The humanist grammar of sanctity in the early Lives of Thomas More

• Published in: Sanctity As Literature In Late Medieval Britain p. 209
• Main Author: Larsen, Anna Siebach
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Manchester University Press 16.05.2016
• Subjects: Anthropology; Applied anthropology; Arts; Behavioral sciences; Biological sciences; Biology; Business; Catholicism; Ceremonial objects; Ceremonies; Cultural anthropology; Cultural customs; Death; Developmental biology; Devotional objects; Doctrinal theology; Folklore; Folkloristics; hagiography; Historical legends; Holy relics; Humanism; Identity; Industrial sectors; Industry; Legends; Life cycle; Literary devices; Literary genres; Literary history; Literary studies; Literary Studies (Early and Medieval); Literary tropes; Literature; Manufacturing industries; Martyrdom; Personality; Personality psychology; Personality theories; Printing; Printing industry; Psychology; relics; Religion; Religious literature; Rituals; Saints legends; Sanctity; Social identity; Social roles; Systematic theology; Theology; Thomas More
• ISBN: 9780719089701; 0719089700
• DOI: 10.7228/manchester/9780719089701.003.0011

In the dedicatory epistle of hisLife of Sir Thomas More, Nicholas Harpsfield refers to his text as ‘a garlande decked and adorned with pretious pearles and stones’, fashioned from the ‘pleasaunt, sweete nosegaye of most sweete and odoriferous flowers’ of William Roper’s own, earlierLyfe of Sir Thomas Moore.¹ Collapsing temporal and technological boundaries, Harpsfield’s description encompasses his subject, his style, and – in its evocation of the verdant borders of the manuscript or the woodcut title page – the potential materiality of his text. It indicates a moment of transition, in which familiar motifs, genres, and symbols can be reappropriated,