Corpus Christi

Overview

This book studies later medieval culture (c. 1150-1500) through its central symbol: the eucharist. From the twelfth century onward the eucharist was designed by the Church as the foremost sacrament. The claim that this ritual brought into presence Christ's own body, and offered it to believers, underpinned the sacramental system and the clerical meditation upon which it depended. The book explores the context in which the sacramental world was created and the cultural processes through which it was disseminated, interpreted and used. With attention to the variety of eucharistic meanings and practices, the book moves from the "design" of the eucharist in the twelfth century to its redesign in the sixteenth--a story of the emergence of a symbol, its use and interpretation and final transformation.

Details

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published

1991

Pages

432

Language

EN

Categories

History / Europe / General, History / Europe / Medieval, Religion / Christianity / History, Religion / Institutions & Organizations, Religion / Christian Rituals & Practice / Sacraments

ISBN-13

9780521438056