{"product_id":"servants-of-god-slaves-of-the-church-service-as-religious-metaphor-and-social-reality-in-early-medieval-europe-hardcover","title":"Servants of God, Slaves of the Church: Service as Religious Metaphor and Social Reality in Early Medieval Europe - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eLisa Kaaren Bailey\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eServants of God, Slaves of the Church\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e, Lisa Kaaren Bailey uncovers the surprising intimacy between sacred devotion and coerced labor in early medieval Europe\u003c\/b\u003e. From queens who scrubbed monastery floors to enslaved women forced into lifelong service, acts of humility and acts of subjugation often looked the same and were interpreted through the same religious lens. Drawing from sermons, letters, miracle stories, and hagiographies, Bailey shows how metaphors of service shaped not only elite piety but also the lived experience of those at the very bottom of the social order.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a story of lives that were often absent from the historical record: those who lit church lamps, laundered liturgical linens, and sustained Christian worship through their unseen labor. Bailey weaves together theology, cultural history, and feminist historiography to trace how Christian ideas about virtue, sin, and the will both justified unfreedom and offered tools to contest it. Her use of \"critical fabulation\" animates the archive without fictionalizing it, allowing glimpses of agency in places where it was rarely recorded.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy placing the metaphor of service alongside its social reality, \u003ci\u003eServants of God, Slaves of the Church\u003c\/i\u003e reshapes how we think about labor, power, and religious meaning in the centuries after Rome. A deeply informed work of both historical scholarship and moral insight, this book gives voice to the voiceless and demands a reconsideration of what it meant to serve God.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLisa Kaaren Bailey is Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient History and History at the University of Auckland. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Religious Worlds of the Laity in Late Antique Gaul \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eChristianity's Quiet Success\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 228\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.69 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 15, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51978322903341,"sku":"9781501785757","price":76.92,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/7C6P3jHBiH9781501785757.webp?v=1775801616","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/servants-of-god-slaves-of-the-church-service-as-religious-metaphor-and-social-reality-in-early-medieval-europe-hardcover","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}