This dissertation investigates the medieval understanding of sacred place and argues that bodies and bodily mtaphors were central to the establishment, function, use, and power of medieval churches. It lays bare the intimate relationship between the two facades of Christian sacred place: building and body. It questions the traditional division of sacred and profane jurisdictions, arguing for the need to consider non-devotional uses of churches in the Middle Ages. Only when the tension between the jurisdictions is explored will historians construct accurate representations of medieval sacred places and reveal living churches.

Part one examines idealized visions of medieval sacred places. Chapter I addresses the shift in locus of Christian sacred space from building to body while the second chapter shows how the body was central to the function of churches. As the clergy of Chartres Cathedral cultivated a place for their church in the world of medieval pilgrimage, they tried to harness the energy of the cult of the Virgin and localize it in their cathedral. The anchor of that energy was the sancta camisia, which transferred power to Chartres and to the human bodies it touched.

The second part of the dissertation turns to mundane and profane uses of these buildings, examining how bodies could challenge their sacred quality. Chapter three details common non-devotional activities that medieval churches accommodated. The fourth chapter discusses the profanation of time, place, and person with the assassination in 1170 of Thomas Becket and argues that Thomas' remains championed his violated church and contributed to the prestige of Chartres Cathedral. The conclusion places in a larger context observations made in previous chapters, considering them in relation to historical change. It posits that as loyalties were torn by emerging political, economic, and social groups the Church suffered a loss of security that was reflected in the uses of sacred spaces. It appears that sacred spaces became truly reserved as identities shifted and Europeans began to order the ambiguity of the Middle Ages.

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