Book cover for Ghosts in the Middle Ages: The Living and the Dead in Medieval Society by Jean-Claude Schmitt

Ghosts in the Middle Ages

The Living and the Dead in Medieval Society

1999 Released
298 Pages
4-6 Hours
Ebook Unavailable
Audiobook Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
University of Chicago PressISBN 9780226738888
Translated by Teresa Lavender Fagan
Through this vivid study, Jean-Claude Schmitt examines medieval religious culture and the significance of the widespread belief in ghosts, revealing the ways in which the dead and the living related to each other during the middle ages. Schmitt also discusses Augustine's influence on medieval authors; the link between dreams and autobiographical narratives; and monastic visions and folklore. Including numerous color reproductions of ghosts and ghostly trappings, this book presents a unique and intriguing look at medieval culture.

"Valuable and highly readable. . . . [Ghosts in the Middle Ages] will be of interest to many students of medieval thought and culture, but especially to those seeking a general overview of this particularly conspicuous aspect of the medieval remembrance of the dead."--Hans Peter Broedel, Medieval Review

"A fascinating study of the growing prevalence of ghost imagery in ecclesiastical and popular writing from the fifth to the fifteenth century."--Choice

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