Seeking Salvation
Commemorating the Dead in the Late-Medieval English Parish
Description:... The medieval Christian faithful believed that their souls had to be purified in Purgatory before they could enter Heaven. This ground-breaking volume, which covers the period c.1300?1558, examines the responses of English men and women in carrying out good works which would attract prayers so as to improve their chances of salvation. Evidence is in part drawn from the material remains of commemorative objects paid for by better-off members of society. They sought spiritual benefits not just by erecting tomb monuments but also through many other forms of 'memoria' to be found in our parish churches. Unfortunately, much was swept away by the iconoclasm which accompanied the Reformation. Such sources are therefore supplemented by documentary evidence, including wills, inventories and Middle English literary texts. Commemoration in this widest sense has hitherto attracted little scholarly interest in Great Britain. This cutting-edge volume sheds valuable new light on an aspect of medieval piety which is of increasing interest to scholars, and is accompanied by a generous spread of 96 pages of stunning colour photographs.
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