Allies in heaven
The intense devotion given to the legion of Christian saints in the Middle Ages can only be explained in terms of a society which preferred to put its trust not in forms of government, nor even in princes, but in a select band of holy men and women who could intervene on its behalf with God himself.
Christ's own immediate disciples, and increasingly his mother, the Virgin Mary, were regarded by the 12th century Church as the most powerful of all saintly intercessors. However, the increasing popularity of shrines and statues of Our Lady did nothing to lessen popular enthusiasm for a host of local saints, whose spiritual influence was often thought to be all the greater if he or she was closely associated with one particular place or region. The body, or corsaint, of St Cuthbert at Durham Cathedral priory continued to be the most popular relic in the north of England, even when its miracle-working powers had been eclipsed by those of St Thomas Becket after his martyrdom at Canterbury in 1170.
In was important to Becket's unparalleled position as England's leading saint that not only did he gain a large popular following immediately after his death, but that Pope Alexander III canonized him so soon, and at a time when most people in western Europe finally accepted the papal claim that no one should be venerated as a saint without the authority of the Roman Church. From then on, it was harder to become a duly canonized saint, although popular respect for saints already in being did not diminish.
assets of a house of worship. Abbeys and churches vied with each other to acquire bones, fragments of cloth, parts of a saint's body or any personal possessions that might be a focus for prayer, and even work miracles. Well-known saints were given jewelled and marble reliquaries while lesser saints were often honoured with simpler reliquaries, carved, like this one in Cunault church, out of local stone and wood. |