{"product_id":"bonds-of-secrecy-law-spirituality-and-the-literature-of-concealment-in-early-medieval-england-paperback","title":"Bonds of Secrecy: Law, Spirituality, and the Literature of Concealment in Early Medieval England - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eBenjamin A. Saltzman\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow beliefs about human and divine secrets informed medieval ideas about the mind and shaped the practices of literary interpretations\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat did it mean to keep a secret in early medieval England? It was a period during which the experience of secrecy was intensely bound to the belief that God knew all human secrets, yet the secrets of God remained unknowable to human beings. In \u003ci\u003eBonds of Secrecy\u003c\/i\u003e, Benjamin A. Saltzman argues that this double-edged conception of secrecy and divinity profoundly affected the way believers acted and thought as subjects under the law, as the devout within monasteries, and as readers before books. One crucial way it did so was by forming an ethical relationship between the self and the world that was fundamentally different from its modern reflex. Whereas today the bearers of secrets might be judged for the consequences of their reticence or disclosure, Saltzman observes, in the early Middle Ages a person attempting to conceal a secret was judged for believing he or she could conceal it from God. In other words, to attempt to hide from God was to become ensnared in a serious sin, but to hide from the world while deliberately and humbly submitting to God's constant observation was often a hallmark of spiritual virtue. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLooking to law codes and religious architecture, hagiographies and riddles, \u003ci\u003eBonds of Secrecy\u003c\/i\u003e shows how legal and monastic institutions harnessed the pervasive and complex belief in God's omniscience to produce an intense culture of scrutiny and a radical ethics of secrecy founded on the individual's belief that nothing could be hidden from God. According to Saltzman, this ethics of secrecy not only informed early medieval notions of mental activity and ideas about the mind but also profoundly shaped the practices of literary interpretation in ways that can inform our own contemporary approaches to reading texts from the past.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBenjamin A. Saltzman is Associate Professor of English at the University of Chicago.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 360\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 9.21 x 6.14 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 04, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46974695964847,"sku":"9781512827903","price":49.02,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0723\/7314\/1679\/files\/wdPv7WHZZ39781512827903.webp?v=1779933180","url":"https:\/\/valuevaultclub.myshopify.com\/products\/bonds-of-secrecy-law-spirituality-and-the-literature-of-concealment-in-early-medieval-england-paperback","provider":"Value Vault Club","version":"1.0","type":"link"}