Invisible, in Full View

Ever since the publication of Peter Brown’s seminal study of the cult of saints in late antiquity, the nexus between presence (praesentia), visibility, and potency (potentia) has been central to scholarly debates about relics and their significance in medieval societies. As is now widely held, the power of relics to act within and to intercede for a given community rested on their localised presence and availability. However, relics were neither permanently nor directly visible to the faithfu..