The Carolingian Debate over Sacred Space (The New Middle Ages)

Book info: The Carolingian Debate over Sacred Space (The New Middle Ages) (Paperback, 247 pages) – Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Language: English.

Retracing the contours of a bitter controversy over the meaning of sacred architecture that flared up among some of the leading lights of the Carolingian renaissance, Collins explores how ninth-century authors articulated the relationship of form to function and ideal to reality in the ecclesiastical architecture of the Carolingian empire. Editorial Reviews Review

"In this brief volume, Collins offers an interesting study of Carolingian thoughts on holy places, namely, churches and monasteries. After a reader-friendly introduction, he sensibly begins with earlier thoughts on sacred space committed to writing by the likes of Bede and the Collectio canonum Hibernensis . . . Space as a concept connects easily to other topics, and students may find the parts on the St. Gall Plan and the standing churches of the conclusion interesting . . . Recommended" - Choice

"[Collins'] stimulating contribution is less a study of the debate around the holy place as it is a further important and worth reading indication of the problem field of the importance Carolingian temporal exegesis for the training of religious ideas that observed although the Carolingian reform in the recent literature, but not yet has been adequately analyzed." - Sehepunkte

About the Author Samuel W. Collins is Assistant Professor of History at George Mason University.