Reviewed by:

• Miracles in Medieval Canonization Processes: Structures, Functions, and Methodologies ed. by Christian Krötzl and Sari Katajala-Peltomaa
• Keagan Brewer

Much ink has been spilled on medieval hagiography, and rightly so given that the cults of the saints were so important to European culture and spirituality. However, too little research exists regarding the large and complex problem of the process of medieval canonization and its documentary heritage. This book offers first steps in redressing that gap. Building upon the work of Michael Goodich, André Vauchez, Gábor Klaniczay (who is also one of the contributors), and others, the volume asks such questions as: On what evidence were saints canonized? To what extent was there a formalized process, or was it idiosyncratic? What changes took place over the period? On what grounds did assessors distinguish ‘true’ saints’ miracles from ‘false’ ones?

The book begins with an administrative, but necessary, introduction that traverses the relevant terminology and broad changes that took place as the canonization process became more and more formalized, particularly between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. From there, the book dives into a series of exciting papers that will be of varying interest to varied readers. Without wishing to detail each paper (since the contents page should be available online), [End Page 223] broadly speaking they are concerned with the idiosyncrasies of miracle collecting, recording, and proof. There was a swirling maelstrom of factors that influenced a pope’s decision as to whether or not to canonize a saint: politics, the miracles’ nature and epistemological foundations, distance, cultural affinity, international relations, and the personalities of the different popes and cardinals involved. In addition, the vast majority of the miracles pertain to the healing of ailments, so the collection may be of interest to scholars of medieval medicine and the body.

Canonization in the Middle Ages was a serious business. It involved the intersection of lay and ecclesiastical cultures, which included layers of epistemology and issues around the oral and the written. Sometimes there were processions into the lands from which the alleged saints came (processus in partibus) and these functioned like a sort of happy inquisition. The process of canonization is also important for legal history, since, as Fröjmark observes (pp. 139–40), the articles of interrogation ‘were carried out in a manner that resembles the examination of witnesses at a trial’. Overall, the proofs used to justify miracles include wide reporting, the probity of informants, and the provision of post-factum physical evidence, with a preference for interviewees who had witnessed the events. Even then, as Didier Lett observes, there was much scepticism about saints’ miracles, for various reasons.

Overall, the book offers a welcome contribution to a difficult, sometimes dry topic that is nevertheless of much importance to medieval European society. But I would like to raise a few minor quibbles that do not overshadow the important contribution this book makes. The vast majority of personalities and situations under discussion pertain to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, so the book could more correctly have been titled Miracles in Late Medieval Canonization Processes. There are, of course, logistical reasons for this late focus, given that the documentary inheritance is much stronger for later centuries, though there is certainly enough from earlier centuries to build discussions on. I felt that more of the papers could have dived deeper into manuscript study, given that the documentary heritage of canonization processes is one of the book’s primary focuses. The highlight in this regard was Fröjmark’s chapter on Swedish miracle collections. Finally, more comparison between earlier and later canonization processes could have been useful to establish the extent to which medieval norms were unique, though admittedly the logistics of this are difficult.

These issues do not override the strength of this work in broad terms. Perhaps the largest contribution of the book is to bring to the study of the saints a new focus on the important and multifaceted issues...

审核人：

• 中世纪规范化过程中的奇迹：结构，功能和方法。克里斯蒂安·克罗茨（ChristianKrötzl）和莎莉·卡塔佳拉（Sari Katajala-Peltomaa）
• 凯根·布鲁尔（Keagan Brewer）

中世纪的航海术上已经大量溅出了墨水，这是正确的，因为圣徒的崇拜对于欧洲的文化和灵性是如此重要。但是，关于中世纪圣典化及其文献遗产的大而复杂的问题，研究很少。本书提供了弥补这一差距的第一步。该书以迈克尔·古迪奇（Michael Goodich），安德烈·瓦休兹（AndréVauchez），加博尔·克拉尼察（GáborKlaniczay）（也是贡献者之一）等人的著作为基础，提出了以下问题：圣徒对哪些证据进行了圣典化？在何种程度上形成了正式的流程，或者它是特质的？在此期间发生了什么变化？评估者基于什么理由将“真实”圣人的奇迹与“错误”圣人的奇迹区分开？

本书以行政性但必不可少的导言开头，该导言遍历了相关的术语以及随着正典化过程变得越来越正规化而发生的广泛变化，尤其是在十二世纪至十四世纪之间。从那开始，这本书潜入了一系列激动人心的论文，各个读者将对它们产生不同的兴趣。不希望详细介绍每篇论文（因为目录页面应该在线提供），[结束页面223]从广义上讲，他们关注奇迹收集，记录和证明的特质。影响教皇决定是否将圣册封为圣的因素有漩涡状漩涡：政治，奇迹的本质和认识论基础，距离，文化亲和力，国际关系以及所涉及的不同教皇和红衣主教的性格。此外，绝大部分的奇迹都与疾病的治愈有关，因此，中世纪医学和人体研究学者可能会对这些文献感兴趣。

中世纪的经典化是一项严肃的工作。它涉及外行和教会文化的交集，其中包括认识论的层次以及围绕口头和书面的问题。有时游行队伍涉嫌圣人来自这些地方（游行在同伴中），这些功能就像是一种快乐的宗教裁判所。规范化的过程对于法律历史也很重要，因为正如弗雷马克（Fröjmark）观察到的那样（第139-40页），审讯条款“的执行方式类似于在审判中对证人的检查”。总体而言，用于证明奇迹合理性的证据包括广泛报道，举报人的真相以及提供事后事实证据，偏爱目击事件的受访者。正如迪迪埃·莱特（Didier Lett）所观察到的那样，出于各种原因，人们仍然对圣徒的奇迹持怀疑态度。

总的来说，这本书为一个困难的，有时是枯燥的话题做出了令人欢迎的贡献，尽管这个话题对中世纪的欧洲社会非常重要。但是，我想提出一些小小的问题，但不要掩盖这本书所做的重要贡献。讨论中的绝大多数人格和处境都与14世纪和15世纪有关，因此该书本来可以更正确地被称为《中世纪晚期规范化过程中的奇迹》。。当然，由于后期文献记载的继承性要强得多，所以后一个焦点集中在后勤方面是有原因的，尽管从前几个世纪以来肯定有足够的基础可以进行讨论。我认为，鉴于规范化过程的文献遗产是本书的主要重点之一，所以更多的论文本可以更深入地研究手稿。这方面的重点是弗洛伊马克（Fröjmark）关于瑞典奇迹收藏的章节。最后，在早期和以后的规范化过程之间进行更多的比较可能有助于确定中世纪规范在多大程度上是独特的，尽管公认的是后勤工作很困难。

从广义上讲，这些问题并未覆盖这项工作的优势。这本书的最大贡献也许是使圣徒的研究重新聚焦于重要而又多方面的问题...