Saints, Shrines and Pilgrims

Description

For most of the Middle Ages people believed that saints could intercede with God to effect miraculous cures, save them from injustice and transform their lives for the better.  Devotion to figures such as St Thomas Beckett, St Cuthbert and St Katherine inspired rich and poor alike to fund glittering shrines and make hazardous pilgrimages across great distances. 

With the preaching of Christianity that followed the death of Jesus from around AD33, the Romans grew suspicious that this was a disloyal sect and sporadic waves of persecution erupted, especially during the rule of the emperors Nero (AD54-68) and Diocletian (AD284-305).  Those who survived these terrors martyred many of those who had died and this book explains who these saints were and the reasons why worshippers prayed to them.  Looking in detail at the main shrines across Britain and the important role that pilgrimage played in medieval life.  This book is a beautifully illustrated introduction to the world of religious wonder and miracles that flourished for hundreds of years before its destruction during the sixteenth century Reformations.