History of religion Books

Book SynopsisThe Mongol Empire was the mightiest land empire the world has ever seen. At its height it was twice the size of its Roman equivalent. For a remarkable century and a half it commanded a population of 100 million people, while the rule of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan marched undefeated from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea. George Lane argues that the Mongols were not only subjugators who swept all before them but one of the great organising forces of world history. His book traces the rise of the Great Khan in 1206 to the dissolution of the empire in 1368 by the Ming Dynasty. He discusses the unification of the Turko-Mongol tribes under Chinggis' leadership; the establishment of a vigorous imperium whose Pax Mongolica held mastery over the Central Asian steppes; imaginative policies of religious pluralism; and the rich legacy of the Toluid Empire of Yuan China and Ilkhanate Iran. Offering a bold and sympathetic understanding of Mongol history, the author shows that commercial expansion, cultural assimilation and dynamic political growth were as crucial to Mongol success as desire for conquest.Trade Review'This is a very good introduction to the Mongol Empire, written with a sense of drama which many comparable narratives lack. While not denying the destruction caused by the Mongols, George Lane demonstrates - in his pacy and readable survey - the wide and long-lasting impact of the Mongol imperium. Specialists and students alike will appreciate its many merits.' - Timothy May, Professor of Central Eurasian History, University of North Georgia, author of The Mongol Conquests in World History

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Book SynopsisWhen, in October 1517, Martin Luther pinned his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg he shattered the foundations of western Christendom. The Reformation of doctrine and practice that followed Luther's seismic action, and protest against the sale of indulgences, fragmented the Church and overturned previously accepted certainties and priorities. But it did more, challenging the relationship between spiritual and secular authority, perceptions of the supernatural, the interpretation of the past, the role of women in society and church, and clerical attitudes towards marriage and sex. Drawing on the most recent historiography, Helen L Parish locates the Protestant Reformation in its many cultural, social and political contexts. She assesses the Reformers' impact on art and architecture; on notions of authority, scripture and tradition; and - reflecting on the extent to which the printing press helped spread Reformation ideas - on oral, print and written culture.Trade Review'This book is an excellent and up-to-date treatment of the Reformation. Helen Parish has produced a splendid summary, based on the latest research, of those major themes that characterized the Reformation in both its coherence and its diversity. Though underpinned by solid scholarship, it deserves a wide readership.’ -- Scott H. Hendrix, Emeritus Professor of Reformation History and Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, author of Martin Luther: A Very Short Introduction‘This is much more than just another history of the Reformation. Helen Parish not only gives us Luther’s story, she expertly traces its impact deep into ordinary life. We learn how a theologians’ quarrel ended up reinventing the arts, family life, and even ghosts. And while she digests the best of recent scholarship for us, the book is also filled with vivid vignettes, from the inferno of a Dutch church torched by iconoclasts to an Anabaptist radical’s letter to her infant son written as she went to her death.’ -- Alec Ryrie, Professor of the History of Christianity, Durham University, author of Protestants: The Radicals who Made the Modern World‘Brought out to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther's 95 Theses to the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg – the event generally held to have set the Reformation in motion – Helen Parish's exciting new book is a timely, assured, well-written and thoroughly engaging account of this key episode of early modern European history. Drawing on the most recent scholarship, and making extensive use of primary sources, it provides readers with an excellent introduction to the subject while at the same time offering something quite distinctive. Not only does this volume cover essential topics such as Reformation theology and the role of printing, but it also does a great job of drawing our attention to less conventional themes, such as the visual arts, women and marriage and the supernatural. It is a key contribution from one of our leading Reformation historians.’ -- Kenneth Austin, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History, University of BristolTable of ContentsList of Maps and Illustrations Acknowledgements Timeline Introduction: 500 Years 1. In the Power of God Alone? Martin Luther and the Theology of the Reformation 2. The Reformation and Dissemination of Ideas 3. The Reformation and the Image 4. The Reformation, Authority and Radicalism 5. The Reformation, Women and Marriage 6. The Reformation and the Supernatural Epilogue Further Reading Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe Apocriticus purports to be the record of a four-day public debate between a pagan philosopher, whom the text calls simply the “Hellene,” and the author, Macarius, a Christian rhetor. The text is a rich, though often neglected, source for the history of intellectual and cultural conflict between Christian and Hellene intellectuals in the fourth century CE. While the Apocriticus has frequently attracted the attention of scholars as a possible source of fragments from Porphyry’s Against the Christians, the text as a whole is significant in its own right. Macarius defends the allegorical reading of scripture and presents interesting discussions concerning ascetic practice and the cult of the martyrs. The philosophical and theological eclecticism of the text should also be of interests to scholars of early Christianity and later ancient philosophy. The fictitious dialogue weaves together philosophical and theological arguments, often in a “popularized” form. The text thus represents an interesting contrast to more formal “high” philosophical and theological texts of the period. As well as a new English translation of an important text, this volume includes notes and introductory essays setting the work in its historical and intellectual contexts.Trade Review'This affordable book is undoubtedly enlightening and enjoyable, and will lead to widespread use of this vast ancient text.' (Translated from German)Ulrich Volp, Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum'Such use of this affordable book is undoubtedly illuminating and enjoyable and will lead to the widespread distribution of this extensive ancient text, especially since the English-speaking readership far outnumber those of the readers who are fluent in Greek, French and / or German.' Ulrich Volp, Zeitschift für antikes Christentum (Translated from German)Table of ContentsPreface Introductory Essays I. Macarius and the Christian Tradition (Mark J. Edwards) II. The Hellene (Jeremy M. Schott) A.Macarius’ Use of a Source or Sources B.Identifying the Hellene? i.Celsus ii.Sossianus Hierocles iii.Julian iv.Porphyry C.Conclusions III. Macarius and the Apocriticus (Jeremy M. Schott) A. The Text B. Author, Provenance, and Date C. A Literary Assessment Abbreviations and Sigla Macarius, Apocriticus, or Monogenes 1. Book 1 2. Book 2 3. Book 3 4. Book 4 5. Fragments Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe Apocriticus purports to be the record of a four-day public debate between a pagan philosopher, whom the text calls simply the “Hellene,” and the author, Macarius, a Christian rhetor. The text is a rich, though often neglected, source for the history of intellectual and cultural conflict between Christian and Hellene intellectuals in the fourth century CE. While the Apocriticus has frequently attracted the attention of scholars as a possible source of fragments from Porphyry’s Against the Christians, the text as a whole is significant in its own right. Macarius defends the allegorical reading of scripture and presents interesting discussions concerning ascetic practice and the cult of the martyrs. The philosophical and theological eclecticism of the text should also be of interests to scholars of early Christianity and later ancient philosophy. The fictitious dialogue weaves together philosophical and theological arguments, often in a “popularized” form. The text thus represents an interesting contrast to more formal “high” philosophical and theological texts of the period. As well as a new English translation of an important text, this volume includes notes and introductory essays setting the work in its historical and intellectual contexts.Trade Review'This affordable book is undoubtedly enlightening and enjoyable, and will lead to widespread use of this vast ancient text.' (Translated from German)Ulrich Volp, Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum'Such use of this affordable book is undoubtedly illuminating and enjoyable and will lead to the widespread distribution of this extensive ancient text, especially since the English-speaking readership far outnumber those of the readers who are fluent in Greek, French and / or German.' Ulrich Volp, Zeitschift für antikes Christentum (Translated from German)Table of ContentsPreface Introductory Essays I. Macarius and the Christian Tradition (Mark J. Edwards) II. The Hellene (Jeremy M. Schott) A.Macarius’ Use of a Source or Sources B.Identifying the Hellene? i.Celsus ii.Sossianus Hierocles iii.Julian iv.Porphyry C.Conclusions III. Macarius and the Apocriticus (Jeremy M. Schott) A. The Text B. Author, Provenance, and Date C. A Literary Assessment Abbreviations and Sigla Macarius, Apocriticus, or Monogenes 1. Book 1 2. Book 2 3. Book 3 4. Book 4 5. Fragments Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisProlegomena to a History of Islamicate Manichaeism provides an annotated anthology of primary sources highlighting Manichaeism, a dualist religion emerging in Mesopotamia in the third century and which spread rapidly throughout the Roman and Sasanian empires until it was violently suppressed by both polities. It nevertheless continued to flourish - largely clandestinely - in the Near East, Central Asia, and China until it finally disappeared at the beginning of the seventeenth century. This book translates and assesses the importance of a number of Arabic, Persian, Syriac, and even Hebrew language testimonies for a better understanding of the cultural importance of what many scholars characterize as the first 'world religion'.Trade Review'Reeves is a superb scholar who has meticulously researched the literature relevant to this project. His extensive learning is manifest throughout. Nothing like this anthology exists in English for the Islamicate testimonia on Manichaeism, and therefore it fills an extremely important gap.' Michael A. Williams, Professor of Comparative Religion and Near Eastern Languages and Civilization, Jackson School of International Studies, University of WashingtonTable of ContentsPreface Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: Biographical Testimonia About Mani Chapter Three: Fragments of Manichaean Scripture: A Classified Collection of Islamicate Testimonia Chapter Four: Testimonia About Manichaean Teachings Chapter Five: 'Historical' Testimonia About Manichaeism and Manichaeans Chronological Roster of Sources

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Book SynopsisThis volume brings theoretical and methodological discussions from religious studies, ancient history, and classics to the study of ancient religions, thus attempting to bridge a disciplinary chasm often apparent in the study of religions in antiquity. It examines theoretical discourses on the specificity, origin, and function of 'religion' in antiquity, broadly defined here as the period from the 6th century BCE to the 4th century CE. In addition, it explores the crucial question of what is meant by the term 'religion' and its applicability when employed to describe traditions that antedate the historical periods known as the Enlightenment and the Reformation. Theorizing about religion is often seen as an accomplishment of modernity, neglecting the insights stemming from the 'pre-modern' period. The contributors to this volume offer detailed discussions and links between how the ancients theorized about their religions and how modern scholars discuss about such discourses in their academic environments.Table of ContentsSeries Editor Preface Phil Tite, University of Washington Editor Preface 1. Introduction: The Present and Future of Ancient Religion Brent Nongbri, Aarhus University PART I: FROM LANGUAGE TO METHOD 2. Our Language and Theirs: `Religious' Categories and Identities Steve Mason, Groningen University 3. The Value(s) of Belief: Ancient Religion, Cognitive Science, and Interdisciplinarity Jason P. Davies, University College London 4. Imagining Religion in Antiquity: A How To Kevin Schilbrack, Appalachian State University PART II: THE GREEK WORLD 5. Philosophical Reflections on the Presocratics: A Contribution to the Scientific Study of Religion Donald Wiebe, University of Toronto 6. Impiety and Versions of Rationalization of Religion in Classical Greece Emese Mogyorodi, University of Szeged, Hungary 7. Theorizing About (Which?) Origins: Herodotus on the Gods Nickolas P. Roubekas PART III: FROM MESOPOTAMIA TO ROME 8. Ancient Mesopotamian Scholars, Ritual Speech, and Theorizing Religion without `Theory' or `Religion' Alan Lenzi, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California 9. Magic and Religion in Ancient Egypt Rita Lucarelli, University of California, Berkeley 10. Manipulating `Religion': The Egyptian Theologoumena in Diodorus Siculus Panayotis Pachis, Aristotle University 11. Metaphor and Religion in Ancient Rome Spencer E. Cole, University of Minnesota PART IV: FROM JUDAISM TO CHRISTIANITY 12. Defining Judaism: The Case of Philo Michael L. Satlow, Brown University 13. Religion, Geography, and the Impossibility of Jewish Identity Sarah Imhoff, Indiana University 14. Whither Shall We Go? Tertullian and Christian Identity Formation Nickolas P. Roubekas 15. The Anachronism of `Early Christian Communities' Sarah E. Rollens, Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee PART V: TOPICS IN THE STUDY OF (ANCIENT) RELIGION 16. Cognitive Study of (Ancient) Religions Leonardo Ambasciano, Masaryk University, Czech Republic 17. Cultural Geography Justin K. H. Tse, Northwestern University 18. Texts James Crossley, St Mary's University, London 19. Gender Irene Salvo, Georg-August University Goettingen, Germany 21. Epilogue: The Jabberwocky Dilemma: Take Religion for Example Luther H. Martin, University of Vermont

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Book SynopsisThis volume aims to create--in Walter Benjamin's terms--dialectical images from early Christian texts and the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It blasts the past and the present into one another, creating new constellations of thought, ones connected with tensions and mediated by theory (mediation being what Theodor Adorno adds to Benjamin's concept of the dialectical image). Our ancient images derive from the Gospels, the Apostle Paul, Revelation, Irenaeus, Origen, and Augustine. Our modern images and theories derive from Walter Benjamin, Gilles Deleuze, Alain Badiou, and Judith Butler. Together these images and theories challenge the way we think about gentrification, progress, early Christianity, revolutionary movements, history, the body of Christ, canonicity, language, gender, and bodies, both human and non-human. Eleven international scholars contribute to this volume. These scholars are experts in the fields of Biblical Studies, Early Christian Studies, Philosophy, and Critical Theory.Table of ContentsPreface: Dialectical Images and Critical Theory Mathew G. Whitlock 1. Introduction: Making Early Christian Texts Strange (Again) Matthew G. Whitlock Part I Walter Benjamin 2. Walter Benjamin and Early Christian Texts Matthew G. Whitlock 3. Reading, Libraries, and Urban Change in the Shadow of Capitalism and Apocalypse: Reading Walter Benjamin and John of Patmos Robert Paul Seesengood, Albright College, Pennsylvania 4. “On the Concept of History”: St. Augustine and Walter Benjamin C.A. Levenson, Idaho State University Part II Gilles Deleuze 5. Gilles Deleuze and Early Christian Texts Matthew G. Whitlock 6. The Deleuzioguattarian Body of Christ without Organs B. H. McLean, University of Toronto 7. The Many Acts of the Apostles: Simulacra and Simulation Matthew G. Whitlock and Philip Tite, University of Washington 8. Face-ing the Nations: Becoming a Majority Empire of God Reterritorialization, Language, and Imperial Racism in Revelation 7:9-17 Sharon Jacob, Pacific School of Religion Part III Alain Badiou 9. Alain Badiou and Early Christian Texts Matthew G. Whitlock 10. Christianity Appears First, As Itself Bruce Worthington, University of Toronto 11. Towards a Vulgar Marxist Reading of Christian Origins Today James Crossley, St Marys University, London 12. Recapitulating the Event: Reading Irenaeus with Badiou Hollis Phelps, Mercer University, Georgia Part IV Judith Butler 13. Judith Butler and Early Christian Texts Matthew G. Whitlock 14. Paul Exposed: Reading Galatians with Judith Butler Valérie Nicolet, Institut protestant de théologie, faculté de Paris 15. Mattering Bodies: Animacy and Justice in Origen’s On First Principles Peter Anthony Mena, University of San Diego

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Book SynopsisThis volume aims to create--in Walter Benjamin's terms--dialectical images from early Christian texts and the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It blasts the past and the present into one another, creating new constellations of thought, ones connected with tensions and mediated by theory (mediation being what Theodor Adorno adds to Benjamin's concept of the dialectical image). Our ancient images derive from the Gospels, the Apostle Paul, Revelation, Irenaeus, Origen, and Augustine. Our modern images and theories derive from Walter Benjamin, Gilles Deleuze, Alain Badiou, and Judith Butler. Together these images and theories challenge the way we think about gentrification, progress, early Christianity, revolutionary movements, history, the body of Christ, canonicity, language, gender, and bodies, both human and non-human. Eleven international scholars contribute to this volume. These scholars are experts in the fields of Biblical Studies, Early Christian Studies, Philosophy, and Critical Theory.Table of ContentsPreface: Dialectical Images and Critical Theory Mathew G. Whitlock 1. Introduction: Making Early Christian Texts Strange (Again) Matthew G. Whitlock Part I Walter Benjamin 2. Walter Benjamin and Early Christian Texts Matthew G. Whitlock 3. Reading, Libraries, and Urban Change in the Shadow of Capitalism and Apocalypse: Reading Walter Benjamin and John of Patmos Robert Paul Seesengood, Albright College, Pennsylvania 4. “On the Concept of History”: St. Augustine and Walter Benjamin C.A. Levenson, Idaho State University Part II Gilles Deleuze 5. Gilles Deleuze and Early Christian Texts Matthew G. Whitlock 6. The Deleuzioguattarian Body of Christ without Organs B. H. McLean, University of Toronto 7. The Many Acts of the Apostles: Simulacra and Simulation Matthew G. Whitlock and Philip Tite, University of Washington 8. Face-ing the Nations: Becoming a Majority Empire of God Reterritorialization, Language, and Imperial Racism in Revelation 7:9-17 Sharon Jacob, Pacific School of Religion Part III Alain Badiou 9. Alain Badiou and Early Christian Texts Matthew G. Whitlock 10. Christianity Appears First, As Itself Bruce Worthington, University of Toronto 11. Towards a Vulgar Marxist Reading of Christian Origins Today James Crossley, St Marys University, London 12. Recapitulating the Event: Reading Irenaeus with Badiou Hollis Phelps, Mercer University, Georgia Part IV Judith Butler 13. Judith Butler and Early Christian Texts Matthew G. Whitlock 14. Paul Exposed: Reading Galatians with Judith Butler Valérie Nicolet, Institut protestant de théologie, faculté de Paris 15. Mattering Bodies: Animacy and Justice in Origen’s On First Principles Peter Anthony Mena, University of San Diego

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Book SynopsisToday, conversion is a contested religious, political, and personal phenomenon, and that was also the case in the ancient world. Using several primary sources (Jewish and Christian) and case studies, this volume discusses what this change could have meant for various individuals or groups of people in the ancient world and argues that conversion can best be understood through an intersectional perspective, an approach that includes gender, class, ethnicity, and age, as well as political and economic elements in its analysis of conversion. The volume also acknowledges that a discussion of conversion benefits from taking into account conversion's history of reception. Case studies from the reception history as well as contemporary examples of contested conversions (for example, from Christianity to Islam or vice versa) are also brought to the table. In sum, the book addresses the complexity of conversion, using a range of cases, texts and theories, and initiates a dialogue between ancient sources and present concepts or practices. Close readings of ancient texts play a central role in the project. Yet, the book also considers how sacred texts and their receptions have influenced the way we generally think about conversation as religious change.Table of Contents1. What Is So Complex About Conversion? Marianne Bjelland Kartzow and Valérie Nicolet 2. Shedding Religious Skin: An Intersectional Analysis of the Claim that Male Circumcision Limits Religious Freedom Karin B. Neutel, University of Oslo 3. Complex Interactions: Conversion and Interreligious Dialogue in the Norwegian Context Anne Hege Grung, University of Oslo 4. Conversion in Mystery Religions? Theory Meets Mysteries and Conversion Gerhard van den Heever, University of South Africa 5. “Leap, Ye, Lame for Joy”: The Dynamics of Disability in Conversion Anna Rebecca Solevåg, VID Specialized University, Stavanger, Norway 6. Reading a Complex Identity in Conversion: Interpretations of the Ethiopian Eunuch Minna Heimola, Independent Scholar 7. Creating a New Sex: Women Bodies in Conversion Valérie Nicolet 8. Conversion in/to the Wilderness: The Case of the Egyptian Slave Girl Hagar in Early Christian and Jewish Texts Marianne Bjelland Kartzow 9. The Complexity of Aseneth’s Transformation Kirsten Marie Hartvigsen, University of Oslo 10. Leaving the Traditions of the Fathers: Perspectives on Conversion from a Christianity That Did Not Survive Kristine Toft Rosland, University of South-Eastern Norway / University of Oslo 11. Spatial Conversion and Christian Identity in Late Antiquity Anna Lampadaridi, Institut Protestant de Théologie (Paris) 12. Concluding Remarks Valérie Nicolet

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Book SynopsisToday, conversion is a contested religious, political, and personal phenomenon, and that was also the case in the ancient world. Using several primary sources (Jewish and Christian) and case studies, this volume discusses what this change could have meant for various individuals or groups of people in the ancient world and argues that conversion can best be understood through an intersectional perspective, an approach that includes gender, class, ethnicity, and age, as well as political and economic elements in its analysis of conversion. The volume also acknowledges that a discussion of conversion benefits from taking into account conversion's history of reception. Case studies from the reception history as well as contemporary examples of contested conversions (for example, from Christianity to Islam or vice versa) are also brought to the table. In sum, the book addresses the complexity of conversion, using a range of cases, texts and theories, and initiates a dialogue between ancient sources and present concepts or practices. Close readings of ancient texts play a central role in the project. Yet, the book also considers how sacred texts and their receptions have influenced the way we generally think about conversation as religious change.Table of Contents1. What Is So Complex About Conversion? Marianne Bjelland Kartzow and Valérie Nicolet 2. Shedding Religious Skin: An Intersectional Analysis of the Claim that Male Circumcision Limits Religious Freedom Karin B. Neutel, University of Oslo 3. Complex Interactions: Conversion and Interreligious Dialogue in the Norwegian Context Anne Hege Grung, University of Oslo 4. Conversion in Mystery Religions? Theory Meets Mysteries and Conversion Gerhard van den Heever, University of South Africa 5. “Leap, Ye, Lame for Joy”: The Dynamics of Disability in Conversion Anna Rebecca Solevåg, VID Specialized University, Stavanger, Norway 6. Reading a Complex Identity in Conversion: Interpretations of the Ethiopian Eunuch Minna Heimola, Independent Scholar 7. Creating a New Sex: Women Bodies in Conversion Valérie Nicolet 8. Conversion in/to the Wilderness: The Case of the Egyptian Slave Girl Hagar in Early Christian and Jewish Texts Marianne Bjelland Kartzow 9. The Complexity of Aseneth’s Transformation Kirsten Marie Hartvigsen, University of Oslo 10. Leaving the Traditions of the Fathers: Perspectives on Conversion from a Christianity That Did Not Survive Kristine Toft Rosland, University of South-Eastern Norway / University of Oslo 11. Spatial Conversion and Christian Identity in Late Antiquity Anna Lampadaridi, Institut Protestant de Théologie (Paris) 12. Concluding Remarks Valérie Nicolet

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Book SynopsisThis collection of essays constitute an extended argument for an anthropocentric, human-focused, study of religious practices. The basic premise of the argument, offered in the opening section, is that there is nothing special or extraordinary about human behaviors and constructs that are claimed to have uniquely religious status and authority. Instead, they are fundamentally human and so the scholar of religion is engaged in nothing more or less than studying humans across time and place and all their complex existence-that includes creating more-than-human beings and realities. As an extended and detailed example of such an approach, the second part of the book contains essays that address practices, rhetoric and other data in early Christianities within Greco-Roman cultures and religions. The underlying aim is to insert studies of the New Testament and non-canonical texts, most often presented as "biblical studies," into the anthropocentric study of religion proposed in the opening section. For a general reading of modern biblical scholarship makes clear the assumption that the Christian bible is a "sacred text" whose principal raison d'etre is to stand, fetish-like, as the foundational and highest authority in matters moral, ritual or theological; how might we instead approach the study of these texts if they are nothing more or less than human documents deriving from situations that were themselves all too human? Braun's Jesus and Addiction to Origins seeks to answer just that question-doing so in a way that readers working outside Christian origins will undoubtedly find useful applications for the people, places, and historical periods that they study.Table of ContentsEditor’s Foreword Russell T. McCutcheon Preface Willi Braun I. Generalities 1. Religion: A Guide 2. The Irony of Religion 3. Introducing Religion II. Particularities 4. Jesus and Addiction to Origins 5. Christian Origins and the Gospel of Mark: Fragments of a Story 6. The Sayings Gospel Q and the Making of an Early Jesus Group 7. In the Beginning Was Not the Word 8. Sex, Gender and Empire: Virgins and Eunuchs in the Ancient Mediterranean World 9. Physiotherapy of Femininity in Early Christianity: Ideology and Practice 10. “Our Religion Compels Us to Make a Distinction”: Prolegomena on Meals and Social Formation III. Afterword Reification, Religion, and the Relics of the Past William E. Arnal, University of Regina

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a timely and original overview of the Dissolution of the Monasteries and its longer term affects on the social and physical landscape of England and Wales during the decades that followed. Combining for the first time the full wealth of archaeological evidence gathered over the last century with the established documentary sources, it takes a more nuanced approach to the understanding of an event that has polarised debates ever since the 16th century. The book examines the most immediate and destructive outcomes of the Dissolution, such the ruination and asset stripping of religious property and the dispersal of monastic lands. However, it also presents its longer term, albeit often unexpected, outcomes such as the creation of economic opportunities for individual entrepreneurs and civic authorities, the stimulation of new forms of polite architecture, and the development of previously unimagined leisure landscapes. It concludes that whilst the Dissolution had devastating impact upon those in religious orders, its lasting legacy was the remarkable preservation of the country's medieval Christian heritage through the monuments and archaeological sites that remain to this day in every area of the country. Whilst primarily focusing on archaeological material, the book also encompasses a range of diverse historical sources. It is aimed at students and scholars seeking an introduction to the main debates surrounding the Dissolution, as well as providing original in-depth case studies to illustrate these.Table of Contents1 Introduction 2 Monastic England and Wales at the Dissolution 3 The Destruction and Asset Stripping of the Religious Houses 4 The Dispersal and Acquisition of Monastic Property 5 Avenues for Common Opportunity 6 The Conversion to Domestic Use 7 New Landscapes of Leisure 8 Concluding Remarks

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Book SynopsisThe increase in terrorism, the push for gender fluidity, the eradicating of Christianity from schools - During these worrying times, Earl Blackburn shows that learning about our history can be one of the best tools for encouraging us in our faith. Hearing stories of the perseverance of Christian heroes such as John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, and William Wilberforce is inspirational for everyday struggles; while seeing how God has grown His church through times of hardship and persecution helps us to have courage about the church of today.Trade ReviewThis really is a fine piece of work and should be very popular and highly useful in the church. -- Tom Nettles (Senior Professor of Historical Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky)... 50 World-Changing Events in Christian History is a helpful overview of church history written from an evangelical and reformed perspective. I hope it will help many believers understand how their own lives and local churches fit into the ongoing story of God's new covenant people from every tribe, language, and nation. -- Nathan A. Finn (Dean of the School of Theology and Missions and Professor of Christian Thought and Tradition, Union University, Jackson, Tennessee)... As a professor of Church History, one of the most frequent questions I am asked is for a recommendation of a simple survey of the life of the church over the last 2,000 years. Now I have the answer to that question... -- James M. Renihan (Dean and Professor of Historical Theology, Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies, Escondido, California)Earl Blackburn has written a helpful and unusual book. It is well researched and written with the average Christian in mind. In just over 300 pages, he covers church history from the end of the New Testament to the present day. -- Evangelical TimesThis delightful and worthy book attempts to encapsulate 2,000 years of church history into 50 key events in a way that is accessible to the general reader. The writer describes it as 'an entry-level book on church history'. -- Philip Wells, Evangelicals Now

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Book SynopsisSt Paul is known throughout the world as the first Christian writer, authoring fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament. But as Karen Armstrong demonstrates in St Paul: The Misunderstood Apostle, he also exerted a more significant influence on the spread of Christianity throughout the world than any other figure in history. It was Paul who established the first Christian churches in Europe and Asia in the first century, Paul who transformed a minor sect into the largest religion produced by Western civilization, and Paul who advanced the revolutionary idea that Christ could serve as a model for the possibility of transcendence. While we know little about some aspects of the life of St Paul - his upbringing, the details of his death - his dramatic vision of God on the road to Damascus is one of the most powerful stories in the history of Christianity, and the life that followed forever changed the course of history.Trade ReviewArmstrong rescues her subject from two-dimensional caricature and helps us see just why generations have needed Paul to "think with", not just about God, but about the possible shapes of human community in the face of unthinking conformism and the powerful stupidity of empires. -- Rowan Williams * New Statesman *A compelling interpretation of the importance of this most prominent of early Christian figures... Absorbing and informative * Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisDifferent forms of religious worship and ritual are present throughout the development of human beings, from early stone-age ritual, nature religion and ancestor worship, to faiths from which Christianity and the Eucharist emerge.In this book, Bastiaan Baan traces the origins and metamorphosis of human religion in historical, theological and humanistic terms, examining its significance for human life on earth and in the spiritual world.Trade Review'This interesting book, which contains copies of many beautiful pictures, helped me to understand more about the importance of ritual and how I can connect to ritual acts.'-- Marjan Sikkel, Camphill Correspondence'This is a marvellous account by Christian Community priest, Bastiaan Baan, of religious ritual… It is very clear and enjoyable to read'-- Anthroposophical Society of Great Britain

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Book SynopsisA century ago in central Europe, a small group of Rudolf Steiner's theology students, with the help of Steiner himself, established The Christian Community as a movement for religious renewal. From its founding they published a regular journal containing articles from the movement's key figures, including Emil Bock, Evelyn Capel, Alfred Heidenreich and Rudolf Frieling, as a way to share knowledge and insight and develop ideas and practice.Published in celebration of the centenary of The Christian Community, this landmark compendium gathers a wide-ranging selection of important articles spanning one hundred years of The Christian Community journal from 1922 to 2022. The articles include contemplations on the Bible and festivals of the years, essays on the lives and work of artists and writers, and explorations of ideas about science, the natural world and the earth as a living entity. This fascinating collection shows the changing concerns of a growing community, from its early pioneering days through the turbulent early decades and the outbreak of the Second World War, to its position in our modern, globalised society.The book includes a foreword by Tom Ravetz, Lenker of The Christian Community in Great Britain and Ireland and the current editor of Perspectives, the UK's quarterly Christian Community journal.

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Book SynopsisWe may think of churches, mosques, synagogues and temples as ordered places for organized religion. But what happens when the congregation moves away? Or when shifting borders or persecution mean that people can no longer reach them? And, in the absence of humankind, what happens when nature’s unceasing efforts invade the hallowed walls? Abandoned Sacred Places is a brilliant pictorial exploration of both ancient and modern temples, synagogues, churches, mosques and stone circles that have been left behind. From the mysteries around Stonehenge in England and Carnac in France constructed thousands of years ago to crumbling inner cities churches and synagogues in present-day Detroit and Chicago, from ancient Roman temples to Mayan pyramids in Mexico, and from Hindu temples lost in the Indian jungle to Buddhist shrines in the Chinese desert, the book shows what happens when humanity retreats and nature is allowed to reclaim the land. With 200 outstanding colour photographs exploring hauntingly beautiful locations, Abandoned Sacred Places is a moving examination of more than 100 lost worlds.Table of ContentsIntroduction AFRICA Tassili, Algeria Giza Pyramids, Egypt Khonsu Temple, Luxor\Karnak, Egypt Abu Simbel, Egypt Medinet Habu, Ancient Egypt Nubian Pyramids, Sudan Ptomelaic Egypt: Temple of Kom Ombo and Temple of Edfu Roman Africa: Dougga, Tunisia; Sbeitia, Tunisia Christian Tombs, Al-Bagawat, Egypt Roman Basilica, Volubilis, Morocco Roman Basilica, Leptis Magna, Libya Mosque, Kilwa Kisiwani Island, Tanzania THE MIDDLE EAST Ain Dara, Syria Petra, Jordan Mada’in Saleh, Saudi Arabia Myra Necropolis, Turkey Temple of Artemis, Jerash, Jordan Temple of Baal, Palmyra, Syria Palmyra, Syria Zechariah’s Tomb, Kidron Valley, Jerusalem, Israel Absalom’s Tomb, Kidron Valley, Jerusalem, Israel Sumatar, Sabian site, Turkey At Hamat Synagogue, Tiberias, Israel Dura-Europos Synagogue, Syria Mushabbak Basilica, Dead Cities of Syria, Syria Cathedral/Mosque Fethiye, Ani, Turkey Church of the Redeemer, Ani, Turkey Orthodox Church Kayaköy, Turkey Lower Church, Kayaköy, Turkey Modern Mosque, Desert, Dubai Armenian Church, Mosul, Iraq ASIA Tomb of Darius, Naqsh-e Rustem, Iran Garni Ancient Roman Temple, Armenia Zvarnots Early Christian Cathedral, Armenia Ajanta Caves, India Elephanta Caves, Hindu, India Ellora Caves, India Site of Bamyan Buddhas, Afghanistan Khajuraho Hindu and Jain Temples, India Borobudur Buddhist Temples, Java, Indonesia Prambanan Hindu Temples, Indonesia Angkor Khmer Temples, Cambodia Prasat Hin Mueang Tam Khmer Temples, Thailand Bagan Temples, Burma Mogao Caves, China Polunnaruwa, Sri Lanka My Son, Cham Temple, Vietnam Ayutthaya, Thailand Hampi, India Bodhesar Jain Temple, Pakistan Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Delhi, India Trai Tim Church, Nam Dinh, Vietnam Buddhist Shrine, Nokogiri, Japan Buddhist Shrine, Nepal Muslim Necropolises, Kazakhstan Shiva Sunken Temple, Scindia Ghat, Varanasi, India British Colonial Church, Ross Island, Andaman Islands, Indian Ocean Chicken Church, Indonesia THE AMERICAS AND THE PACIFIC Pyramid, Caral Supe, Peru Temple of the Sun, Tiwanaku, Bolivia Nazca Lines, Peru Mesa Verde, Colorado, USA Guatape Rock, Colombia Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan, Mexico Mayan Sites: Lamanai Mask Temple, Belize Sacred Cenote, Mexico Becan, Yucatan, Mexico Copan, Honduras Yaxchilan, Mexico Tikal, Guatemala Incan Sites: Machu Picchu, Peru Moray Circle, Peru Easter Island statues Russian Cemetery, Sitka, Alaska, USA Church, Dooley, Montana Church, Dorothy, Alberta Anglican Old Church, Godmanchester, Quebec, Canada Methodist Church, Gary, Indiana Lower East Side Synagogue, New York East Methodist Church, Detroit Potosi Church, Venezuela Jesuit Mission, La Santisima Trinidad e Parana, Paraguay Jesuit Mission, Jesus de Tavarangue, Paraguay San Juan Parangaricutiro Church, Mexico Port au Prince Cathedral, Haiti Penal Colony Church, Tasmania EUROPE Hagar Qim, Malta – 4thC BCE megalithic site Stonehenge, England Parthenon, Athens, Greece Temple of Delphi, Greece Altar, Pompeii, Italy Ercole Temple, Agrigento, Sicily Tomb of the Kings, Cyprus Baptistry, Butrint, Albania Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire, Wales Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire, England Elgin Cathedral, Moray, Scotland Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland Ermita de la Piedad Chapel, near Segovia, Spain Church, Bussana Vecchia, Liguria, Italy Abbey, Mont-Saint-Eloi, France Villers Abbey, Wallonia, Belgium All Saints, Stovlinky, Czech Republic Catholic Church, Near Chervonohorod, Nyrkiv, Ukraine Novotroitskoye Church, Lipetsk Region, Russia Bogorodskoye Village Church, Penza Region, Russia Monastery near Kalach, Voronezh, Russia Church of Our Lady of Kazan, Yaropolets, Volokolamsk District, Russia Wooden Church, Maslovskaya Arkhangelsk Region, Russia Highgate Cemetery, London Kaiser Wilhelm Church, Berlin, Germany Church of St Etienne the Old, Caen, Normandy France Church, Oradour-sur-Glane, France St Luke’s Church, Liverpool, England Vidin Synagogue, Bulgaria Jewish Cemetery, Vienna, Austria Jewish Cemetery, Wroclaw, Poland Submerged Church, Reschensee, South Tyrol, Italy St Nicholas’s Cathedral, Kalyazin, Russia Church, Jrebchevo, Bulgaria

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Book SynopsisFirst printed edition, with facsimile and studies, of a significant manuscript from medieval England. The Thorney liber vitae (BL, MS Add. 40,000, fols 1-12v) consists of many hundreds of names written in the front of a tenth-century gospel book. This liber vitae is one of only three such compilations surviving frommedieval England, the others being the Durham liber vitae (BL, MS Cotton Domitian A vii) and the New Minster liber vitae (BL, MS Stowe 944). Begun at Thorney abbey (Cambridgeshire) in the late eleventh century and continued into the late twelfth, it purports to be a record of the names of confraters of the abbey, that is of those people who, through their friendship and gifts to the abbey, were included in the daily prayers of the monks of the community. The present volume is the first complete edition of this important text, and includes a complete facsimile of the pages. It also contains studies of the manuscript context, of the names included and, where possible, the identities and relationship to the abbey of those named, many of whom are also entered in the priory cartulary known as the Red Book of Thorney. The introduction provides a wide-ranging historical context for the production of the liber vitae. Lynda Rollason is Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University. With contributions from Richard Gameson, John Insley and Katharine Keats-Rohan.Trade ReviewThe Thorney 'Liber Vitae' provides a model for how future researchers might wish to edit, analyze, and present similar manuscript sources. . . . [A]ny would-be editor, paleographer, and codicologist would do well to browse its pages. * SPECULUM *An invaluable research tool, one which will find a welcome place in all serious research libraries. * HISTORY *This volume contains much material of high quality: the excellent facsimile pages, the clear printed text, the thoughtful accompanying essays. It is a work that will surely be used by many scholars working in the fields of Old English and Middle English, not only in onomastics but also in language and in history, and not only by scholars currently working but also by those in generations to come. In brief, this volume is an enormous contribution to scholarship. * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW *Table of ContentsHistorical Introduction The Manuscript Context: The Thorney Gospels The Personal Names of the Liber Vitae of Thorney Abbey: An Introduction to the Onomasticon Introduction to the Prosopographical Study of the Thorney Liber Vitae The Edition The Thorney Liber Vitae: Planning, Production, and Palaeography The Onomasticon The Prosopography The Goldsmith's Entry (4r1) (a): The Language of the Goldsmith's Entry The Goldsmith's Entry (4r1) (b): Palaeographical Commentary on the Goldsmith's Entry The Goldsmith's Entry (4r1) (c): Palaeographical Commentary on the Goldsmith's Entry The Entry for Turstan of Stamford the Moneyer (10v57) The Language of Folios 9v1, 10r1b-10r1d The Thorney Relic-List, Folio 11v Abbreviated References Index 1: Linguistic Index: Manuscript Forms and Lemmata Index 2: Lemmata, the Linguistic and Prosopographical Commentaries and the Introductory Essays

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Book SynopsisAn examination into two of the most important activities undertaken by the Normans. The reputation of the Normans is rooted in warfare, faith and mobility. They were simultaneously famed as warriors, noted for their religious devotion, and celebrated as fearless travellers. In the Middle Ages few activities offered a better conduit to combine warfare, religiosity, and movement than crusading and pilgrimage. However, while scholarship is abundant on many facets of the Norman world, it is a surprise that the Norman relationship with crusading and pilgrimage, so central in many ways to Norman identity, has hitherto not received extensive treatment. The collection here seeks to fill this gap. It aims to identify what was unique or different about the Normans andtheir relationship with crusading and pilgrimage, as well as how and why crusade and pilgrimage were important to the Normans. Particular focus is given to Norman participation in the First Crusade, to Norman interaction in latercrusading initiatives, to the significance of pilgrimage in diverse parts of the Norman world, and finally to the ways in which crusading and pilgrimage were recorded in Norman narrative. Ultimately, this volume aims to assess, insome cases to confirm, and in others to revise the established paradigm of the Normans as crusaders par excellence and as opportunists who used religion to serve other agendas. Dr Kathryn Hurlock is Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at Manchester Metropolitan University; Dr Paul Oldfield is Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Manchester. Contributors: Andrew Abram, William M. Aird, Emily Albu, Joanna Drell, Leonie Hicks, Natasha Hodgson, Kathryn Hurlock, Alan V. Murray, Paul Oldfield, David S. Spear, Lucas Villegas-Aristizábal.Trade ReviewA lively group of essays. * HISTORY *A very useful collection that has been compiled intelligently and edited carefully. * NOTTINGHAM MEDIEVAL STUDIES *[T]his well-presented volume provides a wealth of information for the expert and the inexpert. . . . [T]he chapters and bibliographical materials ensure that anyone coming to this will be given an excellent stepping-stone from which to embark on further research into the interplay between crusading, pilgrimage, and the Norman World. * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW *Table of ContentsIntroduction - Kathryn Hurlock and Paul Oldfield 'Many others, whose names I do not know, fled with them': Norman Courage and Cowardice on the First Crusade - William M. Aird The Enemy Within: Bohemond, Byzantium and the Subversion of the First Crusade - Alan Murray / The Editor Norman Italy and the Crusades: Thoughts on the 'Homefront' - Joanna Drell The Norman Influence on Crusading from England and Wales - Kathryn Hurlock The Secular Clergy of Normandy and the Crusades - David S Spear Norman and Anglo-Norman Intervention in the Iberian Wars of Reconquest Before and After the First Crusade - Lucas Villegas-Aristizábal The Pilgrimage and Crusading activities of the Anglo-Norman Earls of Chester - Andrew Abram The Use and Abuse of Pilgrims in Norman Italy - Paul Oldfield Antioch and the Normans - Emily Albu The Landscape of Pilgrimage and Miracles in Norman Narrative Sources - Leonie V. Hicks Normans and Competing Masculinities on Crusade - Natasha R. Hodgson Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisReveals through a study of how ordinary Catholics lived their faith that Roman Catholicism, and not just Protestantism, can be seen as part of the Evangelical spectrum of religious experience. Religious historians writing about Roman Catholicism after the Reformation have concentrated on institutional change, or the impact of certain groups or individuals. At the same time, those writing about Evangelical revivalism have tended to see this as an exclusively Protestant phenomenon. This book, by focusing on devotional practice and grass roots communities over a long period, demonstrates that renewal and revivalism were also present in the Roman Catholic Church, arguing that they are essential for faith to remain vibrant. The book examines how in the diocese of Middlesbrough (which comprises the old North and East Ridings of Yorkshire including Hull and York) Catholic faithand practice developed from a position where old Catholic gentry families were central through to the establishment of the Catholic hierarchy and large-scale immigration in the nineteenth century, when the church took on a distinctly Irish character. It re-evaluates the so-called "golden age" of the 1950s and considers the impact of the Second Vatican Council. Overall, the book shows how English Catholic faith and practice were influenced by social, cultural and geographical factors, how Roman Catholicism can indeed be seen as part of the Evangelical spectrum of religious experience, and, above all, how ordinary Catholics lived their faith. Margaret Turnham completed herdoctorate at the University of Nottingham.Trade ReviewA well-researched examination. * JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY, LITERATURE AND CULTURE *Assured and persuasive. * HISTORY *Table of ContentsIntroduction A Quiet Faith 1778-1850 Faith and the Victorian City 1850-1878 Faith, Vision and Mission 1879-1929 A Faith Secure? 1929-1963 Faith in an Age of Doubt 1963-1992 Conclusion Bibliography

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Book SynopsisAn investigation of the growth and influence of the cult of St Edmund, and how it manifested itself in medieval material culture. Longlisted for the Katharine Briggs Award 2016 St Edmund, king and martyr, supposedly killed by Danes (or "Vikings") in 869, was one of the pre-eminent saints of the middle ages; his cult was favoured and patronised by several English kings, and gave rise to a rich array of visual, literary, musical and political artefacts. This study explores the development of devotion to St Edmund, from its first flourishing in the ninth century to the eveof the Reformation. It explores a series of key questions: how, why and when did the cult develop? Who was responsible for its promotion and dissemination? To which groups and individuals did St Edmund appeal? How did this evolveover time? Using as evidence a range of textual and visual treasures from the Anglo-Saxon king's erstwhile kingdom and later cultic heartland, Norfolk and Suffolk, the study draws on sources and approaches from a variety of disciplines (literature, art history, social history and anthropology) to elucidate the social, cultural and political dynamics of cult construction. Dr Rebecca Pinner is a Lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern Literature atthe University of East Anglia.Trade ReviewA first-rate example of interdisciplinary historical scholarship, drawing on art history, literary criticism, archaeology, social history, and even anthropology to illuminate a saint's cult whose significance is finally being recognized. The book transcends the usual divide between textual and material studies that can impede medieval historians.... essential reading for anyone interested in the development of saints' cults and royal and national self-construction in medieval Europe. * FOLKLORE *Longlisted for the Katharine Briggs Award 2016 * . *A mixture of elegant prose and beautiful illustrations...provides historians with valuable insights into the cult of St Edmund, king and martyr. * LOCAL HISTORIAN *Pinner's book achieves the difficult feat of drawing together different kinds of evidence and strands of narrative associated with St. Edmund into one cohesive whole, which makes for a lively, engaging, and thought-provoking read. * CATHOLIC HISTORICAL REVIEW *[A] full hagiological study of a saint and his cult among the people of a whole region over four centuries. * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW *Very readable. A classic study of a medieval cult. * THE RICARDIAN *Recommended. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsIntroduction The Emergence of the Hagiographic Tradition: Abbo of Fleury, Passio Sancti Eadmundi De Miraculis Sancti Eadmundi: Herman, Osbert and Samson Vita et miracula The Elaboration of the Hagiographic Tradition The Final Flourish of the Textual Cult: John Lydgate, The Lives of Sts Edmund and Fremund Sacred Immanence, the Incorrupted Body and the Shrine of St Edmund The Devotional and Iconographical Context of the Shrine Writing St Edmund into the East Anglian landscape Miracles Beyond Bury Images of St Edmund Texts beyond Bury: Legendary Collections 'Martir, mayde and kynge', and more Appendix 1: Synoptic Account of the Legend of St Edmund Appendix 2: Chronology of Significant Events and Texts associated with the Cult of St Edmund Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe Deeds of the abbots of St Albans records the history of one of the most important abbeys in England, closely linked to the royal family and home to a school of distinguished chroniclers, including Matthew Paris and Thomas Walsingham. It offers many insights into the life of the monastery, its buildings and its role as a maker of books, and covers the period from the Conquest to the mid-fifteenth century.Trade ReviewA wonderfully detailed picture of life in the medieval abbey...To have this work available in one volume in English rather than multiple volumes in Latin is a great service to medieval and monastic historians * ALBAN LINK *Table of ContentsIntroduction The translation and its sources The Deeds of the Abbots of St Albans Appendix: A thirteenth-century precis of the Deeds of the Abbots of St Albans Bibliography

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Book SynopsisDaniel Wilson (1778-1858) was a prominent personality in the British administration of the Indian subcontinent during the mid-nineteenth century, as Anglican bishop of Calcutta from 1832 and the first metropolitan of India and Ceylon. Daniel Wilson (1778-1858) was a prominent personality in the British administration of the Indian subcontinent during the mid-nineteenth century, as Anglican bishop of Calcutta from 1832 and the first metropolitan of India and Ceylon. His episcopate coincided with the final decades of the British East India Company, and his vast diocese stretched from the Khyber Pass to Singapore. Under his leadership, the position of the Church of England in India was consolidated at a formational period for the nascent Anglican Communion, with the creation of new dioceses, the wide deployment of chaplains and missionaries, and an aggressive programme of church building in a colonial landscape dominated by temples and mosques. Wilson's private journal covers the second half of his episcopate, beginning with a day-to-day account of his furlough in England in 1845-46, and including his frequent, lengthy journeys on visitation to far-flung mission stations. It reveals the development of his missionary strategies, his relationships with political and ecclesiastical power-brokers, his attitudes to Hinduism and Islam, and his confidence in the blessings of European civilization. The journal also sheds light upon Wilson's evangelical piety and abhorrence of Tractarianism, as well as his attempts to discipline immoral and criminous chaplains who brought public scandal upon thechurch. ANDREW ATHERSTONE is Tutor in History and Doctrine at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and a member of Oxford University's Faculty of Theology and Religion.Table of ContentsIntroduction Journal

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Book SynopsisThe extraordinary growth and development of the cult of St Thomas Becket is investigated here, with a particular focus on its material culture. Thomas Becket - the archbishop of Canterbury cut down in his own cathedral just after Christmas 1170 - stands amongst the most renowned royal ministers, churchmen, and saints of the Middle Ages. He inspired the work of medieval writers and artists, and remains a compelling subject for historians today. Yet many of the political, religious, and cultural repercussions of his murder and subsequent canonisation remain to be explored in detail. This book examines the development of the cult and the impact of the legacy of Saint Thomas within the Plantagenet orbit of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries - the "Empire" assembled by King Henry II, defended by his son King Richard the Lionheart, and lost by King John. Traditional textual and archival sources, such as miracle collections, charters, and royal and papal letters, are used in conjunction with the material culture inspired by the cult, toemphasise the wide-ranging impact of the murder and of the cult's emergence in the century following the martyrdom. From the archiepiscopal church at Canterbury, to writers and religious houses across the Plantagenet lands, to thecourts of Henry II, his children, and the bishops of the Angevin world, individuals and communities adapted and responded to one of the most extraordinary religious phenomena of the age. Dr Paul Webster is currently Lecturer in Medieval History and Project Manager of the Exploring the Past adult learners progression pathway at Cardiff University; Dr Marie-Pierre Gelin is a Teaching Fellow in the History Department at University College London. Contributors: Colette Bowie, Elma Brenner, José Manuel Cerda, Anne J. Duggan, Marie-Pierre Gelin, Alyce A. Jordan, Michael Staunton, Paul Webster.Trade ReviewA useful collection, well presented, properly indexed, rising above the generally meretricious nature of the genre. * JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY *Outstanding..The volume overall is excellent, and will surely be indispensable to scholars with an interest in Becket as well as saints' cults and elite patronage more generally around the year 1200. * JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY, LITERATURE AND CULTURE *It will surely be an important resource for future studies, and it prompts many questions about how the cult developed and changed over the longer term, and about how elite engagement with the Becket cult influenced popular engagement. ENGLISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY [T]his volume enriches our understanding of the multiple meanings and diverse uses of Becket's prodigious afterlife. * SPECULUM *This volume will be of interest to scholars of multiple specialities, including history, literature, and art history, along with others. The collection also speaks to regions beyond England and northern France, particularly Spain and Germany. * PARERGON *A lively, thoroughly-researched, and stimulating contribution to an ever-expanding Becket literature. * SEHEPUNKTE *Table of ContentsIntroduction. The Cult of St Thomas Becket: An Historiographical Pilgrimage - Paul Webster Becket is Dead! Long Live St Thomas - Anne J. Duggan The Cult of St Thomas in the Liturgy and Iconography of Christ Church, Canterbury - Marie-Pierre Gelin Thomas Becket and Leprosy in Normandy - Elma Brenner Thomas Becket in the Chronicles - Michael Staunton Matilda, Duchess of Saxony (1168-89) and the Cult of Thomas Becket: A Legacy of Appropriation - Colette Bowie Leonor Plantagenet and the Cult of Thomas Becket in Castile - José Manuel Cerda Crown versus Church after Becket: King John, St Thomas, and the Interdict - Paul Webster The St Thomas Becket Windows at Angers and Coutances: Devotion, Subversion, and the Scottish Connection - Alyce A. Jordan

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Book SynopsisWycliffite's theology and learning examined in the context of their physical appearance in contemporary books and manuscripts. The reform movement known variously as Wycliffism or Lollardy is now a familiar feature of the premodern intellectual and religious landscape. But even though "heresy" has migrated to the forefront of medieval studies in recent decades, Wycliffite biblical scholarship itself has escaped sustained attention, especially its different tiers of textual form and practice. This book examines Wycliffism as it moves from late scholastic discourses of academic biblical study to the material contexts of English book and manuscript production; it also considers changing notions of biblical materiality itself. Such a concern is not limited to the empirical analysis of the book-object itself, but extends to scripture's material forms and identites as they were imagined, theorised, and made the subject of far-reaching speculation in textual criticism and hermenutics. In addition to Wycliff's academic writing, the book also addresses the movement's most significant textual assemblages in a major contribution to reframing our understanding of a key moment in English religious and cultural history. David Lavinsky is Assistant Professor for the Department of English at Yeshiva University.Table of ContentsIntroduction "De Pellibus Bestiarum": Scripture, Realism, and Material Form "Stories of þe elde testament": Adherence, Supersession, and the "Proces" of Reading "We speke not of enke and parchemyn": Voice, Form, and Textual Supplement Rolle's "blessyd boke": Heresy, Interpolation, and the Material Text The "sentence of olde holy doctouris": Gospel Commentary and the Materialities of the Literal Sense Bibliography

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Book SynopsisA re-evaluation of the mysterious "charms" found in Anglo-Saxon literature, arguing for their place in mainstream Christian rites. Since its inception in the nineteenth century, the genre of Anglo-Saxon charms has drawn the attention of many scholars and appealed to enthusiasts of magic, paganism, and popular religion. Their Christian nature has been widely acknowledged in recent years, but their position within mainstream liturgical traditions has not yet been fully recognised. In this book, Ciaran Arthur undertakes a wide-ranging investigation of the genre to better understand how early English ecclesiastics perceived these rituals and why they included them in manuscripts were written in high-status minsters. Evidence from the entire corpus of Old English, various surviving manuscript sources, and rich Christian theological traditions suggests that contemporary scribes and compilers did not perceive "charms" as anything other than Christian rituals that belonged to diverse, mainstream liturgical practices. The book thus challenges the notion that there was any such thing as an Anglo-Saxon "charm", and offers alternative interpretations of these texts as creative para-liturgical rituals or liturgical rites, which testify to the diversity of early medieval English Christianity. When considered in their contemporary ecclesiastical and philosophical contexts, even the most enigmatic rituals, previously dismissed as mere "gibberish", begin to emerge as secret, deliberately obscured textswith hidden spiritual meaning. Ciaran Arthur is a Research Fellow at Queen's University Belfast.Trade ReviewThe book represents a major advance to our knowledge about Anglo-Saxon ritual practice, for Arthur's study permits us now to take charms and secret writing seriously as much for their theological and devotional depth as for their popular significance. Rare is the event - and to be celebrated - when one comes across a book that opens up an entire genre for new appreciation -- EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPECiaran Arthur's overview of this fascinating corpus of literature, with each example scrutinized in its manuscript context and set against the background of a learned Latinate tradition, contributes much to our understanding of the relations between magic and liturgy in late Anglo-Saxon England. * SPECULUM *Scholars and students of Anglo-Saxon England will find this book an invaluable re-assessment of many of the Anglo-Saxon texts that have been labelled `charms', and it will also interest scholars concerned with folklore more generally. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *Provocative and erudite [its] arguments are consistently stimulating, discerning, and persuasive. This book makes a major contribution to knowledge, as it sheds an enormous amount of light on the least well-understood corpus of writings from Anglo-Saxon England. * ANGLIA *[F]or researchers focusing on the belief systems of early medieval England, or of early medieval Europe more broadly, this must be very strongly recommended. Any university library with a collection on medieval religion needs to obtain a copy. * READING RELIGION *Table of ContentsIntroduction Kill or Cure: Anglo-Saxon Understandings of Galdor By the Power Vested in Me: Galdor in Authorised Rituals Ite Missa Est: The Liturgical Nature of 'Charms' Crops and Robbers: A Case Study of the Vitellius Psalter In the Beginning Was the Letter: The Cosmological Power of 'Gibberish' Conclusion Bibliography

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Book SynopsisEdition of complex and important early liturgical work. The highly complex combined sacramentary and pontifical presented here, preserved as Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 12052, was apparently written to the order of Ratoldus, abbot of Corbie (d. 986), but in fact has along and complicated history. The sacramentary descends from a book compiled at Saint-Denis, later augmented with material relating to Dol (in Brittany) and Arras, while the pontifical, such as it is, descends in large part froma book drawn up for Oda, archbishop of Canterbury (941-58). Moreover, late-tenth and eleventh-century additions show that Corbie was merely the last link in a fascinating and sometimes puzzling chain. The work is thus of considerable importance to scholars and this edition, with introduction, will be warmly welcomed. Dr NICHOLAS ORCHARD is Deputy Slide Librarian at the Courtauld Institute of Art.Trade ReviewThe introduction is full of rich and thought-provoking details, which cast new light not just on Ratoldus but on the wider liturgical history of both northern France and England in the tenth-century. The edition which follows is exemplary. * JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY *

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Book SynopsisEarliest surviving English sacramentary containing English and continental liturgical rite. During the tenth century, there were intimate connections between the English Church and the French abbey of Fleury, which was at that time one of the foremost intellectual centres in Europe. A number of leading English churchmen,such as Archbishop Oswald (d.992) and Abbot Germanus, went to Fleury for their training, and it was from Fleury that Abbo, perhaps the most learned man in the Europe of his day, came to England to spend two years teaching at thefenland monastery of Ramsey (985-7). The `Winchcombe Sacramentary', which may have been written at Ramsey at this time, is the earliest complete surviving English sacramentary, and a product of the links between England and Fleury. Though written by an English scribe, it had been taken to Fleury by the early eleventh century, and remained there during the middle ages. The fascinating combination of English and continental liturgical rite represented in this manuscript is elucidated for the first time by Fr Anselme Davril. Fr ANSELME DAVRIL, foremost living authority on tenth-century Fleury, is a monk of the Benedictine community at Fleury.Trade ReviewThis crystal-clear edition makes available the oldest complete surviving sacramentary from Anglo-Saxon England... an immensely useful and informative work. MEDIUM AEVUM Dom Davril's labours make it possible to study with new depth this and a host of other questions related to the late Anglo-Saxon liturgy. JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY Long-awaited edition of one of the major liturgical manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon church... an exemplary text, followed by a useful comparative table and indices. * HISTORY *

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Book SynopsisDiplomatic edition of interesting sacramentary from the Carolingian period. This sacramentary, compiled at the abbey of Echternach between 895 and 900, is one of the most interesting and unusual examples from the Carolingian period. Unique in combining aspects of Gregorian, Gelasian, and Old Gelasian sacramentaries, it also has important implications for such matters as Carolingian liturgical reforms, and it is a vital source for the study of the local history of the abbey of Echternach itself. The Sacramentary, with material appended to it (such as a list of the benefactors of the abbey), is presented here in a diplomatic edition, with introduction, notes and collation tables by the editor. YITZHAK HEN is Lecturer in History at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.Table of ContentsPublication Secretary's Preface Preface List of Abbreviations Introduction Bibliography Editorial Procedure The Sacramentary of Echternach: The Text Collation Table Indices Plates

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Book SynopsisEarly 11c service book containing many masses commemorating English and Continental saints. The `Missal of Robert of Jumièges' is one of the most important, and also most beautifully written and decorated, service books which have survived from the late Anglo-Saxon period. Probably written at Canterbury in the early years of the eleventh century, it eventually came into the possession of Robert, bishop of London (1044-51), who gave it to the abbey of Jumièges in France, where it remained until 1791. From a liturgical point of view, the manuscriptis notable for the large number of masses commemorating not only native English, but also continental, and particularly Flemish, saints culted in late Anglo-Saxon England; the book is thus an important witness to the cultural links between England and the Continent at that time. The text, first published in 1896, has a still-valuable introduction by its editor and is accompanied by fifteen black and white plates, which give some impression of the original, lavish decoration. There are also full indexes of liturgical forms and subjects.

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