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Landscape with Two Saints Summary

Landscape with Two Saints: How Genovefa of Paris and Brigit of Kildare Built Christianity in Barbarian Europe by Lisa M. Bitel (Professor, Professor, University of Southern California)

At a time when Europeans still longed to be Roman and were just learning to be Christian, two extraordinary holy women-Genovefa of Paris (ca. 420-502) and Brigit of Kildare (ca. 450-524)-began to roam their homelands. One of these saints raised an apostolic church in the imperial city that would become Paris. The other scavenged fragments of that dwindling empire for the foundations of a grand Roman basilica built deep in barbarian territory. Both brought Christianity and romanitas (Roman-ness) to their people. By examining the ruins of their cities and churches, the workings of their cults, and the many generations of their devotees, Lisa Bitel shows how Brigit and Genovefa helped northern Europeans map new religion onto familiar landscapes. Landscape with Two Saints tells the twin stories of these charismatic women but also explains how ordinary people lived through religious change at the very beginning of the Middle Ages. Tales of ancient conversions on distant landscapes have much to teach us about lived and built religion, why people choose new beliefs, and how they act out those beliefs in meaningful ways. The combined history of Brigit and Genovefa explains not just how a couple of legendary peripatetic women could become targets of devotion, but how and where Europeans became Christian, and what it meant to them on a daily basis. The story of these two saintly cults-not just in the pages of manuscripts, but on the streets of cities, in the stones of cemeteries, and in the walls of churches-also demonstrates the pervasive influence of gender and ethnicity, as well as regional culture and material environment, on the whole process of religious change. Bitel contends that in the building blocks of their churches and the tracks they once traveled, Genovefa and Brigit show us what the written words of missionaries and theologians never can: the active participation of converts in the history of their own conversion.

Landscape with Two Saints Reviews

a creative, thought-provoking study that establishes the landscape as an element in understanding early medieval saints, especially the women whose achievements later generations of writers conspicuously diminished. * Joseph F. Kelly, The Journal of Church History *
an erudite and fascinating exposition of the Christianization of Europe and how it was shaped, physically and spiritually. * Dorothy Ann Bray, Speculum *
Bitel is a wonderful guide through this puzzling territory and her book does a superb job of placing the activities of her two saints into context ... This is a scholarly monograph but it is eminently approachable and has much to offer the general reader. * Jonathan Wright, Catholic Herald *
Bitel has taken on a commendable task in her study of landscape and sanctity and this comparative study adds a worthy dimension to our understanding of Irish and contental hagiography. * Elizabeth Dawson, Medieval Archaeology *

About Lisa M. Bitel (Professor, Professor, University of Southern California)

Lisa Bitel is Professor of History, Religion, and Gender Studies at the University of Southern California.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION: THE JOURNEY TO BRIGIT'S WELL

Additional information

GOR006821837
9780195336528
0195336526
Landscape with Two Saints: How Genovefa of Paris and Brigit of Kildare Built Christianity in Barbarian Europe by Lisa M. Bitel (Professor, Professor, University of Southern California)
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Oxford University Press Inc
2009-06-04
320
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Landscape with Two Saints