Overview
The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Christianity takes as its subject the beliefs, practices, and institutions of the Christian Church between 400 and 1500AD. It addresses topics ranging from early medieval monasticism to late medieval mysticism, from the material wealth of the Church to the spiritual exercises through which certain believers might attempt to improve their souls. Each chapter tells a story, but seeks also to ask how and why 'Christianity' took particular forms at particular moments in history, paying attention to both the spiritual and otherwordly aspects of religion, and the material and political contexts in which they were often embedded.This Handbook is a landmark academic collection that presents cutting-edge interpretive perspectives on medieval religion for a wide academic audience, drawing together thirty key scholars in the field from the United States, the UK, and Europe. Notably, the Handbook is arranged thematically, and focusses on an analytical, rather than narrative, approach, seeking to demonstrate the variety, change, and complexity of religion throughout this long period, and the numerous different ways in which modern scholarship can approach it. While providing a very wide-ranging view of the subject, it also offers an important agenda for further study in the field.
Full Product Details
Author: John H. Arnold (Professor of Medieval History, Professor of Medieval History, Birkbeck, University of London)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 18.10cm
, Height: 4.10cm
, Length: 25.30cm
Weight: 1.206kg
ISBN: 9780199582136
ISBN 10: 0199582130
Pages: 596
Publication Date: 21 August 2014
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
this book is to be welcomed; and most of the essays are, individually, excellent in content. Thomas O'Loughlin, Reviews in History Handbooks are not normally thought to be stimulating works of scholarship, but this one surely is ... It should be on the shelf of every historian of medieval Christianity. Church History and Religious Culture
this book is to be welcomed; and most of the essays are, individually, excellent in content. Thomas O'Loughlin, Reviews in History
Author Information
John H. Arnold studied at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York, and worked first at UEA and then at Birkbeck, University of London. He became Professor of Medieval History at Birkbeck in 2007. He is author of various books and articles on medieval history, and has published also on modern historiography and the history of gender.
