Age of Doubt: Saints and Sceptics

The medieval period was a golden age of saints and miracles, but they were met with a healthy dose of scepticism.

Lucy Parker | Published in History Today Volume 72 Issue 12 December 2022

Saint Thomas Becket curing a man in his sickbed, stained glass window (detail), Canterbury Cathedral, early 13th century. Canterbury Cathedral/ Reproduced courtesy of the Chapter, Canterbury Cathedral/ Bridgeman Images.

Medieval society is often viewed as exceptionally religious and medieval people as both pious and gullible, believing in the unbelievable and impossible. This image is furthered by modern commentators and journalists who still invoke the Middle Ages as a parallel to any modern behaviour that they wish to depict as naive or credulous. Many surviving medieval monuments we encounter today are religious in nature, from grand cathedrals and churches to golden images of saints and biblical figures in museums.