Angels & angelology in the Middle Ages

by David Keck

This book offers a full-scale study of angels and angelology in the Middle Ages. Seeking to discover how and why angels became so important in medieval society, David Keck considers a wide range of fascinating questions: why do angels appear on baptismal fonts? How and why did angels become normative for certain members of the church? Did popular beliefs about angels diverge from the angelologies of the theologians? Why did some heretics claim to derive their authority from heavenly spirits? Metaphysics and mystery plays, prayers and pilgrimages, Cathars and cathedrals - all these and many more disparate sources taken together reveal a society deeply engaged with angels on all levels, and in some unlikely ways.