Miracle Book

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A miracle book is a collection of miracle reports , mostly related to a specific saint to whom the collected miracles are assigned or to a specific pilgrimage site to which they are related.

The literary genre can be traced back to late antiquity within the history of Christianity , but examples can be found up to the present day. But the baroque age can clearly be called the heyday of the genre . There are two different types:

  • On the one hand, the term “miracle” summarizes those stories that tell of the deeds of a saint while he was still alive; Answers to prayer after the saint's death can follow, but are not typologically necessary for this species. In this type, the close association of a saint with the miracles he wrought is characteristic: " Vita " (often of high historical value) and "Miracula" (often entirely legendary embellishments) are difficult to separate. This narrative form was already fully developed in the Middle Ages. In addition, detached from the reference to a saint, there are miracle narratives that serve to confirm or authenticate a truth of faith (e.g. host miracles to confirm transubstantiation ).
  • It was not until much later (around the time of the Renaissance) that a new type of miracle book emerged, which now also contains the founding legends of places of pilgrimage, the stories of images of grace, healings and hearings from pilgrims.

With the invention and spread of the printing press and the enormous popularization through the use of the German language, miracle books could find a wide distribution in the early modern period and are therefore of importance for the development of specific elements of popular piety, which should not be underestimated .

Examples

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hartwig Gerhard: The miracle stories in the chronicle of the Franciscan Monastery Old Town. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 9, 1991, pp. 259-290.