The Politics of Sanctity

The Politics of Sanctity Synopsis

"Having been sacked and burned during the religious wars and then left to moulder for decades, the church has until now received little attention. Yet despite the efforts of religious zealots and the subsequent restorers, the structure survives largely unaltered and new research has revealed it as an early Romanesque church ... Much of the architectural sculpture tells the story of the little-know local saint - Eusice ... What has not before now been recognised is the extent to which the iconography is embedded in comtemporary politics, particularly the consolidation of Catholic dogma. This was the period not only of the first burning of heretics in the west but also of the vicious persecution of Jews in France and Germany which led on to the Crusades and attacks on Muslim communities in the Middle East. Thus, the sculpture at Selles was conceived as a means not only to fabricate a new saint and to counter contemporary challenges to Ort