[MR] New Book on Holy Relics

[Garth Groff]

Noble friends,

Just received at the UVA library system: HOLY BONES, HOLY DUST: HOW 
RELICS SHAPED THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE by Charles Freeman (ISBN 
9780300125719, our call # BX2333 .F74 2011). This important work traces 
the history of relics (delightfully described in the bibliographic 
record's summary as "holy morsels") and their influence on European 
culture from roughly the fall of Rome to 1600. While many books readily 
available in English deal almost exclusively with English/British/Irish 
saints, the work in hand ranges across Europe. The author discusses the 
papal drive for relics and some of the intrigues this provoked, the rise 
of various saint's cults, pilgrimages to view relics, and the eventual 
Protestant reaction to the relics industry. Though in skimming the book 
I found no mention of faked relics (such as pig bones passed off as 
those of real saints), the author does maintain a health skepticism 
about certain relics. For example, he mentions a pair of slippers 
attributed to the Virgin Mary, which he notes somehow showed no sign of 
wear. The text is enhanced with two maps and 16 pages of plates. As is 
usual with scholarly works, an extensive bibliography and index round 
out the book. As someone who is intrigued by saints, relics, and 
pilgrimages, this book will be going home with me for a thorough read.

Kind regards,


Lord Mungo Napier, That Crazy Scot
(aka Garth Groff, UVA Library cataloger)