Patrons and Defenders: Saints in the Italian City-state

by Diana Webb

Overview

The Cult of the Saints played a vital role in the political life of Italian city states in the Middle Ages. The saints were a unifying force for a city, and brought prestige and power to its rulers, therefore the Cult of the Saints was bound up with the civic agenda, and worship was politically charged. Laymen - able men of affairs, orthodox and "kirchentreu", increasingly assumed responsibility for ensuring that "celestial guarantees" were obtained for a city's well-being, despite the traditionally powerful influence of the church. This book is therefore not a hagiography, but an intensely political study of an age in which religious experience was seen as part of everyday life, and in which it seemed natural to medieval politicians to involve the saints in politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350183575
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/23/2021
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Diana Webb was Senior Lecturer in History at Kings College London, UK. Her previous books include Patrons and Defenders: the Saints in the Italian City States (1996); Pilgrims and Pilgrimage in Medieval Europe (1999); Pilgrimage in Medieval England (2000); Medieval European Pilgrimage (2002); and Saints and Cities in Medieval Italy (2006).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Part 1 - Preliminary: The Cities and their Saints before 1200
1. Before the Commune
2. Saints and Citizens in the Twelfth Century
Part 2 - The Cult in Action
3. Saints and Statutes
4. Building the Pantheon
5. Rulers, Rites and Relics
Part 3 - Siena City of the Virgin
6. The Virgin of Montaperti
7. Virgin with Saints
8. Advocates of Order
Conclusion
Select Bibliography
Index