medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> The "popular" view of medieval Christianity,
> as I understand it, is as its being a passive,
> submissive religion.
????
Not my impression, certainly. And not since Constantine.
There are upteen Warrior saints whose exploits are treated by the modern
Christian church with embarrassment. Central to this is the loud and
vigorous denial in certain quarters that Saint Alban ever was or ever could
have been a soldier and the declaration that depicting him in miliary garb
is an aberration of 19th C jingoism. (Claptrap, of course!)
Kings were crowned AND anointed and expected to lead their warriors into
battle.
And what about the Crusades ?
The Religious Orders (apart from Templers, Hospitalers, Teutonics &c &c) all
professed forms of pacifism but they were not typical of Christendom as a
whole - they were only "Those Who Prayed". There were also "Those Who
Fought" and "Those Who Laboured".
BMC
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