Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent unused condition. No notes or highlighting. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> As he demonstrates with insight ar it was a new development in the ancient world to find the meeting place of heaven and earth located at the grave of a dead person and this new cult broke down mental barriers widespread in the Mediter- ranean world for more than a thousand years joining categories and places which had usually been meticulously contrasted. The cult of the saints has many facets and the story of its rise involves many factors. Peter Brown shows how it led for example to a virtual battle over ideological control of graveyards so that bishops sought to have a role in what had once been a family affair. Martyrdom contributed to the recognition of ‘very special dead’ with whom particular powers were associated. Relics of these dead were much sought after and their movement is a reflection of patterns of patronage and alliance; it could even lead to social upheaval. And as time went on the shrine could become a fixed point where the excercise of power could be played out in acts of healing exorcism and rough justice. (LL)