as the language of civilized communication. From remote, rural parish to magnificent urban cathedral, A History of the Church in the Middle Ages explores the role of the church as a central element in determining a thousand years of history. This new edition brings the book right up to date with recent scholarship, and includes an expanded introduction exploring the interaction of other faiths - particularly Judaism and Islam - with the Christian church.
Holy Men and Women from the Middle Ages and Beyond
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Pope Benedict XVI continues his exploration of the greatest teachers and role models in the history of the Church with these sketches of twenty-six men and women from the Middle Ages and beyond.From the start of his pontificate, the Pope has used his Wednesday audiences to present the timeless wisdom that has been expressed in the writings and lives of holy men and women down through the ages. He began with the Apostles and then moved to the Fathers of the Church. Next he presented the great Christian teachers of the late Roman Empire and the early Middle Ages. In this volume, he picks up the thread in the high Middle Ages with the inspirational St. Francis and St. Dominic, followed by some of the men and women they profoundly influenced, such as Clare, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas.The collection goes beyond the Middle Ages and includes some Counter-Reformation saints, for example, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Robert Bellarmine. It concludes with a very popular saint closer to our own times who was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II: Therese of Lisieux.The theme that unites these men and women across time is the constant need of the Church for renewal. In every generation, God raises up holy ones who challenge Christians to live as they ought--as true disciples of Christ.
Mary in the Middle Ages
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In his book Mary and the Fathers of the Church, Fr. Luigi Gambero presented a comprehensive survey of Marian doctrine and devotion during the first eight Christian centuries. Mary in the Middle Ages continues this journey up to the end of the fifteenth century, surveying the growth of Marian doctrine and devotion during one of the most important eras of Christian history: the Middle Ages.
Fr. Gambero presents the thoughts, words, and prayers of great theologians, bishops, monks, and mystics who witnessed to and promoted the dedication of the Christian people to the Mother of God. Each chapter concludes with readings from the works of these important authors. Many of these texts have never before been translated into English. More than thirty great figures each receive an entire chapter, including such giants as the St. Anselm, St. Bernard, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Bonaventure, St. Albert the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Brigid of Sweden, and Raymond Lull.
Medieval Canon Law
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Canon law is an unavoidable theme for medieval historians. It intersects with every aspect of medieval life and society, and at one point or another, every medievalist works on the law. In this book, Kriston Rennie looks at the early medieval origins and development of canon law though a social history framework, with a view to making sense of a rich and complex legal system and culture, and an equally rich scholarly tradition. It was in the early Middle Ages that the ancient traditions, norms, customs, and rationale of the Church were shaped into legislative procedure. The structures and rationale behind the law's formulation - its fundamental purpose, reason for existence and proliferation, and methods of creation and collection - explain how the medieval Church and society was influenced and controlled. They also, as this short book argues, explain how it ultimately functioned.
The Medieval Church
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The Church was the central institution of the European Middle Ages, and the foundation of medieval life. Professor Lynch's admirable survey (concentrating on the western church, and emphasising ideas and trends over personalities) meets a long-felt need for a single-volume comprehensive history, designed for students and non-specialists.
Medieval Church Symbolism
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The Symbolism of Medieval Churches: An Introduction explores the ways in which the medieval church building and key features of it were used as symbols, particularly to represent different relationships within the Church and the virtues of living a Christian life. This book introduces the reader to the definition, form, and use of medieval symbols, and the significance that they held and still hold for some people, exploring the context in which church symbolism developed, and examining the major influences that shaped it. Among the topics discussed are allegory, typology, moral interpretation, and anagogy. Further chapters also consider the work of key figures, including Hugh and Richard of St Victor and Abbot Suger at St-Denis. Finally, the book contrasts the Eastern world with the Western world, taking a look at the late Middle Ages and what happened to church symbolism once Aristotle had ousted Plato from the schools. Entering into the medieval mind and placing church symbolism in its context, The Symbolism of Medieval Churches will be of great interest to upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars working on Architectural History, Medieval Art, Church History, and Medieval History more widely.
Nicholas of Cusa's Brixen Sermons and Late Medieval Church Reform
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Scholarship has recognized fifteenth-century speculative thinker Nicholas of Cusa for his early contributions to conciliar theory, but not his later ecclesiastical career as cardinal, residential bishop, preacher, and reformer. Richard Serina shows that, as bishop in the Tyrolese diocese of Brixen from 1452 to 1458, and later as resident cardinal in Rome, Nicolas of Cusa left a testament to his view of reform in the sermons he preached to monks, clergy, and laity. These 171 sermons, in addition to his Reformatio generalis of 1459, reflect an intellectual coming to terms with the challenge of reform in the late medieval church, and in response creatively incorporating metaphysics, mystical theology, ecclesiology, and personal renewal into his preaching of reform.
The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Christianity
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The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Christianity takes as its subject the beliefs, practices, and institutions of the Christian Church between 400 and 1500AD. It addresses topics ranging from early medieval monasticism to late medieval mysticism, from the material wealth of the Church to the spiritual exercises through which certain believers might attempt to improve their souls. Each chapter tells a story, but seeks also to ask how and why "Christianity" took particular forms at particular moments in history, paying attention to both the spiritual and otherwordly aspects of religion, and the material and political contexts in which they were often embedded. This Handbook is a landmark academic collection that presents cutting-edge interpretive perspectives on medieval religion for a wide academic audience, drawing together thirty key scholars in the field from the United States, the UK, and Europe. Notably, the Handbook is arranged thematically, and focusses on an analytical, rather than narrative, approach, seeking to demonstrate the variety, change, and complexity of religion throughout this long period, and the numerous different ways in which modern scholarship can approach it. While providing a very wide-ranging view of the subject, it also offers an important agenda for further study in the field.
Political Theology in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
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This book aims to provide a new perspective on the subject, dealing with the events (historical events and intellectual discourses) connected with the political theology rather than with the imaginary or fictional, and more based on an interdisciplinary approach (from the more theoretical and deductive political philosophy and theology to the more practical and inductive law history, intellectual history, political history, and art history). It thus explores in depth the practices of political theology through history - focusing on philosophical and intellectual discourses, historical gestures, liturgies, art, representations, and symbols.
Popular Religion in the Middle Ages
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Here is the first general account of the religious and irreligious ideas entertained by the populace at large in the Middle Ages. Between 1000 and 1300, vital changes took place in thought and art and religious inspiration, and the renewal of urban life in a world still centered on the feudal knight and peasant. How can we enter the minds of the mass of the people during those centuries? How did laymen look upon bishops and popes, the Bible, the saints; how did they regard judgment, heaven and hell? The answers to such questions lie in what remains of the churches in which people worshipped, in the images of stone and glass they valued, in contemporary poems and songs, and in other scattered sources. But the evidence requires careful and imaginative interpretation, and this the authors have provided, bringing each theme to life in text and pictures and expertly supplying the framework of a historical context.--From publisher description.
Theological Quodlibeta in the Middle Ages
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Two volumes on special theological disputations from ca. 1230-1330 in which audience members asked the era's greatest intellectuals questions de quolibet, "about anything." The variety of the material and the authors' stature make the genre uniquely fascinating.
The Age of the Cloister
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A meticulously researched look at the birth and flowering of monastic life and its impact on seekers today.
A Companion to Priesthood and Holy Orders in the Middle Ages
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In A Companion to Priesthood and Holy Orders in the Middle Ages, a select group of scholars explain the rise and function of priests and deacons in the Middle Ages. Though priests were sometimes viewed through the lens of function, the medieval priesthood was also defined ontologically-those marked by God who performed the sacraments and confected the Eucharist. While their role grew in importance, medieval priests continued to fulfil the role of preacher, confessor and provider of pastoral care. As the concept of ordination changed theologically the practices and status of bishops, priests and deacons continued to be refined, with many of these medieval discussions continuing to the present day.
Ecclesia in Medio Nationis
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The role of monastic institutions in society during the Central Middle Ages has been much debated in medieval studies. Some scholars saw monasticism as the principal motivator of economic, social, intellectual and 'spiritual' progress in human society, while others regarded monastic ideology as fundamentally anti-social and oriented towards itself. These debates seem to have lost some of their relevance to the present-day scholar. Today monasticism is studied as a social entity which needed interactions with the outside world, not only to subsist in a physical sense, but also to give a clear sense of purpose to its members. Drawing on recent trends in historical scholarship, this volume seeks to identify some of the major questions that will dominate research into monasticism in the years to come. Contributions deal with the evolution of monasticism itself, its links with aristocracy, the economic relations of religious communities and their physical and ideological boundaries, and the representation of the outside world in monastic manuscripts. Les contributions rassemblées dans ce volume présentent un point de vue à la fois multiple et multidisciplinaire sur l'état de la question dans l'historiographie du monachisme, un domaine de recherche dont la complexité s'avère désormais incontestable. Il s'agit de réflexions portant sur l'évolution du monachisme, ou d'études approfondissant les liens entre le monachisme et l'aristocratie ou les réalités économiques, explorant les liens physiques et idéologiques avec le monde extérieur, sans oublier des analyses portant sur les représentations du monde extérieur dans les manuscrits médiévaux. This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).
Medieval Monasticism
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Medieval Monasticism is a bibliography meant as a guide to medieval monasticism, giving direction to the most important works in the subject and is prepared by an expert in the field, Dr. Constable. The bibliography has three aims: it meant to aid students who are relatively new to the area of study, to guide more advanced readers in a subject where they have had little formal training, and to assist new libraries in forming a basic collection in the subject presented.
Medieval Monasticism
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The book has been revised and updated and a number of new sections have been created or old ones elaborated, on a range of important themes, such as the social composition of the nunneries and the particular problems that confronted women in the religious life.
Monastic Orders
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The men and women that followed the sixth-century customs of Benedict of Nursia (c.480-c.547) formed the most enduring, influential, numerous and widespread religious order of the Latin middle ages. Their liturgical practice, and their acquired taste for learning, served as a model for the medieval church as a whole: while new orders arose, they took some of their customs, and their observant and spiritual outlook, from the Regula Benedicti. The Benedictines may also be counted among the founders of medieval Europe. In many regions of the continent they created, or consolidated, the first Christian communities; they also directed the development of their social organisation, economy, and environment, and exerted a powerful influence on their emerging cultural and intellectual trends. This book, the first comparative study of its kind, follows the Benedictine Order over eleven centuries, from their early diaspora to the challenge of continental reformation. JAMES G. CLARK is Professor of History, University of Exeter.
The world of medieval monasticism: its history and forms of life
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This book surveys the full panorama of ten centuries of Christian monastic life. It moves from the deserts of Egypt and the Frankish monasteries of early medieval Europe to the religious ruptures of the eleventh and twelfth centuries and the reforms of the later Middle Ages. Throughout that story, the book balances a rich sense of detail with a broader synthetic view. It presents the history of religious life and its orders as a complex braid woven from multiple strands: individual and community, spirit and institution, rule and custom, church and world. The result is a synthesis that places religious life at the center of European history and presents its institutions as key catalysts of Europe's move toward modernity.
The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition
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Scholars of the patristic era have paid more attention to the dogmatic tradition in their period than to the development of Christian mystical theology. Andrew Louth aims to redress the balance. Recognizing that the intellectual form of this tradition was decisively influenced by Platonic ideas of the soul's relationship to God, Louth begins with an examination of Plato and Platonism. The discussion of the Fathers which follows shows how the mystical tradition is at the heart of their thought and how the dogmatic tradition both molds and is the reflection of mystical insights and concerns. This new edition of a classic study of the diverse influences upon Christian spirituality includes a new Epilogue which brings the text completely up to date.
Late Medieval Mysticism
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Included in this collection of Medieval writings are Ray Petry's careful essays on the province and character of mysticism and the history of mysticism from Plato to Bernard of Clairvaux. Long recognized for the quality of its translations, introductions, explanatory notes, and indexes, the Library of Christian Classics provides scholars and students with modern English translations of some of the most significant Christian theological texts in history. Through these works--each written prior to the end of the sixteenth century--contemporary readers are able to engage the ideas that have shaped Christian theology and the church through the centuries.
Body and Soul
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Opening a window onto a long-neglected world of women's experience, this text features eleven essays that examine the writings of medieval women mystics from England, France, Germany, Italy, and the Low Countries, providing close readings of a number of important texts from the viewpoint of different literary theories. Surveying various styles of hagiographical writing, the author offers ground-breaking scholarship on a broad range of topics such as how medieval holy women may have appeared to their contemporaries, medieval antifeminism, comparisons between earlier and later Christian mystical writing, the relationship between male confessors and female penitents in the Middle Ages, and the process by which these extraordinary women produced their work. For courses in religious, medieval, or women's studies, this unique text fills a conspicuous gap in an important and fascinating field of literature.
The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism
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This clear and comprehensive anthology, culled from the vast corpus of Christian mystical literature by the renowned theologian and historian Bernard McGinn, presents nearly one hundred selections, from the writings of Origen of Alexandria in the third century to the work of twentieth-century mystics such as Thomas Merton. Uniquely organized by subject rather than by author, The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism explores how human life is transformed through the search for direct contact with God. Part one examines the preparation for encountering God through biblical interpretation and prayer; the second part focuses on the mystics’ actual encounters with God; and part three addresses the implications of the mystical life, showing how mystics have been received over time, and how they practice their faith through private contemplation and public actions. In addition to his illuminating Introduction, Bernard McGinn provides accessible headnotes for each section, as well as numerous biographical sketches and a selected bibliography. Praise for The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism “No one is better equipped than Bernard McGinn to provide a thorough and balanced guide to this vast literature….This is an anthology which deserves to be read not only by those who study Christian history and theology, but by believers who long to deepen their own lives of prayer and service.” -- Anglican Theological Review “Bernard McGinn, a preeminent historian and interpreter of the Christian mystical tradition, has edited this fine collection of mystical writings, organizing them thematically....McGinn offers helpful introductions to each thematic section, author and entry, as well as a brief critical bibliography on mysticism. Published in the Modern Library Classic series, this is a great value.” – Christian Century "No-one is better equipped than Professor McGinn to provide a thorough and balanced guide to this vast literature. A first-class selection, by a first-class scholar." -- Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury “This accessible anthology by the scholarly world’s leading historian of the Western Christian mystical tradition easily outstrips all others in its comprehensiveness, the aptness of its selection of texts, and in the intelligent manner of its organization.” -- Denys Turner, Horace Tracy Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology, Yale Divinity School "An immensely rich anthology, assembled and introduced by our foremost student of mysticism. Both the scholar and the disciple will find God’s plenty here." -- Barbara Newman, Professor of English, Religion, and Classics, John Evans Professor of Latin, Northwestern University "An unusually clear and insightful exposition of major texts selected by one of the greatest scholars in the field of Christian mysticism, based on his vast erudition and uniquely sensitive interpretation. Like his other books, this one too is destined to become a classic.” -- Professor Moshe Idel, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
An Anthology of Christian Mysticism
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This comprehensive anthology will serve both as a text for serious students of mysticism and a reflective collection for those first exploring its thought. Biographical and historical data, as well as the mystic's key ideas and information about why the particular text was selected introduce each mystic to the reader. Fifty-five mystics or mystical theologians, ancient and modern, are represented, including: Origen, Augustine of Hippo, Hildegard of Bingen, Francis of Assisi, Bonaventure, Angela of Foligno, Catherine of Siena, the anonymous author of Cloud of Unknowing, Thomas a' Kempis, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Francis de Sales, Therese of Lisieux, Elizabeth of the Trinity, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Thomas Merton, and Karl Rahner.
Avignon and Its Papacy, 1309-1417
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With the arrival of Clement V in 1309, seven popes ruled the Western Church from Avignon until 1378. Jo lle Rollo-Koster traces the compelling story of the transplanted papacy in Avignon, the city the popes transformed into their capital. Through an engaging blend of political and social history, she argues that we should think more positively about the Avignon papacy, with its effective governance, intellectual creativity, and dynamism. It is a remarkable tale of an institution growing and defending its prerogatives, of people both high and low who produced and served its needs, and of the city they built together. As the author reconsiders the Avignon papacy (1309-1378) and the Great Western Schism (1378-1417) within the social setting of late medieval Avignon, she also recovers the city's urban texture, the stamp of its streets, the noise of its crowds and celebrations, and its people's joys and pains. Each chapter focuses on the popes, their rules, the crises they faced, and their administration but also on the history of the city, considering the recent historiography to link the life of the administration with that of the city and its people. The story of Avignon and its inhabitants is crucial for our understanding of the institutional history of the papacy in the later Middle Ages. The author argues that the Avignon papacy and the Schism encouraged fundamental institutional changes in the governance of early modern Europe--effective centralization linked to fiscal policy, efficient bureaucratic governance, court society (soci t de cour), and conciliarism. This fascinating history of a misunderstood era will bring to life what it was like to live in the fourteenth-century capital of Christianity.
A Companion to the Medieval Papacy
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A Companion to the Medieval Papacy brings together an international group of experts on various aspects of the medieval papacy. Each chapter provides an up-to-date introduction to and scholarly interpretation of topics of crucial importance to the development of the papacy's thinking about its place in the medieval world and of its institutional structures. Topics covered include: the Papal States; the Gregorian Reform; papal artistic self-representation; hierocratic theory; canon law; decretals; councils; legates and judges delegate; the apostolic camera, chancery, penitentiary, and Rota; relations with Constantinople; crusades; missions. The volume includes an introductory chapter by Thomas F.X. Noble on the historiographical challenges of writing medieval papal history. Contributors are: Sandro Carocci, Atria A. Larson, Andrew Louth, Jehangir Malegam, Andreas Meyer, Harald M ller, Thomas F.X. Noble, Francesca Pomarici, Rebecca Rist, Kirsi Salonen, Felicitas Schmieder, Keith Sisson, Danica Summerlin, and Stefan Wei .
The Conflict Between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire During the Early Avignon Era, 1300-1360
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A valuable book presenting readers with an overarching view of the literature produced during a time of intense conflict between the papacy and secular rulers just before and during the Avignon Papacy from 1300-1360 A.D. Implicit in the discussions is the question of the nature of the Church itself and its role in society.
On the Margins of Crusading
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Founded to support Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land and most famous for their support for crusading, the Military Religious Orders' activities and interests stretched far beyond the frontiers of Christendom. Representing some of the most recent advances in research, in this volume eleven scholars from Europe and North America explore important and hitherto under-researched aspects of the Orders' history, scrutinising their relations with the papacy, their organisational structure, their devotional practices, their fortresses and their presence in the localities of Western Europe.
The popes at Avignon, 1305-1378
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Book One: The popes -- I. Clement V -- II. John XXII -- III. Benedict XII -- IV. Clement VI -- V. Innocent VI -- VI. Urban V -- VII Gregory XI -- Book Two: Papal relations with Christendom -- I. the papacy and Italy -- 1. Clement V's intervention in Tuscany -- 2. The war with Ferrara -- 3. The war in Lombardy and the legation of Bertrand du Poujet -- 4. Benedict XII and his policy of appeasement -- 5. Clement VI and Giovanni Visconti -- 6. Albornoz and the conquest of the papal states -- 7. Rome and Papacy: Urban's V return to Italy -- 8. The final return of the Holy See to Rome and the war of the Otto Santi -- 9. Sicily, the kingdom of Naples and Hungary up to the Great Schism of the west -- II. The Papacy and the empire -- 1. Henry VII and the Italian expedition -- 2. Louis of Bavaria and his conflict with the papacy -- 3. The schism of Pierto de Corbara -- 4. Louis of Bavaria and John XXII -- 5. Louis of Bavaria and Benedict XII -- 6. The end of the struggle between the church and the empire -- III. The papacy and France -- 1. The trial of the templars -- 2. The trial of Boniface VIII -- 3. The papacy and France from John XXII to Gregory XI -- IV. The papacy and England -- 1. the reigns of Edward I and Edward II -- 2. The reign of Edward III -- V. The papacy and Spain -- Book Three: Papal institutions -- I. Avignon and the papal court -- 1. Avignon -- 2. The papal court -- 3. The central administration of the Roman church -- A. The Apostolic camera -- B. The chancery -- i. The office of petitions -- ii. The office of examinations -- iii. The abbreviators of office -- iv. The engrossers' office -- v. The corrector's office -- vi. The office of the bullatores -- vii. The registry -- C. The administration of justice -- i. the consistory -- ii. The cardinals' tribunals -- iii. The court of the apostolic palace -- iv. The Audientia Litterarum Contradictarum -- D. The apostolic penitentiary -- 4. The cardinals -- 5. Extravagant living at the court of Avignon; feasts and expenditure -- II. Papal Finances -- 1. Taxes paid directly to the Curia -- 2. Taxes levied in the Taxpayer's own country by the agents of the Curia -- 3. The methods of collecting taxes -- 4. The effects and results of the financial policy of the Avignon Popes -- III. The centralization of the Church during the Avignon papacy.
Rome before Avignon: a social history of thirteenth century Rome
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1. The physical city. -- 2. The ideal city. -- 3. Who ruled Rome? -- 4. The Popes. -- 5. The natural family. -- 6. The spiritual family. -- 7. Last wills and testaments.