Saints, infirmity, and community in the late Middle Ages / Jenni Kuuliala.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kuuliala, Jenni, author.

Series:

Premodern health, disease and disability.

Premodern health, disease and disability

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christian saints--Diseases.

Christian saints.

Suffering--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Suffering.

Human body--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Human body.

Medicine, Medieval.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (235 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2020.

Summary:

Bodily suffering and patient, Christlike attitudes towards that suffering were among the key characteristics of sainthood throughout the medieval period. Drawing on new work in medieval dis/ability studies, this book analyses the meanings given to putative saints' bodily infirmities in late medieval canonization hearings. How was an individual saint's bodily ailment investigated in the inquests, and how did the witnesses (re)construct the saintly candidates' ailments? What meanings were given to infirmity when providing proofs for holiness? This study depicts holy infirmity as an aspect of sanctity that is largely defined within the community, in continual dialogue with devotees, people suffering from doubt, the holy person, and the cultural patterns ascribed to saintly life. Furthermore, it analyses how the meanings given to saints' infirmities influenced and reflected society's attitudes towards bodily ailments in general.

Contents:

Infirmitas leading to saintly life

Patientia and the borders of holy infirmity

Abstinence, devotional practices, and social control

Holy infirmity and the devotees.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 20 Nov 2020).

Includes bibliographical references (pages [197]-228) and index.

ISBN:

1-003-70324-0

90-485-3334-1

9781003703242

OCLC:

1181774758