The Late Medieval Cistercian Monastery of Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire: Monastic Administration, Economy, and Archival Memory

Abstract

terms of these debates (e.g., res, res sacramenti, signum) would have helped clarify the ways that medieval and early modern people understood these images in relation to one another. Moreover, the relationship between relics and miraculous images would have also benefited from more discussion; they are only briefly noted in the introduction, in which Balzamo writes that figural representations (that are considered to be miraculous) actually overtake relics in terms of importance at the end of the Middle Ages (33). In sum, L’image miraculeuse is an excellent volume for anyone working on this broad topic and specifically for scholars and teachers who are looking for a well-organized and synthetic account of the history of miraculous images in European Christianity. For those teaching at Francophone universities, I could easily imagine multiple essays in this volume being appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate students, specifically Balzamo’s introduction and those case studies I have cited above. Although it cannot stand alone as a new definitive history on this topic given its focus on particular media and places, it productively contributes to our ongoing understanding of the history of miraculous images, the ways we might sensitively approach their study today, and what they might have in common across a historically expansive period of time.