Title
Saints, Infirmity, and Community in the Late Middle Ages Jenni Kuuliala.
Publication
Baltimore, Maryland : Project Muse, 2020
Manufacture
Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2020
Copyright Notice Date
©2020
Physical Description
1 online resource (235 pages)
Local Notes
Access is available to the Yale community.
Notes
Issued as part of book collections on Project MUSE.
Description based on print version record.
Access and use
Access restricted by licensing agreement.
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.
Variant and related titles
Project MUSE - 2020 Complete
Project MUSE - 2020 Philosophy and Religion
Other formats
Print version:
Added to Catalog
August 26, 2020
Series
Premodern health, disease and disability
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages [197]-228) and index.
Contents
Infirmitas leading to saintly life
Patientia and the borders of holy infirmity
Abstinence, devotional practices, and social control
Holy infirmity and the devotees.
Genre/Form
Electronic books.
Also listed under
Project Muse, distributor