Going to Church in Medieval England by Nicholas Orme - Illustrated History Paperback - 496 Pages - Yale University Press

Details Condition: New Format: Paperback ISBN: 9780300266436 Publisher: Yale University Press Age Range: Adult Overview Going to Church in Medieval England is a comprehensive, richly illustrated history of parish churches in England from the Anglo-Saxon period through the mid-sixteenth century. Written by leading medievalist Nicholas Orme, this 496-page paperback traces how parish churches were founded, staffed, and used, and how ordinary people, not just the clergy, shaped daily worship. It is an essential read for anyone interested in English religious and social history. About the Book Parish churches stood at the centre of English religious and social life throughout the Middle Ages and into the sixteenth century. In this comprehensive study, Nicholas Orme explains how parish churches came into existence, who staffed them, and how their buildings were actually used by the communities around them. He explores who attended church, who stayed away, and how ordinary parishioners, not merely priests and bishops, influenced the way worship was staged and experienced. The book offers an accessible account of the daily and weekly rhythms of parish life, describing the services that structured each week and the way churches marked the great seasons of the Christian year, including Christmas, Lent, and Easter. Orme also examines how parish churches marked the major milestones of individual lives, from birth and coming of age to marriage, and how they offered comfort during sickness and at the point of death. A concluding chapter turns to the upheavals of the English Reformation in the sixteenth century, tracing how the break with Rome transformed parish worship and church life. Supported throughout by generous illustrations, this paperback edition combines serious scholarship with genuine readability, making it as suitable for general readers and gift buyers as it is for students and researchers of medieval and Tudor England. Comprehensive single-volume history spanning t