 | Furta sacra: thefts of relics in the central Middle Ages To obtain sacred relics, medieval monks plundered tombs, avaricious merchants raided churches, and relic-mongers scoured the Roman catacombs. In a revised edition of Furta Sacra , Patrick Geary considers the social and cultural context for these acts, asking how the relics were perceived and why the thefts met with the approval of medieval Christians. Patrick J. Geary is Professor of History at the University of Florida. |
