The Cults of Sainte Foy and the Cultural Work of Saints

In her book, Kathleen Ashley examines the cults of the medieval Sainte Foy at various sites across Europe, using a comparative approach and interdisciplinary methods to analyze how each cult site produced the saint it needed. The book explores the historical and geographical range of the cult, from the early Middle Ages to the present day, and includes a historiographical analysis of how the cults have been represented in historical accounts. It challenges the boundary between elite and popular culture and emphasizes the role of art objects in constructing a saints cult. The volume is heavily illustrated with artifacts such as stained-glass windows and wall paintings, making it of interest to scholars in art history, medieval history, gender studies, and religion.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 210 pages
Publication date: 25 September 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Bringing together artifacts, texts, and practices within an interpretive framework that stresses the cultural work performed by saints, Kathleen Ashley presents a comparative study of the cults of the medieval Sainte Foy at a number of the sites where she was especially venerated. This book analyzes how each cult site produced the saint it needed, appropriating or creating whatever was required to that end. Ashley's approach is thoroughly interdisciplinary, incorporating visual, religious, medieval, and women's and gender studies as well as literary studies and social history. She uses the theoretical framework of cultural work to analyze how the cult of Sainte Foy was sponsored and received by specific groups in different locales in Europe. The book is comprehensive in terms of historical as well as geographical range, tracing the history of the cult from the early Middle Ages into the present day. It also includes historiographical analysis, examining the way the cults of Sainte Foy have been represented in various historical accounts. Ashley's narrative challenges the boundary between elite and popular culture and complicates the traditional vernacular vs. Latin language binary. A chief aim of the study is to show how art objects always operated in conjunction with other cultural texts to construct a saint's cult. The volume is heavily illustrated, showing artifacts such as stained-glass windows and wall paintings which are not readily available from any other source. This book will be of special interest to scholars in art history, medieval history, gender studies, and religion.

Dimension: 246 x 174 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032014609