false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1202961081m/2815500.jpg 2815500 1 The records of 'miracles' in the Middle Ages are among the most valuable and unexploited documents of medieval popular Christianity. Ronald Finucane's intensive historical detective-work, based on over 3000 posthumous miracles — the wonders attributed to saints after their deaths — has enabled him to piece together a fascinating account of the extent to which the world of pilgrims, miracles and faith-healing exerted its hold over the medieval imagination. Miracle-working at saints' shrines usually concerned curative healing. The book is rich in stories of crippled limbs crackling as they straightened during a miracle, "possessed" people on the rampage, the screams and groans preceding the moment when blind people could see again. Above all, Ronald Finucane makes important, new connections between the medical knowledge of the Middle Ages and the incidence of miracles; for the conditions of medieval life unquestionably reinforced the popular beliefs in wonder-working saints. The shrines examined include those of Thomas Becket, Thomas Cantilupe, William of Norwich, Godric of Finchale, Wulfstan, Frideswide, and Simon de Montfort. The events at these curative shrines provide a rare glimpse of the behaviour of medieval people at centres of popular religion and an indication of what sorts of people were involved, and why and how they made their journeys. This study is thus a major contribution to our understanding of medieval England, and goes a long way towards explaining why even today at Christian pilgrimage centres the shrivelled remains of saints are on display to crowds of eager visitors. Sixteen pages of plates The jacket illustration is a fifteenth-century woodcut of St. Anthony showing suspended votives, by courtesy of the Ashmolean Museum Oxford Ronald C. Finucane has written a number of scholarly articles on the subject of medicine and miracle. This book was completed while he was a Research Fellow in the Graduate Center for Medieval Studies at Reading University. 2841425 1977 Miracles and Pilgrims: Popular Beliefs in Medieval England total:2|4:1|1:1| 2 5 2 1 2815500 0460120190 9780460120197 2 1 2.50 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1202961081m/2815500.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2815500.Miracles_and_Pilgrims_Popular_Beliefs_in_Medieval_England 1 0 false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 10 08:36:21 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 08:58:31 -0800 2009 2815500 0460120190 9780460120197 2 1 2.50 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1202961081m/2815500.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2815500.Miracles_and_Pilgrims_Popular_Beliefs_in_Medieval_England 4 0 false Wed Feb 13 18:38:35 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 13 18:38:35 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2815500