| Description |
1 online resource (xv, 261 pages) : illusrations |
| Series |
Oxford Theology and Religion Monographs |
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Oxford theology and religion monographs.
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| Contents |
Cover; Angels in Early Medieval England; Copyright; Acknowledgements; Contents; List of Illustrations; Abbreviations and Short Titles; Introduction; Part I: Past Opinions; 1: Filling the Silence of the Bible; IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE FATHERS?; THINKING ABOUT ANGELS IN AN AGE OF REFORM; 2: The Meanings of Angels; FINDING MEANING IN ANGLO-SAXON STONE SCULPTURE; LIVING THE VITA ANGELICA; THE LOSS OF PERFECTION; Part II: Unseen Worlds; 3: The Changing Fortunes of the Guardian Angel; THE SAVED AND THE DAMNED; THE TWO SPIRITS; INCONSTANCY; 4: The Rules of the Otherworld; BREAKING THE RULES OF DEATH |
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THE ROAD OUT OF LIFETHE CHOSEN FEW; THE SILENT UNDERTAKERS; Part III: Losing Beliefs; 5: The Servants of the Saints; THE PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS OF ANGELSAND HOLY MEN; THE BURDEN OF PROOF; THE RHYTHM OF THE SAINTS; 6: Prayer, Benediction, and the Edges of Beliefs; THE APPEARANCE OF UNORTHODOXY; NAMES FROM THE PAST; THE EFFECTS OF LITURGICAL PRAYER; Postscript; Bibliography; Manuscripts; Printed Primary Sources; Secondary Works; Unpublished Theses; Index |
| Summary |
In the modern world, angels can often seem to be no more than a symbol, but in the Middle Ages men and women thought differently. Some offered prayers intended to secure the angelic assistance for the living and the dead; others erected stone monuments carved with images of winged figures; and still others made angels the subject of poetic endeavour and theological scholarship. This wealth of material has never been fully explored, and was once dismissed as the detritus of a superstitious age. Angels in Medieval England offers a different perspective, by using angels as a prism through which to study the changing religious culture of an unfamiliar age. Focusing on one corner of medieval Europe which produced an abundance of material relating to angels, Richard Sowerby investigates the way that ancient beliefs about angels were preserved and adapted in England during the Anglo-Saxon period. Between the sixth century and the eleventh, the convictions of Anglo-Saxon men and women about the world of the spirits underwent a gradual transformation. This book is the first to explore that transformation, and to show the ways in which the Anglo-Saxons tried to reconcile their religious inheritance with their own perspectives about the world, human nature, and God |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-249) and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Angels -- Christianity.
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Spirituality -- History -- Middle Ages, 600-1500.
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RELIGION -- Christian Theology -- Angelology & Demonology.
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HISTORY -- Europe -- Medieval.
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Spirituality -- Middle Ages
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Angels -- Christianity
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| SUBJECT |
Great Britain -- Church history -- 449-1066.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85056611
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| Subject |
Great Britain
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| Genre/Form |
History
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Church history
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780191827303 |
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0191827304 |
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0191088110 |
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9780191088117 |
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