Description
Reviews
Heiko A. Oberman --University of Arizona "When this book was first published, it was hailed throughout Europe for its broad grasp of medieval religious history. Today it continues to be a frontline study because of its discriminate use of saintly legends, reported miracles, and records of a large variety of reform movements. In this way Adriaan Bredero succeeds in providing insight into medieval daily life and its sense of human life suspended between heaven and earth." John R. Sommerfeldt --University of Dallas "Adriaan Bredero's book is a monumental and largely successful attempt to synthesize a period of ten centuries in the intellectual and social life of the church. No doubt specialists will disagree with elements in that synthesis, but no serious reader will be able to ignore it, and few will fail to admire Bredero's effort. Though Bredero is a Catholic, he rejects any romanticizing of the medieval church and medieval society; he rather applies the highest standards of critical research to his topic." Uta-Renate Blementhal --Catholic University of America "I am very pleased that Adriaan Bredero's work is now available in English translation. His studies of the Cluniac and Cistercian orders and their interaction are well known in Europe, and medieval monasticism is a very popular topic among students. It is wonderful to have additional fine scholarship in this area." Robert Somerville --Columbia University "An informative study about medieval Latin Christianity and its relation both to the Roman Church and to medieval society at large. . . . No serious student of the Christian Church or the Middle Ages should ignore Bredero's results."