The church as sacred space in Middle English literature and culture
By: Laura Varnam
Series: Manchester medieval literature and culture; Manchester medieval literature and culture
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 267
ISBN-13: 9781784994174
Copyright date: 2018
Subjects: Church buildings; Christianity in literature; St. Bartholomew-the-Great (Church : London, England); History and criticism; Medieval Literature; Church history; Church in literature; Sacred space in literature; History
Description: "This book presents an exciting new approach to the medieval church by examining the role of literary texts, visual decorations, ritual performance and lived experience in the production of sanctity. The meaning of the church was intensely debated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the book explores what was at stake not only for the church's sanctity but for the identity of the parish community as a result. Focusing on pastoral material used to teach the laity, it shows how the church's status as a sacred space at the heart of the congregation was dangerously - but profitably - dependent upon lay practice. The sacred and profane were inextricably linked and, paradoxically, the church is shown to thrive on the sacrilegious challenge of lay misbehaviour and sin."-- Back cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 248-261) and index.