Royal Books and Holy Bones: Essays in Medieval Christianity

by Eamon Duffy

Overview

In 1992, Eamon Duffy created a sensation in Reformation studies by publishing his groundbreaking book The Stripping of the Altars. In it he demonstrated the health of late medieval religion in England and that the thesis hitherto accepted that the Reformation came to wipe away a corrupt and rotten Church was essentially false.

In this book follow-up to The Stripping of the Altars, Duffy makes further soundings in late medieval religion, but drills down to the particular and avoids any wide historical sweep. Among the topics he covers are "Purgatory," "The Black Death," "Adoration of the Mother of God," and "Heresy." By his meticulous research, Duffy has discovered many original documents and records during his academic career, proving that his thesis about the Reformation is basically irrefutable.

This book is illustrated by a small collection of full color plates which further demonstrate the richness of late medieval religion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472953230
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	08/14/2018
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Professor Eamon Duffy is Emeritus Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Cambridge. He previously held chairs at King's College, London and at the University of Birmingham. He is a former President of Magdalene College Cambridge. Duffy's books include Reformation Divided, Saints, Sacrilege and Sedition, and The Stripping of the Altars.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Introduction: Royal Books and Holy Bones 1

Books 5

1 Early Christian Impresarios 7

2 Books Held by Kings 19

3 The Golden Legend 29

4 Secret Knowledge - or a Hoax? 43

5 The Psalms and Lay Piety 53

Crises and Movements 71

6 Plague and Historical Memory 73

7 The Rise of Sacred Song 87

8 Holy Terror 97

9 The Cradle Will Rock: Histories of Childhood 111

Saints 123

10 Blood Libel: The Murder of William of Norwich 125

11 Sacred Bones and Blood 137

12 Treasures of Heaven: Saints and their Relics 149

13 St Erkenwald 165

14 The Cult of 'St' Henry Vi 187

15 The Dynamics of Pilgrimage in the Late Middle Ages 205

16 'Lady Pray Thy Son for Me': Prayer to the Virgin in the Late Middle Ages 221

On The Eve of The Reformation 237

17 Provision Against Purgatory: Wingfield College, Suffolk 239

18 Monasticism and the Religion of the People: Crowland Abbey 255

19 The Four Latin Doctors in the Late Middle Ages 275

20 The Reformation and the Alabastermen 289

21 Brush for Hire: Lucas Cranach the Elder 301

Acknowledgements 319

Notes 321

Index 355

Editorial Reviews

It is 26 years since Eamon Duffy changed the way that readers of history looked at England on the eve of the Reformation, through his The Stripping of the Altars. Many of the essays here also challenge easy assumptions. All of them are written with a clarity and fluency, humour and humanity that make reading them a pleasure.” —Christopher Howse, Daily Telegraph

“Erudite but never unapproachable and laced with a dry wit, [Duffy's] essays are essential reading for those with an interest in how people in the past expressed their faith” —Sunday Times

From the Publisher