Holy Bones, Holy Dust
How Relics Shaped the History of Medieval Europe
Relics affected everyone in medieval society. Saintly morsels such as bones, hair, teeth, and clothes, and items like the Crown of Thorns, coveted by Louis IX of France, were thought to bring the believer closer to the saint who might intercede with God on his or her behalf. In the first comprehensive history in English of the rise of relic cults, Charles Freeman takes readers on a vivid, fast-paced journey from Constantinople to the northern Isles of Scotland over the course of a millennium. In "Holy Bones, Holy Dust", Freeman illustrates that the pervasiveness and variety of relics answered very specific needs of ordinary people across a darkened Europe under threat of political upheavals, disease, and hellfire. But relics were not only venerated – they were traded, collected, lost, stolen, duplicated, and destroyed. They were bargaining chips, good business and good propaganda, politically appropriated across Europe, and even used to wield military power. Freeman examines an expansive array of relics in the broad social and cultural context of their age, showing how the mania for these objects deepens our understanding of the medieval world and why these relics continue to capture our imagination.
About the Author
Charles Freeman is a popular historian and specialist on the ancient world and its legacy. He has wide interests in the history of European culture and thought. He has worked on archaeological digs on all three continents surrounding the Mediterranean, was appointed Head of History at St Clare's, Oxford and has served as Academic Director of summer schools on Renaissance Italy. He teaches occasionally at Colleges of Further Education in Cambridge and East Anglia, and has developed study tour programmes in Italy, Greece and Turkey. He is the author of numerous books including the best-selling "The Closing of the Western Mind", "Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean" and "The Horses of St Marks".
Reviews
"'In Holy Bones, Holy Dust', Charles Freeman presents the massive history of relic veneration in a way that is at the same time comprehensive, compulsive and accessible. This is no mean achievement" – Paul Fouracre, "Frankland: The Franks and the World of Medieval Europe"
"Charles Freeman's new book is absorbing, wide-ranging and rigorous, while remaining constantly accessible. There is much original material here and many fresh insights; Freeman's eye for intriguing stories never wavers" – John Cornwell, author of "Newman's Unquiet Grave: the Reluctant Saint"
"This superbly put together and elegantly written book is the first proper history of the cult of relics from the early days to Counter-Reformation. Ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, this is a marvellous study" – Catholic Herald
"'Holy Bones, Holy Dust' offers a readable and ambitious panoramic history of medieval society, politics and religion, defined by the impetus of relics, saints cults and miraculous interventions occurring between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Reformation" – E. L Devlin, History Today
