From Micro- to Macro-processes of Religious Change

Lutton, Rob

Abstract

The article discusses the Europe-wide late medieval phenomenon of the cult of the Holy Name, using it as a case study to discuss the relationship of micro-and macro-historical transformations by scrutinizing the enormous success of a religious innovation which managed to spread to many different local contexts and social groups. After pointing out contradictions in earlier explanations of this success, the article gives a detailed reading of several different realizations of this form of devotion, discussing authors like Richard Rolle, but also religious compilations and documentary evidence. This evidence suggests that the meaning and significance of devotion to the Holy Name remained open, malleable and unstable. It therefore appears necessary to engage with the whole range of its representations, and their transmission at different social levels, in order to understand its larger significance in the religious transformations of the long fifteenth century.

Citation

Lutton, R. (2019). From Micro- to Macro-processes of Religious Change. Church History and Religious Culture, 99(3-4), 412-439. https://doi.org/10.1163/18712428-09903006

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 10, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Dec 4, 2019
• Publication Date: Dec 4, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jun 2, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 4, 2020
• Journal: Church History and Religious Culture
• Print ISSN: 1871-241X
• Electronic ISSN: 1871-2428
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 99
• Issue: 3-4
• Pages: 412-439
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/18712428-09903006
• Keywords: Religious studies; History; medieval history; religion; Christocentric devotion; Holy Name; England; religious field
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4563438
• Publisher URL: https://brill.com/view/journals/chrc/99/3-4/article-p412_5.xml