John Crook
The Architectural Setting of the Cult of Saints in the Early Christian West C.300-1200 (Oxford Historical Monographs)
This study explores the way in which church architecture from the earliest centuries of Christianity has been shaped by holy bones - the physical remains or "relics" of those whom the Church venerated as saints. The Church's holy dead continued to exercise an influence on the living from beyond the grave, and their earthly remains provided a focus for prayer. The memoriae, house-churches and crypts of early Christian Rome; the elaborately decorated monuments containing the bodies of the bishops of Merovingian Gaul; the revival of ring crypts in the Carshingian empire; the crypts, "tomb-shrines", and later high shrines of medieval England, all demonstrate how the presence of a holy body within a church influenced its very architecture. This modern study offers insights into this aspect of medieval church architecture in western Europe.
Tim Tatton-Brown, Medieval Archaeology
"One of the great strengths of this book is the way in which the English sites are related to their forebears across the Channel ... thoroughly recommended"
Tim Tatton-Brown, Medieval Archaeology
"An excellent piece of work ... this book is also particularly welcome because nearly all the sites mentioned have been visited and their architecture and dating has been re-assessed"
Religious Studies Review
"Crook's meticulous study of the architectural manifestations of saintly virtues, from the earliest Roman 'tropaoin' to the Becket shrine at Canterbury, stands as an invaluable guide for both scholars and students"
Abigail Willis, Church Times
"Scholarly and comprehensive, the book combines a literary as well as an archaeological approach, and includes many useful ground plans and photographs by the author ... the depth and clarity of his research will reward specialists and students of the subject"
RRP £60.00 Hardcover
