Purgatory in early Christian and patristic thought -- Of sons and slaves : violence and correction in the afterlife -- O purgatorium caeleste! : purging body and soul at St. Martin's shrine -- Purgation in the sixth and seventh centuries -- Purgatory, penitentials, and the Irish question -- Purgatory in Bede and Boniface -- Missionary eschatology and the politics of certainty -- Barbarians, law codes, and purgatory
Summary
This book traces purgatory's roots in the texts and debates of late antiquity. Illuminating the varied perspectives on post-mortem purgation in late antiquity, Moreira challenges the conclusions of recent scholarship through an examination of the texts, communities and cultural ideas that informed purgatory's early history
