Saints and their miracles in late antique Gaul / Raymond Van Dam.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Van Dam, Raymond.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christian saints--Cult--France--History.

Christian saints.

Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages--France--Tours--History.

Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 349 pages) : map

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1993.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Saints' cults, with their focus on miraculous healings and pilgrimages, were not only a distinctive feature of Christian religion in fifth-and sixth-century Gaul but also a vital force in political and social life. Here Raymond Van Dam uses accounts of miracles performed by SS. Martin, Julian, and Hilary to provide a vivid and comprehensive depiction of some of the most influential saints' cults. Viewed within the context of ongoing tensions between paganism and Christianity and between Frankish kings and bishops, these cults tell much about the struggle for authority, the forming of communities, and the concept of sin and redemption in late Roman Gaul. Van Dam begins by describing the origins of the three cults, and discusses the career of Bishop Gregory of Tours, who benefited from the support of various patron saints and in turn promoted their cults. He then treats the political and religious dimensions of healing miracles--including their relation to Catholic theology and their use by bishops to challenge royal authority--and of pilgrimages to saints' shrines. The miracle stories, collected mainly by Gregory of Tours, appear in their first complete English translations.

Contents:

Front matter

CONTENTS

PREFACE

ABBREVIATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Part I.

CHAPTER ONE. Different Saints, Different Cults

CHAPTER TWO. Gregory of Tours and His Patron Saints

CHAPTER THREE. Bodily Miracles

CHAPTER FOUR. Pilgrimages and Miracle Stories

EPILOGUE

Part II: Translations

Fortunatus

Gregory of Tours

EDITIONS AND TRANSLATIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

MAP

INDEX

Notes:

Includes English translations of selections from Fortunatus and Gregory of Tours.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [323]-334) and index.

Contains:

Fortunatus, Venantius Honorius Clementianus, ca. 540-ca. 600. Selections. English. 1993.

Gregory, Bishop of Tours, Saint, 538-594. Selections. English. 1993.

ISBN:

9786613891181

9781400819317

1400819318

9781283578738

1283578735

9781400821143

1400821142

OCLC:

811491339