Power and the Disruption of Sacred Space

This edited volume seeks to explore disruptions of sacred spaces in the Middle Ages. Consisting of ten chapters from scholars across the disciplines of medieval studies, the volume will examine the political, religious, and personal motivations and meanings behind disrupting or interrupting sacred places and practices, from the physical structures endowed with sacred practices to the literary and mental constructs of the same. The view of the past through the spatial turn is a current and increasingly valid approach to medieval history and culture; this volume, rather than focusing on continuities in spatial practice explores the discontinuities and disruptions of space in the de Certeauan idea of space as a ‘practiced place’ to understand what these disruptions and interruptions meant for the exercise of authority and power in the Middle Ages.