INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF BIBLICAL STUDIES /Internationale Zeitschriftenschau für Bibelwissenchaft und Grenzgebiete vol. 54 : 2007/08

The Politics of the relics from Constantine to Saint Louis" (Louis IX of France), Le. from the fourth century to the thirteenth century, is a French doctoral thesis on the political use of relics of the saints and particles of the cross of Christ. The focus is on medieval France for which, as the author demonstrates, the political use of the relics served as a model to imitate. In the Byzantine Empire, relics were brought to the capital city, marking its space as sacred space under the control of the imperial authorities. In the West, the medieval miniaturist Matthew Paris shows Louis IX as he elevates a cross, calling, attention to it by proclaiming the words "ecce crucem Domini" (p. 246) - behold, the cross of Christ, thereby establishing a close link between the ruler and the authority of Christ. Boz6ky collects and analyzes sources that reflect not only the dynastic use of relics but also their more localized use to mark territories as belonging to saints and, by implication, to the lords who serve the respective saints. Medieval political authorities used relics to enhance the sacrality of their own power. - A most valuable contribution to the study of medieval mentalities.