Ministry to the Sick and Dying in the Late Medieval Church

"This is a learned and well-written volume by a highly experienced scholar whose research in both primary and secondary sources is exceptionally wide, deep, and up-to-date. The geographical breadth and textual depth of this survey, which includes not only major and less well-known figures and texts on canon law and theology but also sermons, manuals for preachers, legislation of church councils and synods, visitation records, rulings of individual prelates, saints' lives and more, gives this study a range that puts it in a class of its own, with a coverage not found in previous treatments of its subject."—Marcia Colish , author of Faith, Fiction, and Force in Medieval Baptism Debates

"Izbicki provides a precise and moving portrait of the late medieval pastoral approach to suffering and pain on the threshold between earthly death and, it was hoped, eternal life. He has drawn from quite a range of sources—liturgy and ritual, theology and scripture, and especially canon law—to illustrate vividly the pastoral ministry of care for the sick and dying in the late Middle Ages."—Christopher M. Bellitto, Kean University

"Izbicki gives an exceptionally thorough review of medieval texts relating to care for the sick and dying. He takes into account an impressive range of canonical material, pastoral manuals, and other sources. Running through the chapters is the underlying question of the relationship, practical as well as rhetorical, between sickness and sin. Anyone working in this field will wish to make use of this helpfully far-reaching compendium."—Richard Kieckhefer, Northwestern University

"Izbicki's careful analysis of writings by many types of churchmen over centuries, contributes an important chapter to our understanding of medieval attitudes and experiences around death, care, and the sacred."—Miri Rubin, Queen Mary University of London