1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910795547003321

Autore

Cooper-Rompato Christine F. <1970->

Titolo

Spiritual Calculations : Number and Numeracy in Late Medieval English Sermons / / Christine Cooper-Rompato

Pubbl/distr/stampa

University Park, PA : , : The Pennsylvania State University Press, , [2021]

©2021

ISBN

0-271-09203-3

0-271-09204-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (205 pages)

Disciplina

230

Soggetti

Mathematics - Religious aspects - Christianity

Numeracy - Religious aspects - Christianity

Sermons, English (Middle) - History and criticism

Sermons, Medieval - England - History and criticism

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Intro -- COVER Front -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Notes to Introduction -- Chapter 1: Encountering the Divine Through Number in Middle English Sermons An Overview -- Notes to Chapter 1 -- Chapter 2: Numbers in Dives and Pauper and the Sermons of Warminster, Longleat House MS 4 Models for Spiritual Understanding and Practice -- Notes to Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3: "Knowing Thyself " and God Through Number in Jacob's Well -- Notes to  Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4: Quantitative Reasoning in the Latin Sermons of Robert Rypon in London,British Library, MS Harley 4894 -- Notes to Chapter 4 -- Notes -- Bibliography -- index.

Sommario/riassunto

Medieval English sermons teem with examples of quantitative reasoning, ranging from the arithmetical to the numerological, and regularly engage with numerical concepts. Examining sermons written in Middle English and Latin, this book reveals that popular English-speaking audiences were encouraged to engage in a wide range of numerate operations in their daily religious practices.Medieval sermonists promoted numeracy as a way for audiences to appreciate divine truth. Their sermons educated audiences in a hybrid form of



numerate practice—one that relied on individuals’ pragmatic quantitative reasoning, which, when combined with spiritual interpretations of numbers provided by the preacher, created a deep and rich sense in which number was the best way to approach the sacred mysteries of the world as well as to learn how one could best live as a Christian. Analyzing both published and previously unpublished sermons and sermon cycles, Christine Cooper-Rompato explores the use of numbers, arithmetic, and other mathematical operations to better understand how medieval laypeople used math as a means to connect with God.Spiritual Calculations enhances our understanding of medieval sermons and sheds new light on how receptive audiences were to this sophisticated rhetorical form. It will be welcomed by scholars of Middle English literature, medieval sermon studies, religious experience, and the history of mathematics.