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The temptation of saints in Latin narrative: England, France, and the Low Countries, 1100-1230 by Adina S. Goldstein is a nonfiction available to read on EtoBox.

What is The temptation of saints in Latin narrative: England, France, and the Low Countries, 1100-1230 about?

This dissertation examines a series of twelfth- and early thirteenth-century narratives in which holy men and women are tempted and tormented by what they and the shapers and readers of their life stories understood to be the devil. By analyzing the social and cultural conditions that brought about the creation of particular relationships between saints and the devil, it looks beyond the hagiographic topos of the saint defeating the “ancient enemy” in the “desert” to the particulars of the “desert” for each holy person. These episodes can reveal aspects of medieval religious life that may otherwise be ignored within the set pattern of a saint’s life (conversion, temptation, victory over the devil). By replacing “the devil” with the concept of struggle or crisis, the temptation stories become charged moments in a life when new relationships are formed and old relationships changed— points at which the status quo is threatened. Several models of how this works emerge. The hagiographer may focus on an individual’s spiritual development through his relationship with the devil. In these vitae, the inner life of the saint is critical and the devil will build up his attacks as internal to

Who reads The temptation of saints in Latin narrative: England, France, and the Low Countries, 1100-1230?

Author

Adina S. Goldstein

Publisher

City University of New York

Published

2009

Language

EN

Category

nonfiction

Subjects

Fiction, Literary Fiction