The Laity in the Middle Ages: Religious Beliefs and Devotional Practices

by André Vauchez, Daniel E. Bornstein (Editor), Margery J. Schneider (Translator)

Overview

In these lively and incisive essays André Vauchez explores the religious beliefs and devotional practices of laypeople in medieval Europe and grapples with some of the most difficult issues in medieval history: the nature of popular devotion, the role of religion in civic life, the sociology of religious attitudes and practices, and the relationship between the intersecting spheres of lay and clerical culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780268012977
Publisher:	University of Notre Dame Press
Publication date:	08/31/1993
Series:	Professional Services
Pages:	370
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.88(d)

About the Author

André Vauchez is the former director of the French School in Rome and member of the Academy of Inscriptions and Letters, master of studies at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, and professor of medieval history at the University of Rouen (1980–1982) and at the University of Paris X Nanterre (1983–1995). He was awarded the Balzan Prize for Medieval History in 2013.

Daniel E. Bornstein is professor of history and religious studies and Stella K. Darrow Professor of Catholic Studies, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Margery J. Schneider is the translator of The End of the Past: Ancient Rome and the Modern West and Women and Religion in Medieval and Renaissance Italy.

Editorial Reviews

The translation is on the whole elegant, capturing Vauchez’s own luminous prose with considerable grace. The result is a text which makes the work of this major scholar accessible to beginning student and more seasoned researcher alike. The Laity in the Middle Ages is an invaluable witness to the work of a scholar who has done so much to awaken us to the complexities of the religious experience of the laity in the Middle Ages.” —Catholic Historical Review

"This is not a volume on the general tenor of lay spirituality during specific centuries of medieval church life. It is basically a volume on particular and individual manifestations of intense holiness by specific lay Christians. The 'case histories' are both valuable and delightful reading." —Theological Studies

“A fundamental work for historians of Christianity.” —Religious Studies Review

“Vauchez arguably is the leading scholar of medieval spirituality. This is an extremely important collection and we are fortunate that it is now available to an English-reading public.” —Speculum

From the Publisher

"The translation is on the whole elegant, capturing Vauchez's own luminous prose with considerable grace. . . . The Laity in the Middle Ages is an invaluable witness to the work of the scholar who has done so much to awaken us to complexities of the religious experience of the laity in the Middle Ages."

The Catholic Historical Review

Vauchez (history, U. of Paris) presents 22 essays on the medieval European Catholic Church: the emergence of the laity within the church from the 11th to the 13th centuries, religion in precept and practice, women's choice (basically marriage or the convent), and mystics (among whom women were prominent). Translated from the 1987 French edition. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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