Search results for ""Author Simon Roffey""
The History Press Ltd Chantry Chapels and Medieval Strategies for the Afterlife
Beliefs in the afterlife dominated the images, literature and liturgy of medieval church and society. In particular, the concept of purgatory – a penitential state where the soul was purged of sin and therefore able to attain eventual salvation – was a central element. Barring a life of extraordinary saintliness, most medieval people anticipated a long stay in purgatory. However, this time could be lessened through various strategies, including the organization of a range of memorial and commemorative practices and, particularly, the foundation of chantry chapels. Chantry chapels were often outstanding additions to parish and monastic church spaces and, despite the ravages of the Reformation, many still survive. These structures, much altered with time, are still a noticeable feature of many churches and cathedrals.This book offers a thematic approach to such monuments, combining archaeological approaches with relevant documentary sources and discussing aspects of chantry chapel foundation, design and spatial arrangements, as well as their origins and the effects the Reformation had on these constructions. It will also consider the various different types of chantry chapel including those in colleges, churches, cathedrals, bridges and hospitals.This is a fascinating study of monuments that were devised as a strategy to improve the afterlife and were one of the most important and influential institutions of the medieval period.
£17.99
Oxbow Books Early Medieval Winchester: Communities, Authority and Power in an Urban Space, c.800-c.1200
Winchester’s identity as a royal centre became well established between the ninth and twelfth centuries, closely tied to the significance of the religious communities who lived within and without the city walls. The reach of power of Winchester was felt throughout England and into the Continent through the relationships of the bishops, the power fluctuations of the Norman period, the pursuit of arts and history writing, the reach of the city’s saints, and more. The essays contained in this volume present early medieval Winchester not as a city alone, but a city emmeshed in wider political, social, and cultural movements and, in many cases, providing examples of authority and power that are representative of early medieval England as a whole.
£49.95