Saint Michael the Archangel in Medieval English Legend - Hardcover

Johnson, Richard F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1843831287 ISBN 13: 9781843831280

Publisher: Boydell Press, 2005

Synopsis

The cult and legends of St Michael the archangel were widespread in medieval England, and this book - the first full-length study of the subject - offers a comprehensive examination of their genesis and diffusion. Part I identifies and analyses the concerns, conflicts, and roles with which St Michael is associated, from scriptural and apocryphal literature through to the homiletic literature of the medieval period. Part II begins with a discussion of the vernacular recensions of the popular account of the archangel's earthly interventions, and goes on to survey the legendary accounts in Old English, Anglo-Norman, and Middle English of the archangel and his roles as guardian, intercessor, psychopomp, and warrior-angel follows. The Appendices contain the first English translation of the archangel's hagiographic foundation-myth; an annotated bibliographical list and motif index of textual materials relating to the archangel; and an essay on the iconographic representations of the archangel in medieval England.

RICHARD F. JOHNSON is Assistant Professor of English at William Rainey Harper College.

About this title

Review:

An interesting and informative account of the development of St Michael's cult. [...] [It] makes an important contribution to the study of Anglo-Saxon hagiography. MEDIUM AEVUM

A vital contribution to medieval English legends and [the] account of the growth and dissemination of St Michael's legends will act as an important starting point for future studies of the saint and his legends. THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW

Exceptionally useful for the early hagiographic dossier of Michael the Archangel. THE RICARDIAN

A fine study. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

Future studies of St Michael's cult and legend in medieval England will be heavily indebted to this book. SPECULUM

About the Author:

Richard F. Johnson is Assistant Professor of English at William Rainey Harper College, USA. He is also Chair of the Humanities Department and Co-Coordinator of International Studies and Programs at the college.

About this edition

• Publisher: Boydell Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1843831287
• ISBN 13: 9781843831280
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 186