Saints In Late Medieval England Worship

From the cult of saint ('the center of medieval religion'), this thesis tries to find out something about the popular religion in the late medieval England, so that we can see whether the Reformation happened naturally or un-naturally.In the introduction, it outlines the purposes of writing, puts forward the way of researching of the thesis after introducing and summarizing the recent works about the English Reformation.Chapter One introduces the history about the cult of saint, and then analyzes the rise and development of the cult of saint in England.Chapter Two analyzes the function of the cult of saint. Receiving benefit from each other is the main character of the cult of saint. The cult of saint fulfills an extraordinary variety of functions. This may be broadly grouped under the headings of universal assistance, patronage, and political functions. The popular pray the saints for help by using the saints' names, making the promise, going pilgrimage, and so on.Chapter Three Something new has happened in the cult of saint in the late medieval England. From the analysis of the life of saint, we can see the cult of saint has become popular and begun to face the laity. New phenomena also appear in the practice of the cult of saint.Chapter Four The popular in England have had their own standpoints. They begin to take care of themselves, and 'the Individualism of Religion' develops from this.In the end, it summaries the main content of the above parts, and stresses the appearance of'the Individualism', then includes the viewpoint of this thesis.