Routledge Christ's Body: Identity, Culture and Society - Routledge

Explore the deep connection between religious doctrine and social life in late medieval England. In Christ's Body: Identity, Culture and Society in Late Medieval Writings, Sarah Beckwith examines how the image of the crucified Christ shaped the world. By looking at key devotional English texts, this work uses perspectives from anthropology and cultural studies to understand how religious symbols influenced everyday life. This study shows how the image of the crucified Christ served as a site where tensions between the sacred and the profane, as well as the individual and the collective, were addressed. The medieval focus on the physical details of Christ's body did more than express faith; it functioned to challenge and transform social and political relations. This book offers a deep look into how religious imagery helped define identity and social structures during this period.