Patrons and Defenders
Saints in the Italian City-state
This item is a print on demand title and will be dispatched in 1-3 weeks.
Paperback / softback
£31.99
QTY
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781350183575
Number of Pages: 352
Published: 23/09/2021
Width: 15.6 cm
Height: 23.4 cm
The Cult of the Saints played a vital role in the political life of Italian city states in the Middle Ages. The saints were a unifying force for a city, and brought prestige and power to its rulers, therefore the Cult of the Saints was bound up with the civic agenda, and worship was politically charged. Laymen - able men of affairs, orthodox and "kirchentreu", increasingly assumed responsibility for ensuring that "celestial guarantees" were obtained for a city's well-being, despite the traditionally powerful influence of the church. This book is therefore not a hagiography, but an intensely political study of an age in which religious experience was seen as part of everyday life, and in which it seemed natural to medieval politicians to involve the saints in politics.
Introduction
Part 1 - Preliminary: The Cities and their Saints before 1200
1. Before the Commune
2. Saints and Citizens in the Twelfth Century
Part 2 - The Cult in Action
3. Saints and Statutes
4. Building the Pantheon
5. Rulers, Rites and Relics
Part 3 - Siena City of the Virgin
6. The Virgin of Montaperti
7. Virgin with Saints
8. Advocates of Order
Conclusion
Select Bibliography
Index