Ritual in early modern Europe
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Ritual in early modern Europe
（New approaches to European history, 11）
Cambridge University Press, 1997
- : hbk
- : pbk
Available at / 22 libraries
-
No Libraries matched.
- Remove all filters.
Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The first comprehensive study of rituals in early modern Europe, this book argues that between about 1400 and 1700 a revolution in ritual theory took place that utterly transformed concepts about time, the body, and the presence of spiritual forces in the world. In this work of synthesis Professor Muir draws on the extensive anthropology-inspired historical research that has been published during the past twenty years, and emphasizes the persistence of traditional Christian ritual practices even as educated elites attempted to privilege reason over passion, textual interpretation over ritual action, and personal moral rectitude over gaining access to supernatural powers. The themes discussed by Professor Muir are wide-ranging and include rites of passage, carnivalesque festivity, Protestant and Catholic Reformations, and the alleged anti-Christian rituals of Jews and witches.
Table of Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: what is ritual?
- Part I. The Ritual Moment: 1. Rites of passage
- 2. The ritual calendar
- Part II. Rituals of the Body: 3. Carnival and the lower body
- 4. Manners and the upper body
- Part III. Ritual Representation: 5. The Reformation as a revolution in ritual theory
- 6. The Reformation as a ritual process
- 7. Government as a ritual process
- Epilogue: mere ritual
- Glossary.
by "Nielsen BookData"