Medieval Church in Manuscripts, The

The Medieval Church in Manuscripts. By justin Clegg. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003. 64 pp. $19.95 (paper).

The culminating sentence of Clegg's book aptly sums up the rationale behind his project: "the wealth of images provided in medieval manuscripts is not only veiy revealing, but also truly amazing, and they give us a much better understanding of Church practice, ceremony, ornament and teaching during this time" (p. 58). This book does in fact contain a wealth of images-visual representations of medieval life and worship that are vivid, crisp, sometimes surprising, and almost always instructive. The quality of the production is excellent, accounting for a price that seems at first glance high for such a short book. But the images alone make the book worth looking at; they are even more useful paired with Clegg's descriptions of medieval Christianity.

Clegg, a curator of medieval manuscripts at the British Library, divides his account of the medieval Christian world into two main sections: Church Structure, and Church and Laity. The former is divided into three: Pope, Cardinals, and Curia; the secular Church; and the Regular Church. The latter attends to four segments of lay contact with the medieval church: Sacrament, Ceremony, and Show; the Calendar of the Church; Devotion, Pilgrimage and Popular Feasts; and the Laity's Contact with the Church.

It is a beautiful book, but for a number of reasons its usefulness may be limited in an academic setting. First, the commentary is too brief to be of real use in research, although its accessibility to a popular audience is a definite strength. But for students of medieval religion or culture, little more than the basics are given. As a reader I found myself wanting more detail, more depth in the text, to match the brilliance and complexity of the manuscript illustrations.

Second, the author has chosen not to discuss in detail any historiographical or paleographical issues at stake in interpreting the manuscript tradition, aside from noting a few anachronistic details in certain images. The title led me to believe that some attention would be paid to how manuscripts and their illuminations functioned and could be used to interpret medieval culture and religion; but in fact, methodological concerns are not treated. The illuminations serve on a relatively superficial level as illustrations without any attention to their role as interpreters of culture and faith. For the popular reader, perhaps, this is unnecessary, but that leaves us with a book that merely scratches the surface of an artistic and theological tradition deserving of more in-depth treatment.

Aside from these limitations, the book has some potential uses, particularly for teachers of medieval church history and art. I would consider using the text in a course on medieval Christianity and art, as part of a smaller unit on the illuminated manuscript tradition. There is not enough historical content to warrant its use as an overall textbook, but it would serve well as one resource for studying the style and cultural significance of the manuscript tradition. It would have to be supplemented, but the visual images alone might make the text worth using. The end of the book includes a catalogue of images according to their manuscript sources, as well as a calendar of the liturgical year, suggestions for further reading, and an adequate index. As a winclow into the world of medieval faith and life, this book is tantalizing; it may not completely satisfy, but it certainly whets the appetite for more.

ELISE A. FEYERHERM

Augustana College

Rock Island, Illinois

Copyright Anglican Theological Review, Inc. Summer 2004
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