Between Lay Piety And Academic Theology

The contributions reflect a broad range of interdisciplinary research interests in the field of lay piety and learned theology in the Middle Ages, Reformation, and Later Times as well as their representation through certain media such as book printing.

Protestant reformers sought to effect a radical change in the way their contemporaries understood and coped with the suffering of body and soul that were so prominent in the early modern period. The reformers did so because they believed that many traditional approaches to suffering were not sufficiently Christian--that is, they thought these approaches were unbiblical. The Reformation of Suffering examines the Protestant reformation of suffering and shows how it was a central part of the larger Protestant effort to reform church and society. Despite its importance, no other text has directly examined this reformation of suffering. This book investigates the history of Christian reflection on suffering and consolation in the Latin West and places the Protestant reformation campaign within this larger context, paying close attention to important continuities and discontinuities between Catholic and Protestant traditions. Focusing especially on Wittenberg Christianity, The Reformation of Suffering examines the genesis of Protestant doctrines of suffering among the leading reformers and then traces the transmission of these doctrines from the reformers to the common clergy. It also examines the reception of these ideas by lay people. The text underscores the importance of consolation in early modern Protestantism and seeks to challenge a scholarly trend that has emphasized the themes of discipline and control in Wittenberg Christianity. It shows how Protestant clergymen and burghers could be remarkably creative and resourceful as they sought to convey solace to one another in the midst of suffering and misfortune. The Protestant reformation of suffering had a profound impact on church and society in the early modern period and contributed significantly to the shape of the modern world.

This book is at the interface between Visual Studies and Biblical Studies, and is the only monograph to date on St Paul's visual piety. Heath argues that biblical scholarship has downplayed this-worldly visuality in Christian culture, and that the exegesis of Paul is both a partial cause and a symptom of this 'disciplinary blind-spot'.

The late Middle Ages provide us with a fascinating religious landscape. The quest for new religious ideals and intense spirituality can be observed in movements such as the Modern Devotion and the Franciscan Observance, marking the late fourteenth and fifteenth century with new institutional dynamics and the formation of a variety of religious communities. The dissemination of these new religious ideas and ideals profited from the advent of the printing press. It is these subjects that Koen Goudriaan, professor of Medieval History at VU University Amsterdam, has studied for decades. This volume, edited by Anna Dlabačová and Ad Tervoort, presents a collection of eleven of his best essays. It focuses on three themes: the institutional parameters of late medieval religious movements, the cult of remembrance, and the interaction between religious movements and the early printing press. Together, these essays provide a representative sample of Goudriaan’s substantial contribution to scholarship on late medieval history.

In Blessing the World, Derek A. Rivard studies liturgical blessing and its role in the religious life of Christians during the central and later Middle Ages, with a particular focus on the blessings of the Franco-Roman liturgical tradition from the tenth to late thirteenth centuries.

This text examines the genesis of Protestant doctrines of suffering among the leading reformers and then traces the transmission of these doctrines from the reformers to the common clergy. It also examines the reception of these ideas by lay people.

Winner of the Medieval Academy of America's 2013 John Nicholas Brown Prize!

The degree to which the English Protestant Reformation was a reflection of genuine popular piety as opposed to a political necessity imposed by the country's rulers has been a source of lively historical debate in recent years. Whilst numerous arguments and documentary sources have been marshalled to explain how this most fundamental restructuring of English society came about, most historians have tended to divide the sixteenth century into pre and post-Reformation halves, reinforcing the inclination to view the Reformation as a watershed between two intellectually and culturally opposed periods. In contrast, this study takes a longer and more integrated approach. Through the prism of charity and lay piety, as expressed in the wills and testaments taken from selected London parishes, it charts the shifting religious ideas about salvation and the nature and causes of poverty in early modern London and England across a hundred and twenty year period. Studying the evolution of lay piety through the long stretch of the period 1500 to 1620, Claire Schen unites pre-Reformation England with that which followed, helping us understand how 'Reformations' or a 'Long Reformation' happened in London. Through the close study of wills and testaments she offers a convincing cultural and social history of sixteenth century Londoners and their responses to religious innovations and changing community policy.