The Cambridge History of Christianity

During the early middle ages, Europe developed complex and varied Christian cultures, and from about 1100 secular rulers, competing factions and inspired individuals continued to engender a diverse and ever-changing mix within Christian society. This volume explores the wide range of institutions, practices and experiences associated with the life of European Christians in the later middle ages. The clergy of this period initiated new approaches to the role of priests, bishops and popes, and developed an ambitious project to instruct the laity. For lay people, the practices of parish religion were central, but many sought additional ways to enrich their lives as Christians. Impulses towards reform and renewal periodically swept across Europe, led by charismatic preachers and supported by secular rulers. This book provides accessible accounts of these complex historical processes and entices the reader towards further enquiry.

Introduction; Part I. Intimations of Change, 1100–1200: 1. Clerical purity and the re-ordered world Henrietta Leyser; 2. The Bishops of Rome, 1100–1300 Anthony Perron; 3. Religious poverty and the search for perfection Beverly Mayne Kienzle; 4. Monastic and religious orders, c.1100–c.1350 Brian Patrick McGuire; Part II. Forging a Christian World, 1200–1300: 5. The theological framework, 1200–1300 Lesley Smith; 6. The legal underpinnings, c.1050–c.1300 Anders Winroth; 7. The material support, 1200–1300 Brigitte Resl; 8. Material support 1200–1300: the monastic and religious orders Janet Burton; 9. The Word and its diffusion Katherine Jansen; Part III. The Erection of Essential Boundaries: 10. The erection of essential boundaries: Christians and Jews Ora Limor; 11. Christendom and Islam David Nirenberg; 12. Christians and heretics Peter Biller; 13. Women and men Megan McLaughlin; 14. Heaven, hell, and purgatory: 1100–1500 Alan E. Bernstein; Part IV. Shapes of a Christian World: 15. Sacramental life Miri Rubin; 16. Religious soundscapes: liturgy and music Susan Boynton; 17. Images in the world: reading the crucifixion Sara Lipton; 18. Mary Rachel Fulton; 19. Mysticism and transcendence Amy Hollywood; Part V. Transience: 20. On the margins of religious life: hermits and recluses, penitents and tertiaries, beguines and beghards Walter Simons; 21. Saints and pilgrimages: new and old (1100–1500) André Vauchez; 22. Crusade and conquest Marcus Bull; Part VI. The Challenges to a Christian Society: 23. Repression and power John Arnold; 24. Faith and the intellectuals (I) Joseph Ziegler; 25. Faith and the intellectuals (II) Michael Stolz; Part VII. Reform and Renewal: 26. Empowerment through reading, writing and example: the Devotio Modern Koen Goudriaan; 27. The invasion of demons in the Christian community Alain Boureau; 28. Wycliffism and Lollardy Kantik Ghosh; 29. Observant reform in the late medieval religious orders Bert Roest; 30. Public purity and discipline: states and religious renewal Roberto Rusconi; 31. The Bible in the fifteenth century Christopher Ocker.

Miri Rubin is Professor of Medieval History at Queen Mary, University of London. Her most recent publications include A Sort of God: A History of the Virgin Mary (2009), The Hollow Crown: A History of Britain in the Late Middle Ages (2005) and Love, Friendship and Faith in Europe 1300–1800 (2005) co-edited with Laura Gowing and Michael Hunter.
Walter Simons is Associate Professor in the Department of History, Dartmouth College. He is author of Cities of Ladies: Beguine Communities in the Medieval Low Countries 1200–1565 and co-editor of Ludo J. R. Milis, Religion, Culture and Mentalities in the Medieval Low Countries: Selected Essays (2005) with Jeroen Deploige, Martine De Reu and Steven Vanderputten and The Productivity of Urban Space in Northern Europe with Peter Arnade and Martha Howell (2002).