Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. History and the Supernatural in Medieval England
  • Cited by 24
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
June 2009
Print publication year:
2007
Online ISBN:
9780511496257
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496257
Subjects:
British History 1066-1450, British History: General Interest, History
Series:
Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series (66)
Information

Book description

This is a fascinating study of religious culture in England from 1050 to 1250. Drawing on the wealth of material about religious belief and practice that survives in the chronicles, Carl Watkins explores the accounts of signs, prophecies, astrology, magic, beliefs about death, and the miraculous and demonic. He challenges some of the prevailing assumptions about religious belief, questioning in particular the attachment of many historians to terms such as 'clerical' and 'lay', 'popular' and 'elite', 'Christian' and 'pagan' as explanatory categories. The evidence of the chronicles is also set in its broader context through explorations of miracle collections, penitential manuals, exempla and sermons. The book traces shifts in the way the supernatural was conceptualized by learned writers and the ways in which broader patterns of belief evolved during this period. This original account sheds important light on belief during a period in which the religious landscape was transformed.

Awards

Runner-up of The Katharine Briggs Award 2008

Reviews

Review of the hardback:'This important book is marked by sophisticated reflection, thorough and wide use of sources, and crisp writing. … Watkins's views are often persuasive as well as original, and they ought to provoke much discussion.'

Source: Church History

'History and the Supernatural in Medieval England is a welcome addition to the literature on twelfth-century culture and a stimulating intervention into debates about medieval religion and historiography … [Watkin's] discussion is unfailingly provocative, clear-eyed and engaging. Combined with the chapter studies of saints, magical powers, and the dead, this book has much to teach us; it should be required reading for anyone interested in these topics.'

Source: The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

Contents

Contents

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Total number of HTML views: 0
Total number of PDF views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

Book summary page views

Total views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.