The medieval popular Bible is a term used especially in literary studies, but also in art history and other disciplines, to encompass the wide variety of presentations of biblical material in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

culture not directly recorded in the exegetical tradition. The "exegetical tradition" means the vast corpus of Latin writings, often

biblical commentaries Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretations ...

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

s or preaching handbooks, diatribes against doctrinal deviancy and philosophical explorations, in which scholars of the medieval

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

present the Bible according to medieval orthodoxy. Its intended readership is, in the first instance, other theologians. In contrast to this, the "medieval popular Bible" is aimed at the ordinary population of medieval Europe, and to some extent is also created by them. It ranges from very pious vernacular writings such as the Biblical Epic to scurrilous

fabliau A ''fabliau'' (; plural ''fabliaux'') is a comic, often anonymous tale written by jongleurs in northeast France between c. 1150 and 1400. They are generally characterized by sexual and scatological obscenity, and by a set of contrary attitudes� ...

x in which biblical figures make an appearance. It includes most religious drama, much

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

and some wild and fanciful retellings of

Bible stories The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. The

forbidden fruit Forbidden fruit is a name given to the fruit growing in the Garden of Eden which God commands mankind not to eat. In the biblical story, Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and are exiled from Eden. As a ...

is a standard example. The

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

itself does not say what kind of fruit it was, but in the popular retelling, as opposed to the theological schools, it became an

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

. Since the apple served well to communicate spiritual ideas, the exegetical tradition did not resist it. In the medieval understanding of biblical truth, there was no need for a modern style of debate on the accuracy of the motif. Serious work on this area of medieval culture probably began with

Beryl Smalley Beryl Smalley (1905–1984) was an English historian best known for her work ''The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages'', originally published in 1941, but revised many times, a book that laid the foundations of modern study of the medieval ...

in the 1940s. The term "medieval popular Bible" became established in scholarship relatively recently as a result of the writings of

Brian O. Murdoch Brian Oliver Murdoch (born 26 June 1944) is a British philologist who is Emeritus Professor of German at the University of Stirling. He specializes in the study of early Germanic and Celtic literature, on which he has authored and edited severa ...

, though the phrase had been used before him, usually in a less clearly defined way.H. L. Spencer, "Review of Brian Murdoch. The Medieval Popular Bible: Expansions of Genesis in the Middle Ages," ''Review of English Studies'', 2005

References

* *James H. Morey, "Peter Comestor, Biblical Paraphrase, and the Medieval Popular Bible, ''Speculum'' 68 (1993), 6-35. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Medieval Popular Bible Biblical studies Medieval literature Christianity in the Middle Ages

See also

References