No abstract

Science and faith were inextricably intertwined in the Latin Middle Ages. Clerics would attend to both spiritual and physical needs because the need to care for the body coincided with the need to care for the soul. Until the rise of universities in the twelfth century, monasteries were the centers of scientific knowledge. And, even after the professionalization of medicine in the thirteenth century, Christian physicians continued to look to the Bible, in addition to their license, as the source of their authority. Indeed, many Christian physicians who received medical degrees went on to pursue higher degrees in theology. It is therefore not surprising that several Christian theologians used medical theories in the service of theology.

No abstract

No abstract

This chapter talks about Jewish culture in Castile from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries and returns to two early mothers. It examines Rachel and Mary's lives and their respective transformations in Jewish mystical literature and Christian theology. The chapters examines the cultural transformations and metamorphosis of Rachel into a symbol of the Shekhinah as an attempt to cope with the particular cultural situation of exile within the dominant Christian culture of the time. It also explains how Rachel becomes the divine mother suffering for her children in exile. The chapter illustrates the theological transformation of Rachel that enabled Jews to respond to the Christian devotion to Mary on a cosmic scale in order to grapple with their exilic condition. It recounts stories of Rachel and Mary in the sacred texts of the Jewish and Christian faiths which have inspired devotees, religious scholars, and historians for thousands of years.