Description:
Analyzes a broad array of sources--from saints' lives to medical treatises, exorcists' manuals to miracle accounts--to find that observers came to rely on the discernment of bodies rather than seeking to distinguish between divine and demonic possession in purely spiritual terms.
Review Quotes:
Discerning Spirits is clearly an important contribution to the study of medieval culture, demonic possession, sainthood, and women's history. Caciola has a strong command of Latin, French, German, and Italian as witnessed in the numerous translations dispersed throughout the text.... Ultimately, the work succeeds in laying out a framework for the discernment of bodies associated with divine and demonic possession, especially among women.
-- "Comitatus"