Godparents and Kinship in Early Medieval Europe / / Joseph H. Lynch.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Archive 1927-1999
• VerfasserIn: Lynch, Joseph H.,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2019]; ©1986
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: Princeton Legacy Library ; 5312
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (400 p.)

Between A.D. 200 and 1000, sponsorship at baptism evolved from a simple liturgical act into a mechanism for the creation of enduring relationships regarded as especially holy forms of kinship. Combining anthropological, historical, theological, and literary approaches, Joseph Lynch presents a comprehensive analysis of the origins and development in Western society of this "spiritual" kinship. Because of its solemnity and adaptability, such kinship gradually took its place alongside blood and marital ties as a fundamental part of medieval society, continuing to expand in high and late medieval Europe and to flourish even in modern times, particularly in Latin America.Professor Lynch traces the liturgical practices and theological beliefs undergirding sponsorship and examines its social purposes, including sacralization of personal firendships, creation of client/patron reltionships, extension of marital taboos, provision of protectors for the young, fostering of trust among adults, and dissemination of religious instruction. In the process he offers a rich array of insights into the Church's role in the passage of Western society from antiquity to the Middle Ages.Joseph H. Lynch is Professor of History and former Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Ohio State University. He is author of Simoniacal Entry into Religious Life form 1000 to 1260: A Social, Economic and Legal Study (Ohio State).Originally published in 1986.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- INTRODUCTION -- PART ONE. THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF SPIRITUAL KINSHIP -- 1. HISTORIOGRAPHY TO THE 1880s -- 2. HISTORIOGRAPHY SINCE THE 1880S: THE FOUR TRADITIONS -- PART TWO. BAPTISMAL SPONSORSHIP IN THE ANCIENT CHURCH, CA. 170 TO CA. 500 -- 3. THE SPONSORSHIP OF ADULTS -- 4. THE SPONSORSHIP OF INFANTS -- PART THREE. THE EMERGENCE OF SPIRITUAL KINSHIP IN THE WEST, CA. 500 TO CA. 750 -- 5. CAESARIUS OF ARLES -- 6. THE SPIRITUAL FAMILY IN FRANKISH SOCIETY -- 7. THE PROLIFERATION OF SPIRITUAL KINSMEN -- 8. SPIRITUAL KINSMEN AND SEXUAL TABOOS -- 9. THE CULTURAL ROOTS OF THE BAN ON SEXUAL CONTACT BETWEEN SPIRITUAL KINSMEN -- PART FOUR. THE CAROLINGIAN SYNTHESIS -- 10. THE GODPARENT AND THE BAPTISMAL LITURGY -- 11. THE GODPARENT AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION -- 12. SPIRITUAL KINSHIP IN WESTERN SOCIETY -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX