The Laity in the Middle Ages - (Professional Services) by André Vauchez (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In these lively and incisive essays André Vauchez explores the religious beliefs and devotional practices of laypeople in medieval Europe and grapples with some of the most difficult issues in medieval history: the nature of popular devotion, the role of religion in civic life, the sociology of religious attitudes and practices, and the relationship between the intersecting spheres of lay and clerical culture.

From the Back Cover

In these lively and incisive essays, Andre Vauchez, a leading French historian of medieval religious life, explores the religious beliefs and devotional practices of laypeople in medieval Europe. Vauchez's previous books established him as an authority on medieval sanctity. In The Laity in the Middle Ages he turns his attention to the various forms of devotion that flourished on the fringes of officially recognized sanctity. The recurrent theme is the struggle, never entirely successful, of the Christian laity to carve out for themselves a religious role that would confer spiritual dignity on the circumstances and concerns of their daily lives. This volume grapples with some of the most important and most difficult issues in medieval history: the nature of popular devotion, the role of religion in civic life, the sociology of religious attitudes and practices, and the relationship between the intersecting spheres of lay and clerical culture. The essays that examine how spiritual ideals of chastity shaped the social practice of marriage and how the intimate experiences of female visionaries and mystics impinged on the formal structure of the Church are a noteworthy addition to the rapidly growing body of literature on women in the Middle Ages.

Review Quotes

"A fundamental work for historians of Christianity." --Religious Studies Review

"The translation is on the whole elegant, capturing Vauchez's own luminous prose with considerable grace. The result is a text which makes the work of this major scholar accessible to beginning student and more seasoned researcher alike. The Laity in the Middle Ages is an invaluable witness to the work of a scholar who has done so much to awaken us to the complexities of the religious experience of the laity in the Middle Ages." --Catholic Historical Review

"This is not a volume on the general tenor of lay spirituality during specific centuries of medieval church life. It is basically a volume on particular and individual manifestations of intense holiness by specific lay Christians. The 'case histories' are both valuable and delightful reading." --Theological Studies

"Vauchez arguably is the leading scholar of medieval spirituality. This is an extremely important collection and we are fortunate that it is now available to an English-reading public." --Speculum

About the Author

André Vauchez is the former director of the French School in Rome and member of the Academy of Inscriptions and Letters, master of studies at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, and professor of medieval history at the University of Rouen (1980-1982) and at the University of Paris X Nanterre (1983-1995). He was awarded the Balzan Prize for Medieval History in 2013.

Daniel E. Bornstein is professor of history and religious studies and Stella K. Darrow Professor of Catholic Studies, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Margery J. Schneider is the translator of The End of the Past: Ancient Rome and the Modern West and Women and Religion in Medieval and Renaissance Italy.