Almost all the great medieval shrines disappeared at the Reformation, yet for several centuries they were the outward and visible sign of the spiritual benefits believed to flow from proximity to the saint's body, and an important witness to the spiritual life of the middle ages. They were the focal point of prayer and pilgrimage, but also a critical economic factor in the life of the church. This first study devoted to cathedral shrines draws on surviving cathedral records to describe their nature and development in England from around 1066 to 1540. The development of the shrine itself, the...