20th May 2010
Doors at 6 pm, Talk commences at 7 pm
Christian belief in the power of relics, the physical remains of a holy site or holy person, or objects with which they had contact, is as old as the faith itself and developed alongside it. Relics were more than mementos. The New Testament refers to the healing power of objects that were touched by Christ or his apostles. The body of the saint provided a spiritual link between life and death, between man and God and the veneration of relics in the Middle Ages came to rival the sacraments in the daily life of the medieval church. From the foreskin of baby Jesus to to a piece of the Virgin Mary's veil, Dr William MacLehose explores the everlasting might of relics and their reliquaries.
Dr William MacLehose works on the connections between medical, natural philosophical, and religious thought in western Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. His research emphasises the transformations within medical knowledge as the medieval west rediscovered the Hippocratic-Galenic traditions via the Arabic world. His primary interest lies in the importance of childhood as a source of interest and concern within medieval society, as reflected in the fields of embryology, obstetrics, and pediatrics. He is the author of A Tender Age: Cultural Anxieties over the Child in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries (Columbia University Press, 2006).
Talk at 11 Mare Street - please click here to buy tickets
