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This book explores the function and symbolism of monumental wooden crosses and crucifixes from medieval and early modern Norway. Multiple sources indicate that these objects were understood to provide healing and protection for the pious. This book considers how crosses and crucifixes could be invested with such capabilities and where their powers were understood to stem from.
According to the Lutheran doctrine, officially implemented in Norway with the Reformation in 1537, apotropaic and healing powers of objects were defined as superstition. However, crosses and crucifixes were still credited with miraculous powers and received pilgrims and gifts for centuries. This volume explores the religious understandings of miraculous sculptures across the Reformation period. Today, a remarkable corpus of almost 200 medieval wooden crosses and crucifixes have survived. In its consideration of a wide range of sculptures and related texts, the book sheds light on the relationship between art, text, and society in medieval and early modern northern Europe.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- 2. The Prevalence of Miraculous Crosses and Crucifixes in Norway - and Their European Siblings.- 3. The Cross - Symbol, Relic, and Material Cross.- 4. Iconography, Form, and Materials.- 5. The Materiality of Miraculous Crosses and Crucifixes.- 6. The Miarculous Cross and Crucifix in Textual Sources.- 7. Performative Potential.- 8. Late Medieval Theological Attitudes towards Images of Crosses and Crucifixes.- 9. The Reformation - A New Theological Understanding of the Cross and Crucifix.- 10. The Miraculous Cross and Crucifix in Early Modern Norway.
About the author
Kaja Merete Haug Hagen holds a Ph.D. in medieval history and works as a lecturer and researcher in Oslo, Norway.
Summary
This book explores the function and symbolism of monumental wooden crosses and crucifixes from medieval and early modern Norway. Multiple sources indicate that these objects were understood to provide healing and protection for the pious. This book considers how crosses and crucifixes could be invested with such capabilities and where their powers were understood to stem from.
According to the Lutheran doctrine, officially implemented in Norway with the Reformation in 1537, apotropaic and healing powers of objects were defined as superstition. However, crosses and crucifixes were still credited with miraculous powers and received pilgrims and gifts for centuries. This volume explores the religious understandings of miraculous sculptures across the Reformation period. Today, a remarkable corpus of almost 200 medieval wooden crosses and crucifixes have survived. In its consideration of a wide range of sculptures and related texts, the book sheds light on the relationship between art, text, and society in medieval and early modern northern Europe.
