pt. I. Visionary Access. 1. Visionary Access in Christian Antiquity: The Making of Two Traditions. 2. Daniel's Heirs: Visionary Ascetics in Gaul -- pt. 2. Visions and Authority in the Merovingian Community. 3. Gregory of Tours: A Visionary Bishop. 4. Dreams and Visions at the Shrines of the Saints. 5. Visionary Journeys to the Otherworld -- pt. 3. Dreams and Visions in Merovingian Hagiography. 6. Visions and the Hagiographer in Merovingian Sources. 7. No Ordinary Visionary: St. Aldegund of Maubeuge -- App. A. Otherworld Visions and Apocalypses -- App. B. The Earliest Vitae of Aldegund of Maubeuge
Summary
"In early medieval Europe, dreams and visions were believed to reveal divine information about Christian life and the hereafter. No consensus existed, however, as to whether all Christians, or only a spiritual elite, were entitled to have a relationship of this sort with the supernatural. Drawing on a rich variety of sources - histories, hagiographies, ascetic literature, and records of dreams at saints' shrines - Isabel Moreira provides insight into a society struggling to understand and negotiate its religious visions."--Jacket
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-258) and index