Apparitions in Late Medieval and Renaissance Spain

by William A. Christian Jr.

Overview

The description for this book, Apparitions in Late Medieval and Renaissance Spain, will be forthcoming.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691008264
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	02/21/1989
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

William A. Christian, Jr., is an independent scholar who lives in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. He is the author of Person and God in a Spanish Valley and Local Religion in Sixteenth-Century Spain (both Princeton).

Table of Contents

	List of Figures	vii
	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction: When People Meet God	3
Chapter 1	Late Medieval Apparitions in Castile	10
	Introduction: Rural Life and Religion	10
	Mary of Light with Matins Processions	26
	Santa Gadea (Burgos), 1399	26
	Jaen, 1430	40
	Mary of the Cross in Castile	57
	Cubas (Madrid), 1449	57
	Cubas and Guadalupe	87
	Two Saints in the Sierra de Guadarrama	93
	Anthony of Padua, Navas de Zarzuela (Segovia), 1455	94
	Michael the Archangel, Navalagamella (Madrid), 1455	100
	Mary of the Cross, A Reprise	103
	Escalona (Segovia), c. 1490	103
Chapter 2	Late Medieval Apparitions in Catalonia	111
	The Catalan Context	111
	El Miracle (Lleida), 1458	113
	Jafre (Girona), 1460	126
	El Torn (Girona), 1483	132
	Pinos (Lleida), 1507	137
	Two Early Modern Visions: Reus (Tarragona), 1592, and Sant Aniol (Girona), 1618	140
	Catalan and Castilian Messages	144
Chapter 3	Repression of Apparitions: The Inquisition in La Mancha	150
	Visions of Juan de Rabe, La Mota del Cuervo (Cuenca), c. 1514, 1516	152
	Visions of Francisca la Brava, Quintanar de la Orden, 1523	159
Chapter 4	General Themes in the Visions	188
	The Case of Jeanne d'Arc and Criteria for Verification of Visions	188
	Spanish Visions and the Renewal of the Local Devotional System	203
	Sources and Diffusion of the Vision Stories	207
	The Logic of Divine Behavior	212
	Children, Saints, and the Plague	215
	Notes	223
	Documentary Appendix of Spanish Texts	245
1.	Santa Gadea, 1399	245
2.	Jaen, 1430	250
3.	Cubas, 1449	262
4.	Guadalupe	276
5.	Navas de Zarzuela, 1455	279
6.	Escalona, c. 1490	283
7.	El Miracle, 1458	288
8.	Jafre, 1460	299
9.	El Torn, 1483	302
10.	Pinos, 1507	305
11.	Sant Aniol, 1618	306
12.	La Mota, c. 1514, 1516	308
13.	Quintanar de la Orden, 1523	312
	Index	333

Editorial Reviews

"About a dozen notarized accounts of apparitions, together with the pilgrimages and devotions they inspired in rural Spain from 1399 to 1523—the Spanish unabridged documents are gathered in appendices—form the core for William Christian's fascinating reconstruction of religious practices in Iberian villages. Astute commentary and a long and affectionate experience with the subject matter permit the author to place the reader as it were in a front-row seat to witness directly the face-to-face encounters villagers sometimes conducted with their divine personages—particularly with the Virgin Mary. A description so authentic flows from a profound knowledge both of the sources and of the people. We are all indebted to William Christian for making everyday religious life in late medieval Spanish villages as understandable to us today as would be a comparable account of a contemporary community in our own society."—-Lionel Rothkrug, The Catholic Historical Review

"No summary can do justice to the wealth these books [Apparitions in Late Medieval and Renaissance Spain and Local Religion in Sixteenth-Century Spain] offer to a wide variety of readers, not only in posing important analytical perspectives and questions but also in making available previously unpublished or untranslated primary material."—-Susan Tax Freeman, Journal of Modern History

"William A. Christian, Jr., is that rare scholar whose training in social anthropology assists rather than obscures his historical research. In Apparitions he . . . Investigates 'a series of reports of celestial visions of common people, children, farmers, shepherds' wives, servants.' The author's approach to these visions is clearly stated: 'Rather than explaining away the visions, or even explaining them, I have tried to learn from them how people experienced both the world they knew and the world they had to imagine.' He has certainly learned much. His book throws light on commonly neglected aspects of Spanish society (such as its attitude toward children) as well as on the religion of the time (for instance, the increased insistence on penance and the Passion)."—-J. N. Hillgarth, American Historical Review

From the Publisher

William A. Christian, Jr., is that rare scholar whose training in social anthropology assists rather than obscures his historical research. In Apparitions he . . . Investigates 'a series of reports of celestial visions of common people, children, farmers, shepherds' wives, servants.' The author's approach to these visions is clearly stated: 'Rather than explaining away the visions, or even explaining them, I have tried to learn from them how people experienced both the world they knew and the world they had to imagine.' He has certainly learned much. His book throws light on commonly neglected aspects of Spanish society (such as its attitude toward children) as well as on the religion of the time (for instance, the increased insistence on penance and the Passion).

American Historical Review - J. N. Hillgarth

No summary can do justice to the wealth these books [Apparitions in Late Medieval and Renaissance Spain and Local Religion in Sixteenth-Century Spain] offer to a wide variety of readers, not only in posing important analytical perspectives and questions but also in making available previously unpublished or untranslated primary material.

Journal of Modern History - Susan Tax Freeman

About a dozen notarized accounts of apparitions, together with the pilgrimages and devotions they inspired in rural Spain from 1399 to 1523—the Spanish unabridged documents are gathered in appendices—form the core for William Christian's fascinating reconstruction of religious practices in Iberian villages. Astute commentary and a long and affectionate experience with the subject matter permit the author to place the reader as it were in a front-row seat to witness directly the face-to-face encounters villagers sometimes conducted with their divine personages—particularly with the Virgin Mary. A description so authentic flows from a profound knowledge both of the sources and of the people. We are all indebted to William Christian for making everyday religious life in late medieval Spanish villages as understandable to us today as would be a comparable account of a contemporary community in our own society.

The Catholic Historical Review - Lionel Rothkrug

William A. Christian, Jr., is that rare scholar whose training in social anthropology assists rather than obscures his historical research. In Apparitions he . . . Investigates 'a series of reports of celestial visions of common people, children, farmers, shepherds' wives, servants.' The author's approach to these visions is clearly stated: 'Rather than explaining away the visions, or even explaining them, I have tried to learn from them how people experienced both the world they knew and the world they had to imagine.' He has certainly learned much. His book throws light on commonly neglected aspects of Spanish society (such as its attitude toward children) as well as on the religion of the time (for instance, the increased insistence on penance and the Passion).

American Historical Review - J.N. Hillgarth

William A. Christian, Jr., is that rare scholar whose training in social anthropology assists rather than obscures his historical research. In Apparitions he . . . Investigates 'a series of reports of celestial visions of common people, children, farmers, shepherds' wives, servants.' The author's approach to these visions is clearly stated: 'Rather than explaining away the visions, or even explaining them, I have tried to learn from them how people experienced both the world they knew and the world they had to imagine.' He has certainly learned much. His book throws light on commonly neglected aspects of Spanish society (such as its attitude toward children) as well as on the religion of the time (for instance, the increased insistence on penance and the Passion).
— J. N. Hillgarth

American Historical Review

No summary can do justice to the wealth these books [Apparitions in Late Medieval and Renaissance Spain and Local Religion in Sixteenth-Century Spain] offer to a wide variety of readers, not only in posing important analytical perspectives and questions but also in making available previously unpublished or untranslated primary material.
— Susan Tax Freeman

Journal of Modern History

About a dozen notarized accounts of apparitions, together with the pilgrimages and devotions they inspired in rural Spain from 1399 to 1523—the Spanish unabridged documents are gathered in appendices—form the core for William Christian's fascinating reconstruction of religious practices in Iberian villages. Astute commentary and a long and affectionate experience with the subject matter permit the author to place the reader as it were in a front-row seat to witness directly the face-to-face encounters villagers sometimes conducted with their divine personages—particularly with the Virgin Mary. A description so authentic flows from a profound knowledge both of the sources and of the people. We are all indebted to William Christian for making everyday religious life in late medieval Spanish villages as understandable to us today as would be a comparable account of a contemporary community in our own society.
— Lionel Rothkrug

The Catholic Historical Review