Marvellous to Behold: Miracles in Medieval Manuscripts (review)

Marvellous to Behold is a lavishly designed book about the representation of miracles in medieval illuminated manuscripts. It will appeal to a wide audience: students, bibliophiles, people with an interest in religion and religious topics, and the general public. Although thoroughly researched, it is not intended to be a scholarly report on a research project concerning the iconography of miracles. It is a well-written book about certain aspects of medieval beliefs and their visualization, without entering into theological or philosophical contexts in particular depth.

Relying mostly on the resources of the British Library, the author presents a wide range of miracle stories. Many of these are biblical and thus relevant to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike, even though the textual versions often differ in the details. The book opens with a short introduction presenting several basic notions, such as the differentiation between miracles and magic, the characterization of miracles, polemical miracles, and miracle stories related to steadfast faith with the purpose of demonstrating the superiority of one religion over the other(s).

The first chapter discusses stories about natural wonders, intended to show God’s and Jesus’s sovereignty over nature: the Creation; Jesus’s miracles in the New Testament; Islamic traditions about miracles performed by Mohammed. A topos that recurs in all three religions is the speaking animal that understands the sacred or brings help to a saint. The author addresses the question whether people in the Late Middle Ages were notably irrational and argues that miracles were judged by a different set of standards than scientific facts, standards that were “shaped by faith, hope, desire and devotion” (p. 43).

Healing miracles are the subject of the next chapter, describing stories about Jesus healing by touch or by the spoken word. In the Middle Ages illness was associated with demons and believed to have been caused by sin. Numerous illustrations depict demons and acts of exorcism performed by saints.

The third chapter discusses stories of rescue from dangerous situations. An example is the story of Meshack, Shadrack, and Abednego in the Fiery Furnace, a typical legend of steadfast faith, of which variants were developed in all three monotheistic religions, all of them visualized in various manuscripts: in the Hebrew Golden Haggadah, in Rashid-al-Din’s Universal History, in Fuzuli’s Hadikat al-Suada, in the Christian Speculum Humanae Salvationis, and Queen Mary’s Psalter.

The last chapter is “God Provides”—namely manna, quail, water in the desert, a spring for Hagar, and a ram to be sacrificed in lieu of Isaac, the latter again bearing a different significance in the three religions. In Islam, it is Ishmael who was almost sacrificed; in Christianity, the binding prefigures Jesus’s sacrifice; in Judaism, the story stands for obedience and steadfast faith.

Throughout the book various pieces of background information are supplied: Christian minorities in Islamic countries, such as Syriac Christians in Iraq; Jews in France; Jewish life in Barcelona; Hebrew micrography; the cultural background of the Universal History written around 1300 by Rashid-al-Din in Persia; and more.

Jackson closes with a few remarks on the role played by miracle tales with “their affirming messages and democratic character” (p. 137) in the medieval world. They were addressed to all levels of society, and they told stories not only about saints and prophets but also about ordinary people. She also says a few words about the role of images in communicating independent interpretations of ancient, well-known, and often-repeated miracle tales; they “were designed to edify believers rather than to persuade skeptics. . .” (p. 140).

Although addressing a general audience, the author has taken great care to give an accurate account of the background to the stories and images she presents. This book, written in lively prose and handsomely provided with high-quality color reproductions, could also offer interesting ideas for teaching at an undergraduate level.