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Contested Canonizations: The Last Medieval Saints, 1482-1523
Pope John Paul II famously canonized more saints than all his predecessors combined. Several of these candidates were controversial. To this day there remain holy men and women "on the books" of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints whose canonization would provoke considerable debate. This was no less true during the period covered in this pioneering study by renowned medieval historian Ronald C. Finucane.
This work, which forms an important bridge between medieval and Counter-Reformation sanctity and canonization, provides a richly contextualized analysis of the ways in which the last five candidates for sainthood before the Reformation came to be canonized. Finucane uncovers the complex interplay of factors that lay behind the success of such campaigns; success that could never be taken for granted, even when the candidate's holy credentials appeared uncontroversial and his backers politically powerful.
Written by a master of the historical craft whose studies on miracles and popular religion for the high Middle Ages have long been an important point of reference for students, this work presents brilliantly reconstructed case studies of the last five successful canonization petitions of the Middle Bonaventure, Leopold of Austria, Francis of Paola, Antoninus of Florence, and Benno of Meissen.
ABOUT THE
Ronald Finucane died at the height of his critical powers in 2009, shortly after he submitted this work for publication. Distinguished professor of history at Oakland University, he was the author of four books including Miracles and Popular Beliefs in Medieval England and Soldiers of the Crusaders and Moslems at War, both History Book Club selections. This book was brought to publication by Simon Ditchfield, reader in history at the University of York.
PRAISE FOR THE
"In this meticulously researched and carefully structured study, Finucane establishes his work as a critical touchstone for future studies of canonization procedures and their revision in the early modern period."―David Collins, S.J., associate professor of history, Georgetown University "On the surface, the book is a meticulous, detailed but fairly traditional discussion of the processes, or politics, if you will, of saint-making. However, Finucane's use of a case study approach allows him to find important commonalities among successful canonization cases without losing the inevitable complexity involved in the pursuit of each one . . . There is a great deal to learn from this book." ―American Historical Review
This work, which forms an important bridge between medieval and Counter-Reformation sanctity and canonization, provides a richly contextualized analysis of the ways in which the last five candidates for sainthood before the Reformation came to be canonized. Finucane uncovers the complex interplay of factors that lay behind the success of such campaigns; success that could never be taken for granted, even when the candidate's holy credentials appeared uncontroversial and his backers politically powerful.
Written by a master of the historical craft whose studies on miracles and popular religion for the high Middle Ages have long been an important point of reference for students, this work presents brilliantly reconstructed case studies of the last five successful canonization petitions of the Middle Bonaventure, Leopold of Austria, Francis of Paola, Antoninus of Florence, and Benno of Meissen.
ABOUT THE
Ronald Finucane died at the height of his critical powers in 2009, shortly after he submitted this work for publication. Distinguished professor of history at Oakland University, he was the author of four books including Miracles and Popular Beliefs in Medieval England and Soldiers of the Crusaders and Moslems at War, both History Book Club selections. This book was brought to publication by Simon Ditchfield, reader in history at the University of York.
PRAISE FOR THE
"In this meticulously researched and carefully structured study, Finucane establishes his work as a critical touchstone for future studies of canonization procedures and their revision in the early modern period."―David Collins, S.J., associate professor of history, Georgetown University "On the surface, the book is a meticulous, detailed but fairly traditional discussion of the processes, or politics, if you will, of saint-making. However, Finucane's use of a case study approach allows him to find important commonalities among successful canonization cases without losing the inevitable complexity involved in the pursuit of each one . . . There is a great deal to learn from this book." ―American Historical Review
288 pages, Hardcover
First published September 28, 2011
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March 15, 2012
Who would have thought that reading about the canonization process for the last five saints canonized before the Reformation period would be so interesting. Finucane, who died before this book was published, has extensive background on the subject and performed extensive archival research to bring to light the inner workings of the Holy See's canonization process in the 15th and early 16th century.
I liked Finucane's balanced approach. While one learns about the importance of politics (both inside the Catholic community and outside) and economics in the canonization process, and Finucane stresses that sanctity, by itself, was not enough to get one canonized, he does not let this completely subsume the local communities desire to recognize one of their own as holy. He does this mainly by retelling the many vitas or published lives of saints as well as communicating the motivations behind the to-be saint's patrons.
It was fascinating to learn that some of the saint's canonizations were contested. Who would have thought that someone like Bonaventure, a fairly well-known Catholic saint, took centuries to canonize because of internal politics within the Franciscan Order. I also learned about a number of new saints and especially gained an appreciation for the German (or outside of Italy) saints.
There are a number of fascinating stories in the book - one of the best was hidden in a footnote. So if you read this book you will get a chuckle out of "one of the less salubrious" miracles of Francis of Paola found in note 52 in chapter four. And as someone who like German beer, I did not know that this Francis of Paola is name behind the famous Paulaner German brewery.
I liked Finucane's balanced approach. While one learns about the importance of politics (both inside the Catholic community and outside) and economics in the canonization process, and Finucane stresses that sanctity, by itself, was not enough to get one canonized, he does not let this completely subsume the local communities desire to recognize one of their own as holy. He does this mainly by retelling the many vitas or published lives of saints as well as communicating the motivations behind the to-be saint's patrons.
It was fascinating to learn that some of the saint's canonizations were contested. Who would have thought that someone like Bonaventure, a fairly well-known Catholic saint, took centuries to canonize because of internal politics within the Franciscan Order. I also learned about a number of new saints and especially gained an appreciation for the German (or outside of Italy) saints.
There are a number of fascinating stories in the book - one of the best was hidden in a footnote. So if you read this book you will get a chuckle out of "one of the less salubrious" miracles of Francis of Paola found in note 52 in chapter four. And as someone who like German beer, I did not know that this Francis of Paola is name behind the famous Paulaner German brewery.
Displaying 1 of 1 review