The Economics of Sanctity

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Hagiography Society

Organizer Name

Sara Ritchey

Organizer Affiliation

Univ. of Louisiana-Lafayette

Presider Name

Kathryn Gerry

Presider Affiliation

Univ. of Kansas

Paper Title 1

Wax as Symbol and Currency in Medieval English Saints' Shrines

Presenter 1 Name

Christiania Whitehead

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Univ. of Warwick

Paper Title 2

Sacks of Money or a Paycheck? Money and Demonic Temptations in the Visions of Ermine de Reims

Presenter 2 Name

Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Univ. of Pittsburgh

Paper Title 3

A Coin in the River: The Economics of Sanctity in the Life of Melania the Younger

Presenter 3 Name

Elizabeth Platte

Presenter 3 Affiliation

Kalamazoo College

Paper Title 4

Saints, Charters, and the Economics of Sanctity in Tenth-Century England

Presenter 4 Name

Alison Hudson Hardy

Presenter 4 Affiliation

Oriel College, Univ. of Oxford

Paper Title 5

Gift Exchange with the Saintly Dead in Medieval Icelandic Miracle Stories

Presenter 5 Name

Davide Zori

Presenter 5 Affiliation

Univ. of California-Los Angeles

Start Date

9-5-2014 10:00 AM

Session Location

Bernhard 208

Description

Saints’ cults and definitions of sanctity are invariably bound up with money. We invite abstracts that explore the ways that cash asserts itself in, for example, canonization procedures; the saints' bestowal of favors and miracles; pilgrimage sites and relic display; and artisans' commissions for objects such as reliquaries. Topics might include the production, sale, and use of pilgrimage guides in manuscript and print; saints as guardians of treasure; and visions that reveal deposits of wealth. Did the Middle Ages speculate in saints?

Sara M. Ritchey