Van Dam, Raymond.

Saints and Their Miracles in Late Antique Gaul. - 1 online resource (292 pages)

Cover -- Half title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Part I -- Chapter One Different Saints, Different Cults -- 1. The Cult of St. Martin -- 2. The Cult of St. Hilary -- 3. The Cult of St. Julian -- Chapter Two Gregory of Tours and His Patron Saints -- 1. Becoming a Bishop -- 2. Being a Bishop -- Chapter Three Bodily Miracles -- 1. Body and Community -- 2. Body and Power -- 3. Body and Theology -- Chapter Four Pilgrimages and Miracle Stories -- 1. Pilgrimages to Tours -- 2. "The Place Where His Body Is Now Honored" -- 3. Pilgrimages from Tours -- 4. Gregory's Vow -- Epilogue -- Part II Translations -- Fortunatus The Miracles of St. Hilary (= VH) -- Gregory of Tours The Suffering and Miracles of the Martyr St. Julian (= VJ) -- Appendix 1: The Suffering of the Martyr St. Julian (= Passio) -- Gregory of Tours The Miracles of the Bishop St. Martin (= VM 1-4) -- Appendix 2: A Sermon in Praise of St. Martin (= Sermo) -- Appendix 3: Inscriptions from the Martinellus -- Editions and Translations -- Bibliography -- Map -- Index.

Saints' cults, with their focus on miraculous healings and pilgrimages, were not only a distinctive feature of Christian religion in fifth-and sixth-century Gaul but also a vital force in political and social life. Here Raymond Van Dam uses accounts of miracles performed by SS. Martin, Julian, and Hilary to provide a vivid and comprehensive depiction of some of the most influential saints' cults. Viewed within the context of ongoing tensions between paganism and Christianity and between Frankish kings and bishops, these cults tell much about the struggle for authority, the forming of communities, and the concept of sin and redemption in late Roman Gaul. Van Dam begins by describing the origins of the three cults, and discusses the career of Bishop Gregory of Tours, who benefited from the support of various patron saints and in turn promoted their cults. He then treats the political and religious dimensions of healing miracles--including their relation to Catholic theology and their use by bishops to challenge royal authority--and of pilgrimages to saints' shrines. The miracle stories, collected mainly by Gregory of Tours, appear in their first complete English translations.

9781400821143


Christian pilgrims and pilgrimages -- France -- Tours -- History.
Christian saints -- Cult -- France -- History.


Electronic books.

BX4659.F8 -- V36 1993eb

235.20944

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