It is impossible to understand the late Middle Ages without grasping the importance of The Golden Legend, the most popular medieval collection of saints` lives. Assembled for clerical use in the thirteenth century by Genoese archbishop Jacobus de Voragine, the book became the medieval equivalent of a best seller. By 1500, there were more copies of it in circulation than there were of the Bible itself. Priests drew on The Golden Legend for their sermons, the faithful used it for devotion and piety, and artists and writers mined it endlessly in their works. In Search of Sacred Time is the first comprehensive history and interpretation of this crucial book. Jacques Le Goff, one of the world`s most renowned medievalists, provides a lucid, compelling, and unparalleled account of why and how The Golden Legend exerted such a profound influence on medieval life.

In Search of Sacred Time explains how The Golden Legend--an encyclopedic work that followed the course of the liturgical calendar and recounted the life of the saint for each feast day--worked its way into the fabric of medieval life. Le Goff describes how this ambitious book was carefully crafted to give sense and shape to the Christian year, underscoring its meaning and drama through the stories of saints, miracles, and martyrdoms. Ultimately, Le Goff argues, The Golden Legend influenced how medieval Christians perceived the passage of time, Christianizing time itself and reconciling human and divine temporality.

Authoritative, eloquent, and original, In Search of Sacred Time is a major reinterpretation of a book that is central to comprehending the medieval imagination.

Table of Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xv
1. Jacobus de Voragine in His Time 1
2. The Major Inspirations for Jacobus de Voragine 9
3. The Prologue and the Temporale 14

The Prologue 14
The Temporale 19
4. The Sanctorale 22

Saintliness and Christianity 22
Saints in the Golden Legend 24
All Saints Day 26
5. The Time of Renewal 33

Advent 33
The Saints of Advent 35
Saint Andrew, Apostle 36
Saint Nicholas 39
Saint Lucy, Virgin 45
Saint Thomas, Apostle 47
6. The Time of Reconciliation and Pilgrimage 51

The Birth of Our Lord: Jesus According to the Flesh 52
Saint Anastasia 55
Saint Stephen 56
Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist 59
The Holy Innocents 62
Saint Thomas of Canterbury 63
Saint Sylvester 65
The Circumcision of the Lord and the Epiphany of the Lord 68
Saint Paul, Hermit, and Saint Anthony 73
Saint Paul 76
Saint John the Almsgiver 81
7. The Time of Deviation 84

From Septuagesima to Quadragesima 86
The Ember Day Fasts 89
The Passion of the Lord 90
The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary 92
The Annunciation of the Lord 95
Saint Gregory, Saint Benedict, and Saint Patrick 96
8. The Time of Reconciliation 100

The Ascension of the Lord 103
The Holy Spirit 106
The Finding of the Holy Cross 108
The Greater and Lesser Litanies 111
Saint Ambrose 113
Saint George 115
Saint Mark, Evangelist 117
Saint Peter Martyr 118
9. The Time of Pilgrimage 121

The Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary 122
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 126
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross 128
The Finding of Saint Stephen, the First Martyr, and the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist 130
Multiple Saints 132
Saint Maurice and His Companions 133
Saints Dionysius, Rusticus, and Eleutherius 135
The Eleven Thousand Virgins 137
The Four Crowned Martyrs 138
Saint John the Baptist 139
Saint Peter, Apostle 141
Saint Paul, Apostle 142
Saint Christopher 143
Saint Dominic 144
Saint Bernard 145
Saint Augustine 148
Saint Michael, Archangel 152
Saint Jerome 154
Saint Francis 156
Saint Martin, Bishop 157
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary 161
Saint Catherine 164
All Saints and the Commemoration of All Souls 165
Saint Pelagius, Pope: The History of the Lombards 170
The Dedication of a Church 176
Conclusion 181
Afterword 183
Notes 185
Bibliography 197

1. Jacobus de Voragine and the Golden Legend 197
2. Genoa in the Time of Jacobus de Voragine 199
3. The “Beautiful” Thirteenth Century 200
4. The Latin Legendaries 200
5. The Dominicans in the Thirteenth Century 201
6. Liturgy and Christian Time in the Middle Ages 201
7. Christian Time in the Middle Ages 202
8. Saints and Sanctity under Christianity 202
9. Various Studies on Time 203
10. Time and History 205
Index 207

Author:

Jacques Le Goff is a world-renowned historian of the Middle Ages. His many books include "Medieval Civilization", "The Birth of Europe", and "The Medieval Imagination".