04256nam 2200733 a 450 991077733130332120210610014850.00-8014-7467-110.7591/9780801474675(CKB)1000000000002263(OCoLC)70767624(CaPaEBR)ebrary10001773(SSID)ssj0000278837(PQKBManifestationID)11246045(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000278837(PQKBWorkID)10260504(PQKB)10403347(DE-B1597)534580(DE-B1597)9780801474675(MdBmJHUP)muse82967(Au-PeEL)EBL3137910(CaPaEBR)ebr10001773(OCoLC)1163878552(MiAaPQ)EBC3137910(EXLCZ)99100000000000226320001025d2000 uy 0engurcn|||||||||txtccrDreams, visions, and spiritual authority in Merovingian Gaul[electronic resource] /Isabel MoreiraIthaca Cornell University Press20001 online resource (276 p.)Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph0-8014-3661-3 Includes bibliographical references (p. 237-258) and index.Front matter --Contents --Acknowledgments --Abbreviations --Introduction --Part 1. Visionary Access --Part 2. Visions and Authority in the Merovingian Community --Part 3. Dreams and Visions in Merovingian Hagiography --Conclusion --Appendix A. Otherworld Visions and Apocalypses --Appendix B. The Earliest Vitae of Aldegund of Maubeuge --Selected Bibliography --IndexIn early medieval Europe, dreams and visions were believed to reveal divine information about Christian life and the hereafter. No consensus existed, however, as to whether all Christians, or only a spiritual elite, were entitled to have a relationship of this sort with the supernatural. Drawing on a rich variety of sources—histories, hagiographies, ascetic literature, and records of dreams at saints' shrines—Isabel Moreira provides insight into a society struggling to understand and negotiate its religious visions.More ira analyzes changing attitudes toward dreams and visionary experiences beginning in late antiquity, when the church hierarchy considered lay dreamers a threat to its claims of spiritual authority. Moreira describes how, over the course of the Merovingian period, the clergy came to accept the visions of ordinary folk—peasants, women, and children—as authentic. Dream literature and accounts of visionary experiences infiltrated all aspects of medieval culture by the eighth century, and the dreams of ordinary Christians became central to the clergy's pastoral concerns. Written in clear and inviting prose, this book enables readers to understand how the clerics of Merovingian Gaul allowed a Christian culture of dreaming to develop and flourish without compromising the religious orthodoxy of the community or the primacy of their own authority.MerovingiansReligionDreamsReligious aspectsChristianityHistory of doctrinesEarly church, ca. 30-600DreamsReligious aspectsChristianityHistory of doctrinesMiddle Ages, 600-1500Church historyPrimitive and early church, ca. 30-600Church historyMiddle Ages, 600-1500Christian hagiographyHistoryVisionsHistoryGaulChurch historyMerovingiansReligion.DreamsReligious aspectsChristianityHistory of doctrinesDreamsReligious aspectsChristianityHistory of doctrinesChurch historyChurch historyChristian hagiographyHistory.VisionsHistory.248.2/9Moreira Isabel478577ebrary, Inc.MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910777331303321Dreams, visions, and spiritual authority in Merovingian Gaul3742763UNINA