Belief and Unbelief in Medieval Europe [Paperback]

For most people in the middle ages--for thousands upon thousands who lived within Christendom in the period considered by this book, 1100-1500--we have no record of what they believed or did not believe. John Arnold sifts through the traces left behind by our ancestors across Europe and assembles a more complete picture than ever before. Religion in medieval Europe was hugely important, and impinged upon the most mundane aspects of everyday life. But was the period a uniform Age of Faith? By focussing on lay people, this fascinating account unlocks the multiple meanings of religion, asking how it functioned and with what effects. This book deftly reveals for today's readers, as none have before, the meanings and struggles that lay between the smooth surface of medieval religious life.Exactly what role did religion play in Europe in the Middle Ages?; Was medieval society really as devout as we think?; John Arnold looks beneath the surface and finds a much more complex and interesting picture than conventional wisdom suggests.John H. Arnold is Professor of Medieval History at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is also the successful author of History: A Very Short Introduction.

... by focusing on the laity over and extended period of time, he is able to highlight the multiple meanings, functions and even levels of religious belief (or unbelief) in medieval society. In so doing, Arnold presents a much more complicated picture of the so-called 'Age of Faith', and one which will be welcomed by specialist and student audiences alike. The Journal of the Historical Association

This is an ambitious book. In it, John H. Arnold presents a new and challenging way of interpreting the history of lay religious practices between 1000 and 1500 and the ways in which those practices interacted with the official positions of the church hierarchy. H-France Review