To obtain sacred relics, medieval monks plundered tombs, avaricious merchants raided churches, and relic-mongers scoured the Roman catacombs. In a revised editi

Since Late Antiquity, relics have provided a privileged spiritual bond between life and death, between human beings and divinity. Royalty, nobility and clergy a

Whereas modern societies tend to banish the dead from the world of the living, medieval men and women accorded them a vital role in the community. The saints co

Intriguing dreams, improbable myths, fanciful genealogies, and suspect etymologies. These were all key elements of the historical texts composed by scholars and

Annotated bibliography covering two centuries of scholarly criticism on the extensive corpus of medieval saints' legends. with the assistance of Margaret Rogers