Landscape with Two Saints

Download or read book Landscape with Two Saints written by Lisa M. Bitel and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-05-19 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lisa Bitel uses the history of two unique holy women--Genovefa of Paris (ca. 420-509) and Brigit of Kildare (ca.452-524)--to reveal how ordinary Europeans lived through Christianization at the dawn of the Middle Ages. Most converts did not have a sudden epiphany, Bitel argues. Instead they learned and lived their new religion in continuous conversation with preachers, saints, rulers, and neighbors. Together, they built their faith over many years, brick by brick, into their churches and shrines, cemeteries, houses, and even their markets and farms.