It is impossible to understand the late Middle Ages without grasping the importance of The Golden Legend, the most popular medieval collection of saints' lives. Assembled for clerical use in the thirteenth century by Genoese archbishop Jacobus de Voragine, the book became the medieval equivalent of a best seller. This title deals with this book.

Preface ix Acknowledgments xv 1. Jacobus de Voragine in His Time 1 2. The Major Inspirations for Jacobus de Voragine 9 3. The Prologue and the Temporale 14 * The Prologue 14 * The Temporale 19 4. The Sanctorale 22 * Saintliness and Christianity 22 * Saints in the Golden Legend 24 * All Saints Day 26 5. The Time of Renewal 33 * Advent 33 * The Saints of Advent 35 * Saint Andrew, Apostle 36 * Saint Nicholas 39 * Saint Lucy, Virgin 45 * Saint Thomas, Apostle 47 6. The Time of Reconciliation and Pilgrimage 51 * The Birth of Our Lord: Jesus According to the Flesh 52 * Saint Anastasia 55 * Saint Stephen 56 * Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist 59 * The Holy Innocents 62 * Saint Thomas of Canterbury 63 * Saint Sylvester 65 * The Circumcision of the Lord and the Epiphany of the Lord 68 * Saint Paul, Hermit, and Saint Anthony 73 * Saint Paul 76 * Saint John the Almsgiver 81 7. The Time of Deviation 84 * From Septuagesima to Quadragesima 86 * The Ember Day Fasts 89 * The Passion of the Lord 90 * The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary 92 * The Annunciation of the Lord 95 * Saint Gregory, Saint Benedict, and Saint Patrick 96 8. The Time of Reconciliation 100 * The Ascension of the Lord 103 * The Holy Spirit 106 * The Finding of the Holy Cross 108 * The Greater and Lesser Litanies 111 * Saint Ambrose 113 * Saint George 115 * Saint Mark, Evangelist 117 * Saint Peter Martyr 118 9. The Time of Pilgrimage 121 * The Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary 122 * The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 126 * The Exaltation of the Holy Cross 128 * The Finding of Saint Stephen, the First Martyr, and the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist 130 * Multiple Saints 132 * Saint Maurice and His Companions 133 * Saints Dionysius, Rusticus, and Eleutherius 135 * The Eleven Thousand Virgins 137 * The Four Crowned Martyrs 138 * Saint John the Baptist 139 * Saint Peter, Apostle 141 * Saint Paul, Apostle 142 * Saint Christopher 143 * Saint Dominic 144 * Saint Bernard 145 * Saint Augustine 148 * Saint Michael, Archangel 152 * Saint Jerome 154 * Saint Francis 156 * Saint Martin, Bishop 157 * Saint Elizabeth of Hungary 161 * Saint Catherine 164 * All Saints and the Commemoration of All Souls 165 * Saint Pelagius, Pope: The History of the Lombards 170 * The Dedication of a Church 176 Conclusion 181 Afterword 183 Notes 185 Bibliography 197 *1. Jacobus de Voragine and the Golden Legend 197 *2. Genoa in the Time of Jacobus de Voragine 199 *3. The "Beautiful" Thirteenth Century 200 *4. The Latin Legendaries 200 *5. The Dominicans in the Thirteenth Century 201 *6. Liturgy and Christian Time in the Middle Ages 201 *7. Christian Time in the Middle Ages 202 *8. Saints and Sanctity under Christianity 202 *9. Various Studies on Time 203 *10. Time and History 205 Index 207

"In the distinguished historian Jacques Le Goff, The Golden Legend has found an interpreter whose prose shimmers as radiantly as the precious metal evoked in the title of the great compendium itself. Le Goff's reading is brilliant and wholly persuasive, providing a riveting sense of what contemporary readers and listeners perceived in this most popular book. In Search of Sacred Time is a lovely meditation, one of the most moving pieces of scholarship I have ever read."—William Chester Jordan, Princeton University"In this penetrating and enlightening study, the great medievalist Jacques Le Goff demonstrates how The Golden Legend, far from being a mere collection of pious legends or saints' lives, is a carefully constructed meditation on Christian time. Engaging readers in the subtlety and beauty of medieval culture, Le Goff reveals how The Golden Legend was designed to show that the stories of saints and their passions marked time and helped make it sacred."—Patrick Geary, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton"This is a comprehensive and innovative interpretation of The Golden Legend. Jacques Le Goff—one of the world's finest medieval historians—has produced a most engaging and important book. It combines utter authority, intellectual vigor, beautiful prose, and countless rich insights into medieval culture. Taking the approach of a cultural historian, Le Goff shows why the vastly ambitious Golden Legend had such a tremendous purchase on the medieval imagination."—Miri Rubin, Queen Mary University of London