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The Resource Wonderful to relate : miracle stories and miracle collecting in high medieval England, Rachel Koopmans

Wonderful to relate : miracle stories and miracle collecting in high medieval England, Rachel Koopmans

Creator
Author
Summary
While the late Anglo-Saxons rarely recorded saints' posthumous miracles, a shift occurred as monastic writers of the late eleventh and twelfth centuries started to preserve hundreds of the stories they had heard of healings, acts of vengeance, resurrections, recoveries, and other miraculous deeds effected by their local saints. Indeed, Rachel Koopmans contends, the miracle collection quickly became a defining genre of high medieval English monastic culture. Koopmans surveys more than seventy-five collections and offers a new model for understanding how miracle stories were generated, circulated, and replicated. She argues that orally exchanged narratives carried far more propagandistic power than those preserved in manuscripts; stresses the literary and memorial roles of miracle collecting; and traces changes in form and content as the focus of the collectors shifted from the stories told by religious colleagues to those told by lay visitors to their churches. "Wonderful to Relate" highlights the importance of the two massive collections written by Benedict of Peterborough and William of Canterbury in the wake of the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170. Koopmans provides the first in-depth examination of the creation and influence of the Becket compilations, often deemed the greatest of all medieval miracle collections. In a final section, she ponders the decline of miracle collecting in the thirteenth century, which occurred with the advent of formalized canonization procedures and theological means of engaging with the miraculous. -- Book jacket
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
1 online resource (viii, 337 pages)
Note
OldControl:muse9780812206999
Contents
  • I take up the burden : Benedict of Peterborough's examination of Becket's miracles
  • Choose what you will : William of Canterbury and the heavenly door
  • Conclusion : the end of miracle collecting
  • Appendices :
  • 1.
  • Manuscripts of the Christ Church miracle collections for Thomas Becket
  • 2.
  • The construction of Benedict of Peterborough's Miracula S. Thomae
  • 3.
  • The construction of William of Canterbury's Miracula S. Thomae
  • Narrating the saint's works : conversations, personal stories, and the making of cults
  • To experience what I have heard : plotlines and patterning of oral miracle stories
  • A drop from the ocean's waters : Lantfred of Fleury and the cult of Swithun at Winchester
  • Fruitful in the house of the Lord : the early miracle collections of Goscelin of St.-Bertin
  • They ought to be written : Osbern of Canterbury and the first English miracle collectors
  • Obvious material for writing : Eadmer of Canterbury and the miracle-collecting boom
  • What the people bring : miracle collecting in the mid- to late twelfth century
  • Most blessed martyr : Thomas Becket's murder and the Christ Church collections
Isbn
9780812206999
Instance
Label
Wonderful to relate : miracle stories and miracle collecting in high medieval England
Title
Wonderful to relate
Title remainder
miracle stories and miracle collecting in high medieval England
Statement of responsibility
Rachel Koopmans
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
While the late Anglo-Saxons rarely recorded saints' posthumous miracles, a shift occurred as monastic writers of the late eleventh and twelfth centuries started to preserve hundreds of the stories they had heard of healings, acts of vengeance, resurrections, recoveries, and other miraculous deeds effected by their local saints. Indeed, Rachel Koopmans contends, the miracle collection quickly became a defining genre of high medieval English monastic culture. Koopmans surveys more than seventy-five collections and offers a new model for understanding how miracle stories were generated, circulated, and replicated. She argues that orally exchanged narratives carried far more propagandistic power than those preserved in manuscripts; stresses the literary and memorial roles of miracle collecting; and traces changes in form and content as the focus of the collectors shifted from the stories told by religious colleagues to those told by lay visitors to their churches. "Wonderful to Relate" highlights the importance of the two massive collections written by Benedict of Peterborough and William of Canterbury in the wake of the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170. Koopmans provides the first in-depth examination of the creation and influence of the Becket compilations, often deemed the greatest of all medieval miracle collections. In a final section, she ponders the decline of miracle collecting in the thirteenth century, which occurred with the advent of formalized canonization procedures and theological means of engaging with the miraculous. -- Book jacket
Member of
Cataloging source
CN8ML
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Koopmans, Rachel
Dewey number
820.9
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
Index
index present
Language note
In English
LC call number
PR255
LC item number
.K66 2011
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
  • dictionaries
  • bibliography
Series statement
The Middle Ages Series
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Miracles
  • Christian saints
  • Literature and society
  • Monastic and religious life
  • Literary form
  • English literature
  • LITERARY CRITICISM
  • Christian saints
  • English literature
  • Literary form
  • Literature and society
  • Miracles
  • Monastic and religious life
  • England
  • Wonderen
  • Engelse handschriften
  • Vertelkunst
  • Hagiografie
  • Engeland
  • Mittelenglisch
  • Mirakel
  • Mysterienspiel
  • Literatur
  • Mirakel
  • Mysterienspiel
  • Heiligenvita
  • Mittelenglisch
Label
Wonderful to relate : miracle stories and miracle collecting in high medieval England, Rachel Koopmans
Instantiates
Publication
Note
OldControl:muse9780812206999
Antecedent source
not applicable
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-319) and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
  • I take up the burden : Benedict of Peterborough's examination of Becket's miracles
  • Choose what you will : William of Canterbury and the heavenly door
  • Conclusion : the end of miracle collecting
  • Appendices :
  • 1.
  • Manuscripts of the Christ Church miracle collections for Thomas Becket
  • 2.
  • The construction of Benedict of Peterborough's Miracula S. Thomae
  • 3.
  • The construction of William of Canterbury's Miracula S. Thomae
  • Narrating the saint's works : conversations, personal stories, and the making of cults
  • To experience what I have heard : plotlines and patterning of oral miracle stories
  • A drop from the ocean's waters : Lantfred of Fleury and the cult of Swithun at Winchester
  • Fruitful in the house of the Lord : the early miracle collections of Goscelin of St.-Bertin
  • They ought to be written : Osbern of Canterbury and the first English miracle collectors
  • Obvious material for writing : Eadmer of Canterbury and the miracle-collecting boom
  • What the people bring : miracle collecting in the mid- to late twelfth century
  • Most blessed martyr : Thomas Becket's murder and the Christ Church collections
Control code
794700709
Extent
1 online resource (viii, 337 pages)
Form of item
online
Isbn
9780812206999
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Other control number
10.9783/9780812206999
Other physical details
illustrations, maps
Quality assurance targets
not applicable
Reformatting quality
not applicable
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)794700709
Label
Wonderful to relate : miracle stories and miracle collecting in high medieval England, Rachel Koopmans
Publication
Note
OldControl:muse9780812206999
Antecedent source
not applicable
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-319) and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
  • I take up the burden : Benedict of Peterborough's examination of Becket's miracles
  • Choose what you will : William of Canterbury and the heavenly door
  • Conclusion : the end of miracle collecting
  • Appendices :
  • 1.
  • Manuscripts of the Christ Church miracle collections for Thomas Becket
  • 2.
  • The construction of Benedict of Peterborough's Miracula S. Thomae
  • 3.
  • The construction of William of Canterbury's Miracula S. Thomae
  • Narrating the saint's works : conversations, personal stories, and the making of cults
  • To experience what I have heard : plotlines and patterning of oral miracle stories
  • A drop from the ocean's waters : Lantfred of Fleury and the cult of Swithun at Winchester
  • Fruitful in the house of the Lord : the early miracle collections of Goscelin of St.-Bertin
  • They ought to be written : Osbern of Canterbury and the first English miracle collectors
  • Obvious material for writing : Eadmer of Canterbury and the miracle-collecting boom
  • What the people bring : miracle collecting in the mid- to late twelfth century
  • Most blessed martyr : Thomas Becket's murder and the Christ Church collections
Control code
794700709
Extent
1 online resource (viii, 337 pages)
Form of item
online
Isbn
9780812206999
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Other control number
10.9783/9780812206999
Other physical details
illustrations, maps
Quality assurance targets
not applicable
Reformatting quality
not applicable
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)794700709

Subject

Genre

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