The Radical Tradition: Saints in the Struggle for Justice and Peace

by Gilbert Márkus

The Radical Tradition is a lively and loving look at the lives of sixteen saints, some as famous as Thoma More and Teresa of Avila, and others as unknown as Canaire of Inis Cathaig and Roque Gonzalez. The common thread throughout this diverse group? A love of God, a personal devotion to follow His call, and a stoic acceptance of the risk of personal danger while doing so. Here are the stories of Hugh of Lincoln, who protected the Jews from the deadly pogroms of King Richard's England; Marguerite D'Youville--the first saint born on Canadian soil--who broke the rules of propriety for a woman of her day by administering a hospital that cared for the outcasts of Montreal society; and Magnus of Orkney, a Viking raider who one day decided he could no longer wage war on hapless innocents. No matter what one's faith, no matter what one's feelings about the benefit of social or political activism, The Radical Tradition is a book to challenge and update conventional assumptions about that special community of believers called saints.

Genres: Theology

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 1992

About the author

Gilbert Márkus works in the Department of Celtic and Gaelic at the University of Glasgow, researching History, Cultural History and History of Religion. Recent projects have included work on place-names and the cult of saints as data-sets for historical understanding.