A01=Peter Brown
ages
angel
angelology
art
artists
Author_Peter Brown
barbaric times
belief
bodily
bodily remains
Category=QRM
catholic
christian
christian saints
church
cults
cultural mood
dead
earthly remnants
elites
empire
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
europe
faith
forgiveness
great thinkers
hagiography
heavenly connection
history
history of christianity
intercessors
justice
late antiquity
martyr
mass
medieval
medieval european studies
middle
philosophy
pope
priest
relic
religion
religious
religious life
remains
roman
roman empire
sainthood
shrine
social science
sophisticated elites
supernatural powers
supersititous
superstition
superstitious
superstitious masses
the holy dead
veneration
western europe
worship
Product details
- ISBN 9780226175263
- Weight: 340g
- Dimensions: 14 x 22mm
- Publication Date: 12 Nov 2014
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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In this groundbreaking work, Peter Brown explores how the worship of saints and their corporeal remains became central to religious life in Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. During this period, earthly remnants served as a heavenly connection, and their veneration is a fascinating window into the cultural mood of a region in transition. Brown challenges the long-held "two-tier" idea of religion that separated the religious practices of the sophisticated elites from those of the superstitious masses, instead arguing that the cult of the saints crossed boundaries and played a dynamic part in both the Christian faith and the larger world of late antiquity. He shows how men and women living in harsh and sometimes barbaric times relied upon the holy dead to obtain justice, forgiveness, and power, and how a single sainted hair could inspire great thinkers and great artists. An essential text by one of the foremost scholars of European history, this expanded edition includes a new preface from Brown that presents new ideas based on subsequent scholarship.
Peter Brown is the Philip and Beulah Rollins Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University. He is credited with having created the field of study known as late antiquity.
