Jerome of Prague and the Foundations of the Hussite Movement


Book Description

This book is a scholarly evaluation of the life, work, and influence of Jerome of Prague (ca. 1378-1416). It delineates the controversial nature of Jerome's thinking with respect to the philosophical and theological implications of divine Ideas along with religious and social reform.




Theo-politics of the Hussite Movement


Book Description

This intellectual history of the dissident Hussite reform movement in early 15th century Bohemia explains the process of Hussite radicalization, which led to their overthrow of secular and religious structures in the so-called "first European revolution". It does this by discovering the political relevance of diverse heterodox leaders and the discourses they adapted into mobilizing calls to conflict. As such, the work represents a reimagining of the Hussite revolution which emphasizes the symbolic worldview of its agents. This includes an appreciation of the Hussite debt to unexpected traditions of thought, and of the movement's participation in innovative visions of theo-political order.




Origins of the Hussite Uprising


Book Description

The Hussite Chronicle is the most important single narrative source for the events of the early Hussite movement. The author is Laurence of Březová (c.1370–c.1437), a member of the Czech lower nobility and a supporter of the Hussite creed. The movement arose as an initiative for religious and social reform in fifteenth-century Bohemia and was energized by the burning of the priest Jan Hus in 1415. Church and empire attempted to suppress the movement and raised five crusades against the dissenters. The chronicle offers to history and scholarship a nuanced understanding of what can be regarded as an essential component for a proper understanding of late medieval religion. It is also a considered account of aspects of the later crusades. This is the first English-language translation of the chronicle.




The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church


Book Description

Uniquely authoritative and wide-ranging in its scope, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church is the indispensable reference work on all aspects of the Christian Church. It contains over 6,500 cross-referenced A-Z entries, and offers unrivalled coverage of all aspects of this vast and often complex subject, from theology; churches and denominations; patristic scholarship; and the bible; to the church calendar and its organization; popes; archbishops; other church leaders; saints; and mystics. In this new edition, great efforts have been made to increase and strengthen coverage of non-Anglican denominations (for example non-Western European Christianity), as well as broadening the focus on Christianity and the history of churches in areas beyond Western Europe. In particular, there have been extensive additions with regards to the Christian Church in Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Australasia. Significant updates have also been included on topics such as liturgy, Canon Law, recent international developments, non-Anglican missionary activity, and the increasingly important area of moral and pastoral theology, among many others. Since its first appearance in 1957, the ODCC has established itself as an essential resource for ordinands, clergy, and members of religious orders, and an invaluable tool for academics, teachers, and students of church history and theology, as well as for the general reader.




Christ the Physician in Late-Medieval Religious Controversy


Book Description

A consideration of the allegory of Christ the Divine Physician in medical and religious writings. Discourses of physical and spiritual health were intricately entwined in the Middle Ages, shaping intellectual concepts as well as actual treatment. The allegory of Christ as Divine Physician is an example of this intersection: it appears frequently in both medical and religious writings as a powerful figure of healing and salvation, and was invoked by dissidents and reformists in religious controversies. Drawing on previously unexplored manuscript material, this book examines the use of the Christus Medicus tradition during a period of religious turbulence. Via an interdisciplinary analysis of literature, sermons, and medical texts, it shows that Wycliffites in England and Hussites in Bohemia used concepts developed in hospital settings to press for increased lay access to Scripture and the sacraments against the strictures of the Church hierarchy. Tracing a story of reform and controversy from localised institutional contexts to two of the most important pan-European councils of the fifteenth century, Constance and Basel, it argues that at a point when the body of the Church was strained by multiple popes, heretics and schismatics, the allegory came into increasing use to restore health and order.




A Companion to the Council of Basel


Book Description

The Council of Basel (1431-1449) met to defend the faith and reform the Church. Its efforts to deal with Hussite heresy and reform the Roman Curia led to conflict with Pope Eugenius IV (1431-1447). The council divided over the site of a council of union with the Eastern churches. Some left to attend Eugenius’ Council of Florence (1438-1443). While that council was negotiating reunion with Eastern churches, in 1439 Basel was acting to claim supremacy and depose Eugenius. The ensuing struggle went on for a decade before Basel and its pope, Felix V (Amadeus VIII of Savoy), gave up under pressure from the princes. These essays address multiple aspects of the Council of Basel, including its reforming efforts and bureaucracy. Contributors include Alberto Cadili, Gerald Christianson, Michiel Decaluwe, Thomas A. Fudge, Ursula Gießmann, Hans-Jörg Gilomen, Johannes Helmrath, Thomas M. Izbicki, Jesse D. Mann, Ivan Mariano, Heribert Müller, Émilie Rosenblieh, and Birgit Studt.




Medieval Religion and its Anxieties


Book Description

This book examines the broad varieties of religious belief, religious practices, and the influence of religion within medieval society. Religion in the Middle Ages was not monolithic. Medieval religion and the Latin Church are not synonymous. While theology and liturgy are important, an examination of animal trials, gargoyles, last judgments, various aspects of the medieval underworld, and the quest for salvation illuminate lesser known dimensions of religion in the Middle Ages. Several themes run throughout the book including visual culture, heresy and heretics, law and legal procedure, along with sexuality and an awareness of mentalities and anxieties. Although an expanse of 800 years has passed, the remains of those other Middle Ages can be seen today, forcing us to reassess our evaluations of this alluring and often overlooked past.




Matthew Spinka, Howard Kaminsky, and the Future of the Medieval Hussites


Book Description

The Hussite movement is essential for understanding medieval Europe and the development of Western civilization. Matthew Spinka and Howard Kaminsky stand at the forefront of scholarship introducing this subject to the Anglophone world. Thomas A. Fudge argues their role in the religious historiography of late medieval Europe is a precursor to global medievalism. Combining commitment to the Christian faith with firm opposition to the Soviet-mandated Marxist-Communist ideology that dominated twentieth-century Czechoslovakia, Spinka strove to present Jan Hus as a medieval figure driven by religious devotion. Motivated by Jewish atheism and a modified form of Marxist analysis, Kaminsky rescued the medieval Hussites from oblivion and political agendas. Fudge explores biography, history, and historiography as an essential intellectual segue between medieval Hussites and modern scholarship. Matthew Spinka, Howard Kaminsky, and the Medieval Hussites considers biography, evaluates the work of both historians, elaborates their methods, assesses their interpretations, and analyzes their historiographical significance for the study of Hussite history.




Making Wonderful


Book Description

In Making Wonderful, Martin M. Tweedale tells how an ideology in the West energized an economic expansion that has led to ecological disaster. He takes us back to the rise of cities and autocratic rulers, analyzing how respect for custom and tradition gave way to the dominance of top-down rational planning and organization. Then in response came a highly attractive myth of an eventual future rid of all of humankind's ills, one in which life would be “made wonderful.” Originating in Zoroastrianism and, through Jewish apocalyptic works, flowing into early Christianity, this myth produced utopian beliefs that set the West apart from the other civilizations. Tweedale shows how these beliefs became popular among Western elites in the early modern period and eventually resulted in the distinctly Western doctrine of progress. This doctrine, an almost religious faith in the capacity of science and technology to improve human life, released economic expansion from traditional constraints and has led to our current environmental emergency. Exploring sources from philosophy, religion, and the history of ideas, Making Wonderful is for all readers who are intellectually curious about the roots of our eco-catastrophe.




Medieval Philosophy


Book Description

Adamsom offers a lively and accessible tour through 600 years of intellectual history, offering a feast of new ideas in every area of philosophy. He introduces us to some of the greatest thinkers of the Western tradition including Abelard, Anselm, Aquinas, Hildegard of Bingen, and Julian of Norwich.