Thomas Aquinas's relics as focus for conflict and cult in the late Middle Ages : the restless corpse / Marika Räsänen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Räsänen, Marika, author.

Series:

Crossing boundaries: Turku medieval and early modern studies

Crossing boundaries : Turku medieval and early modern studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274--Relics.

Thomas.

Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274.

Death--Religious aspects--Catholic Church.

Death.

Relics.

Physical Description:

308 pages ; 24 cm.

Distribution:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2017.

Summary:

Thomas Aquinas's Relics as Focus for Conflict and Cull in the Late Middle Ages: The Restless Corpse offers a unique approach to Thomas Aquinas the Saint by focusing on his dead body. Thomas's corpse was not simply perceived as the physical remains of a philosopher, but as a holy relic. The remains became a focus or veneration and yet, due to many political intrigues, the body was not always materially present in devotional moments. In these situations, the holy relics were recreated verbally, pictorially, or allegorically from elements that were not directly connected to Thomas's remains, even to the extent in which the presence of the body was perceptible by nose or mouth. Both of these praesentiae, physical and imagined, were equally real to the medieval listener or spectator. The book argues that, although medieval communities were able to create the presence of Thomas's corpse by various techniques, the question of the material presence of Thomas's remains became increasingly important in the politically tumultuous Southern Italy. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Death of Thomas, 7 March 1274 27

The memory of Thomas's arrival at the Monastery of Fossanova 28

At Thomas's bedside 39

Visions of the last breath 52

The funeral 62

2 The Miraculous Body in Fossanova 73

Hidden corpse, revealed sainthood 73

The tomb at the centre of liturgical practices 86

'Blessed Thomas, the saint corpse, release me from this fever' 104

Divided body, fragmented sanctity 119

3 Thomas's Land-Praesentia among the Faithful 135

Becoming the Patron Saint of Priverno 136

Rays of sainthood around Fossanova 150

The strongholds of Thomas's cult in Southern Italy 168

The treasure in Fondi 185

4 Written Remembrance of the Remains 203

A problematic possession in the hagiography 204

Memorial practices of the body on Thomas's Feast Day 217

Promoting the rightful ownership of Thomas's corpse 233

Thomas's Neapolitan memory 242

The importance of the matter 249.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-300) and index.

ISBN:

9789089648730

9089648739

OCLC:

944087334