Demonic Possession and Lived Religion in Later Medieval Europe (Oxford Studies in Medieval European History)

Demonic possession was a spiritual state that often had physical symptoms; however, in Demonic Possession and Lived Religion in Later Medieval Europe , Sari Katajala-Peltomaa argues that demonic possession was a social phenomenon which should be understood with regard to the community and culture. She focuses on significant case studies from canonization processes (c. 1240-1450) which show how each set of sources formed its own specific context, in which demonic presence derived from different motivations, reasonings, and methods of categorization. The chosen perspective is that of lived religion, which is both a thematic approach and a methodology: a focus on rituals, symbols, and gestures, as well as sensitivity to nuances and careful contextualizing of the cases are constitutive elements of the argumentation. The analysis contests the hierarchy between the 'learned' and the 'popular' within religion, as well as the existence of a strict polarity between individual and collective religious participation. Demonic presence disclosed negotiations over authority and agency; it shows how the personal affected the communal, and vice versa, and how they were eventually transformed into discourses and institutions of the Church; that is, definitions of the miraculous and the diabolical. Geographically, the volume covers Western Europe, comparing Northern and Southern material and customs. The structure follows the logic of the phenomenon, beginning with the background reasons offered as a cause of demonic possession, continuing with communities' responses and emotions, including construction of sacred caregiving methods. Finally, the ways in which demonic presence contributed to wider societal debates in the fields of politics and spirituality are discussed. Alterity and inversion of identity, gender, and various forms of corporeality and the interplay between the sacred and diabolical are themes that run all through the volume. "This book focuses on conceptualizations of lived religion by analysing significant case studies from canonization processes (c. 1240-1450). Geographically it covers Western Europe and one of its aims is to compare Northern and Southern material and customs. 'Lived religion' is both a thematic approach and a methodology: a focus on rituals, symbols, and gestures as well as sensitivity to nuances and careful contextualizing of the sources are constitutive elements of the argumentation. Demonic possession was a spiritual state that often had physical symptoms. The main argument developed throughout is, however, that demonic possession was a social phenomenon which should be understood with regard to the community and culture. Each set of sources formed its own specific context, in which demonic presence derived from different motivations, reasonings, and methods of categorization. Rituals, gestures, emotions, and sensory elements in constructing demonic presence reveal negotiations over authority and agency. In the argumentation, the hierarchy between the 'learned' and 'popular' within religion is contested, as is a strict polarity between individual and collective religious participation. Cases of demonic possession demonstrate how the personal affected the communal, and vice versa, and how they were eventually transformed into discourses and institutions of the Church; that is, definitions of the miraculous and the diabolical. Alterity and inversion of identity, gender, and various forms of corporeality and the interplay between the sacred and diabolical are themes running throughout the volume." -- Oxford Scholarship Online Cover Demonic Possession and Lived Religion in Later Medieval Europe Copyright Preface Contents 1: Introduction: Demons in Daily Life—Lived Religion and Devotional Strategies Demons on the Desktop: Medieval Contexts and Modern Scholars Demons in Inquisitorial Logic: Canonization Processes and Delivery Miracles Structure of the Volume 2: Reasons for Possession: Perilous People, Hazardous Places Someone to Blame? Dangerous Food, Risky Beverages Dangers of the Wilderness Conclusions 3: Vulnerable Persons: Corporeality and the Female Life Course Diabolical Virgins Wedding Troubles: The Bride That Hopped Over the Table and Disappeared Porous Bodies Conclusions 4: Community Responses to Demonic Presence Amens Seu Demoniata: The Difficulty of Diagnosis Earthly Medicine for Other-Worldly Afflictions Anger, Fear, Disgust: Emotional Responses Marginalization and Integration Conclusions 5: Constructing the Sacred: Demons, Priests, and Pilgrims Speaking the Devil: Speaking the Saint A Named Thing Is a Tamed Thing? Rituals at the Shrine Signs of Delivery Conclusions 6: The Interwoven Fabric of the Sacred and the Political Defining the Boundaries of a Cultic Community Constructing Authority: The Case of Birgitta of Sweden Conclusions 7: The Need for Control: Demonic Sex and the Feminine Dance, Demons, and Proper Ritual Practice Involuntary Sex Acts and the Construction of Sanctity ‘Come, Devil, Come, and Enter My Body’ Conclusions 8: Conclusions: Demonic Devices: Lived Religion as a Methodology Bibliography Manuscripts Printed Sources Literature Index "The seeds for this project were sown years ago when I was a doctoral student and first came across miracles involving demonic possession. They caught my attention as intriguing and even amusing anecdotes. My first impression was that the details, such as the shameful songs and stones thrown, were expressions of quite straightforward frustration, even infuriation. Soon enough I learned that at stake were much more than fits of anger; some of these people were likely to have been severely ill as they had died soon afterward. Into the same category were placed various kinds of afflictions, some of which seemed mild enough. Furthermore, the exact same symptoms could have been labelled differently in different collections. Nothing was straightforward, I found out"--Provided by publisher Covering Western Europe (c. 1240-1450) And Drawing Upon A Rich Body Of Sources, This Volume Analyses How Lay People Understood The Phenomenon Of Demonic Presence And Possession And Used It To Identify And Unravel Problems In Their Lives.