In the Middle Ages, it was thought that praying at the right shrine could save you from just about anything, from madness and famine to false imprisonment and even shipwreck. Kingdoms, cities, and even individual trades had patron saints who would protect them from misfortune and bring them wealth and prosperity, and their feast days were celebrated with public holidays and pageants. With saints believed to have the ear of God, veneration of figures such as Saint Thomas Becket, Saint Cuthbert, and Saint Margaret brought tens of thousands of pilgrims from all walks of life to sites across...
In the Middle Ages, it was thought that praying at the right shrine could save you from just about anything, from madness and famine to false impri...
What medieval wall paintings remain in English churches tend to be shadows of their former selves - rare fragments of art that have survived not only the Reformation, but successive waves of iconoclastic zeal and unsympathetic restoration. The whitewashed walls of most parish churches belie the riot of color and decoration that once adorned them, but the remnants of paintings tucked into corners or rescued from later layers of paint help us to understand the role of art in medieval religion. Roger Rosewell here offers a guide to the role played by medieval wall paintings, as religious,...
What medieval wall paintings remain in English churches tend to be shadows of their former selves - rare fragments of art that have survived not only ...