Local Saints and Local Churches in the Early Medieval West [Hardcover]

Alan Thacker (Editor), Richard Sharpe (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0198203942 | ISBN-13: 978-0198203940 | Edition: 1

This book explores the development of the cult of the saints in western Europe between c.400 and 1000 AD. The main emphasis is upon Anglo-Saxon England, post-Roman Britain, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, but there are important contributions on Francia and on western Europe as a whole. No other volume combines such a broad geographical spread with such a wide range of disciplines and approaches - textual, archaeological, genealogical, onomastic, as well as historical. Veneration of innumerable local saints and martyrs is one of the defining characteristics of early medieval society. This book looks at how such saints came to be recognized and how they were enshrined, the circumstances in which they proliferated, and the factors leading to the development of their often extremely localized cults. Throughout, the aim is to emphasize the pan-European context, to place insular developments in a wider continuum extending from Ireland through to Rome and Byzantium. The volume combines wide-ranging surveys providing fundamental orientation on a variety of core subjects, with crucial reference material (including a handlist of all known Anglo-Saxon saints). It will be indispensable to all interested in Early Britain and Ireland, Anglo-Saxon England and to the culture of early medieval Europe as a whole.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...an excellent research and reference tool as well as useful addition to the study of the development of saints' cults in Ireland and the British Isles in their European context in the early Middle Ages."--Speculum

About the Author

Alan Thacker is a Reader in Medieval History, Institute of Historical Research, London, and Executive Editor, Victoria History of the Counties of England. Richard Sharpe is a Professor of Diplomatic, University of Oxford.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 596 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (December 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198203942
• ISBN-13: 978-0198203940
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,502,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)