The Role of Miracles and the Supernatural in
Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages
Supernatural events and miracles are very common in
medieval lierature. Many of these miracles were used for common
purposes, which were to provide examples of an ideal Christian
way of life and promote conversion to Christianity. They do
this by writing about miracles that punished people who acted
improperly, miracles that took place to reward Christians for
doing good deeds, showing extreme and persistent faith, or for
those who were leading moral lives. Some examples of medieval
literature that contain miracles which serve this purpose are
Saint Augustine’s Confessions, MacMullen’s Christianity and
Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries, HillGarth’s
Christianity and Paganism, 350-750, Bede’s Ecclesiastical
History of the English People, Gregory of Tours’ History of the
Franks, and in the works of Saint Boniface.
Saint Augustine’s work includes a miracle that took place
because a man begged his admission to god. This man was blind
and had heard of people who were “…vexed by impure spirits and
were healed…” (165).
He immediately asked his guide to being
him to the place were this was happening, which was where the
bodies of the martyrs Protasius and Gervasius lay. He rubbed a
sacred cloth over his eyes and immediately regained his lost
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Saint Augustine was born on 354 CE in Tagaste, Africa. His given name was Aurelius Augustinus. His father wasPatricius, a pagan who was baptized Christian before he died, and his mother was Monica, a baptized Christian with an influential role in the life of her son. Augustine is regarded as one of the most intelligent Christian theologians and bishops of all time. His works and actions have left ...
eyesight. This miracle was included to show the benefits of
showing one’s allegiance to god and by doing so, Augustine would
be able to get others to convert to Christianity. Augustine
describes the roles of miracles himself when he wrote that they
“…symbolize the sacraments of initiation and miraculous
wonders necessary to initiate and convert ‘uninstructed and
unbelieving people’ (I Cor. 14:23)” (299).
MacMullen’s book also contains accounts of miracles that
were used for conversion. One such miracle (from Augustine’s
catalog) took place when a youth was said to have been entered
by a water demon. He was brought to the same shrine I mentioned
earlier which contained relics of Protasius and Gervasius. The
demon then leaves the child’s body and writhes in pain and the
boy is cured. Other such miracles that were said to have taken
place in front of large crowds were done by Gregory the Great.
He was known for “…exorcisms, restoration of sight to the
blind, even restoration of sight to the dead…” (96).
It is
his belief that “The converts had cared little for sect or
theology, only for relief of what ailed them” (125).
In other
words, people would often convert for selfish reasons, in order
to heal themselves of a physical problem rather than converting
due to true belief in Christianity. MacMullen also wrote of
supernaural beliefs whose existence began sometime around midway
through the fourth century. This book touches on these beliefs
more so than the others. The beliefs in the healing power of
relics is ironic in that it almost seems Pagan. For instance,
object that saints touched while living were believed to hold
special powers that the saints used during their lives. There
were even arguements in Palestine as to who would own the
remnants of martyrs bodies. This superstition got to the point
where even monks were ween fighting over Saint Martin’s cloak
because of the belief that it was full of healing power.
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MacMullen writes of how martrys may have been a creation of the
bishops of the time in an effort to put an end to paganism.
Another example of a supernatural superstition takes place when
Severinus went on a mission to Noricum and attempted to
“…banish blight from the wheat fields…by marking boundary
posts with the cross, to ward off floods” (97).
Yet another
case of superstition existed in the belief that plants that were
found only at the foot of a statue of Jesus contained immense
healing powers. While these plants may have contained healing
power, MacMullen takes note of the fact that many of the plants
taken from around saint’s relics were already known for their
value as healing agents. The reason I stated earlier that these
beliefs were Pagan-like is the fact that they are based purely
on superstition. MacMullen’s Christianity and Paganism in the
Fourth to Eighth Centuries offers many more examples of both
miraculous events and superstitions that existed in late
antiquity and the early middle ages. Through MacMullen’s work,
it becomes clear that many of these superstitions may have been
fabricated in an attempt to gain conversions to Christianity.
In Christianity and Paganism, 350-750, HilGarth justifies
some of these practices by writing “Today we know that neither
an unscientific view of the world nor the exaltation of
asceticism were the creatures of Christianity but were the
leading features of the world Christianity entered” (5).
In
other words, these supernatural beliefs in miracles and
superstitions were not at all purely Christian. On the other
hand, they existed in Chrisianity because people of that period
accepted and believed in them, which is why they play such a
prominant role in the development of Christianity. Hilgarth
believes that Christianity’s advantages over Paganism lay in its
superior organization and its moral teachings, rather than its
use of miracles which was relatively universal to religions
during this time period. From Hilgarth’s work, it can be said
that miracles were used mostly as a means of conversion and
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What Motivated Vladimir I to convert to Christianity and how did the new religion change the culture of Eastern Slavs? Paganism was a mental mindset of the Eastern Slavs living in a world where a majority of the European countries surrounding them had already converted to a monastic religion. Vladimir I, a great prince of Kiev, reigned from 980 till 1015 and succeeded in the mass conversion of the ...
proof of God’s will. For example in one of Saint Boniface’s
work, a section was devoted to the description of an event that
occured when a Pagan tree was ordered to be cut down. The
Pagans held this tree as sacred and believed that it contained
special powers. When the very first chop of the axe hit the
tree, it magically shattered into many pieces, which was
supposed to prove to the Pagans that their religion is heretic
and that they should convert to Christianity. Miracles of this
cleary prove HilGrath’s belief that they focused on conversion.
Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People and
Gregory of Tours’ History of the Franks also contain many
miracles which served the purpose of promoting conversion. This
is supported in a letter to Augustine from Pope Gregory in which
Gregory wrote “Clearly understand your own character, and how
much grace is in this nation for whose conversion God has given
you the power to work miracles” (93).
One of these miracles
happened in the Province of the Northumbrians. According to
Willibrord, archbishop of Utrecht, a man returned from the dead
and gave an account of all that he saw. He died in the early
hours of one night and woke up alive the next morning to a group
of people standing around him weeping. During his flirttion
with death, had a guide who showed him the souls of men in
purgatory who failed to show allegience to God. Upon his
resurection, he became a monk. There is no doubt that this
passage was written to wanr non-Christians of what will come
after death if they fail to convert.
While Gregory’s miracles often speak of conversion, many
of them also provide examples of an ideal Christian way of life.
For example, on page 107, Gregory wrote of a young Christain
girl who was being persecuted by Trasamund. Because this girl
refused to renounce the Holy Trinity, she was tortured and
untimately killed. Gregory then wrote of how after her death,
the girl was “…consecrated to Christ our lord…” (108).
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This
passage was about how absolute faith in God is rewarded in the
end and that there are benefits such as the afterlife for having
strong faith. Gregory also wrote of Saint Eugenius and how he
often made miracles happen through Christ’s guidance. Because
of this, the Aryan Bishop, Cyrola, became jealous and attempted
to stage a fake miracle in Eugenius’ presence. The Aryan Bishop
paid a man fifty pieces of gold to feign blindness. While
Cyrola and Eugenius passed by the man, he pleaded to Cyrola to
cure his blindness. While Cyrola and Eugenius passed by the
man, he pleaded to Cyrola to cure his blindness. Cyrola put his
hand on the man and pretended to cause a miracle to happen. The
man was caused extreme pain in his eyes and lost his vision. He
then pleaded for forgiveness to Eugenius and regained his
eyesight. This story taught Christians that they can be
forgiven for their sins, but they must be careful to look out
for false miracles.
These miracles in these books were mostly used for
conversion, or to provide examples of an ideal Christian way of
life. Many of the superstitions may have been used for
conversion as well. Regardless of their respective purposes,
there is no denying the significance of miracles and
superstitions in late antiquity and the medieval period.
