1st Edition

Body and Sacred Place in Medieval Europe, 1100-1389

By Dawn Marie Hayes Copyright 2003
    220 Pages
    by Routledge

    244 Pages
    by Routledge

    Body and Sacred Place in Medieval Europe investigates the medieval understanding of sacred place, arguing for the centrality of bodies and bodily metaphors to the establishment, function, use, and power of medieval churches. Questioning the traditional division of sacred and profane jurisdictions, this book identifies the need to consider non-devotional uses of churches in the Middle Ages. Dawn Marie Hayes examines idealized visions of medieval sacred places in contrast with the mundane and profane uses of these buildings. She argues that by the later Middle Ages-as loyalties were torn by emerging political, economic, and social groups-the Church suffered a loss of security that was reflected in the uses of sacred spaces, which became more restricted as identities shifted and Europeans ordered the ambiguity of the medieval world.

    List of Illustrations
    Acknowledgments
    Introduction
    PART I. Incorporating Conceptions of Medieval Sacred Places
    Chapter One: Learned Conceptions of Sacred Place: Building and Body as Two Facades of Christian Worship in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
    Chapter Two: History Incarnate: Human Bodies and Ideal Sacred Place in The Miracles of Our Lady of Chartres
    PART II. Mundane and Profane Uses of Medieval Sacred Places
    Chapter Three: Earthly Uses of Heavenly Spaces: Non-Liturgical Activities in Sacred Place
    Chapter Four: Body as Champion of Church Authority and Sacred Place: The Murder of Thomas Becket
    Conclusion: Division and Decomposition
    Epilogue: Body and Sacred Place in the Wake of September 11: Resurrecting Medieval Metaphors in the Modern World
    Selected Bibliography
    Index

    Biography

    Dawn Marie Hayes

    "This book is part of a series--Studies in Medieval History and Culture--that brings works by scholars at the start of their careers to point to new directions for future research, and it fulfills this goal precisely, offering new insights and tantalizing forecasts for further studies." -- American Historical Review, Joyce E. Salisbury