Nikolaus of Flüe († 1487)

During the fifteenth century the number of saints increased dramatically. But most of them had already been dead for centuries and were known only through the pages of their vitae. Living saints became rare, chiefly because of the unwaveringly skeptical approach towards them. Critics were always asking, How does one recognise a saint? What do "real" saints look like? What is the relationship between what is outside and what is inside, between the physical appearance and the inner self of a man? As this paper will demonstrate, it was was not so much these questions as the answers that were new

Art · Art history · Asceticism · Church History · Fifteenth · Medieval history · SAINT · Skepticism · Theology · Classics · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity