Idol, defend yourself! The Cult of Images and Iconoclastic Violence in the Middle Ages

Throughout all known history, people kill not only other people but also images. Most often (foreign) gods and (overthrown) rulers. They are dismembered, smashed, crossed out, scraped, torn out, cut out, burned. To describe these actions, we have only a few words at our disposal: «iconoclasm», «vandalism», «censorship». However, this vocabulary is often insufficient. Often, the images that are attacked do not disappear but remain in place - mutilated, altered, and, strangely enough, transformed.

This book is dedicated to the practices related to the attack on images: from revenge on demons and sinners drawn on a manuscript page, to compelling saints to assist through their icons or statues. From religious iconoclasm to moral censorship unleashed on images of naked bodies. This story will begin in early Christian times and reach the early modern period: the era of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.