In premodern Moroccan Sufism, sainthood involved not only a closeness to the Divine presence (walaya) but also the exercise of worldly authority (wilaya). The Moroccan Jazuliyya Sufi order used the doctrine that the saint was a "substitute of the prophets" and personification of a universal "Muhammadan Reality" to justify nearly one hundred years of Sufi involvement in Moroccan political life, which led to the creation of the sharifian state. This book presents a systematic history of Moroccan Sufism through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries C.E. and a comprehensive study of Moroccan Sufi doctrine, focusing on the concept of sainthood. Vincent J. Cornell engages in a sociohistorical analysis of Sufi institutions, a critical examination of hagiography as a source for history, a study of the Sufi model of sainthood in relation to social and political life, and a sociological analysis of more than three hundred biographies of saints. He concludes by identifying eight indigenous ideal types of saint that are linked to specific forms of authority. Taken together, they define sainthood as a socioreligious institution in Morocco.

In premodern Moroccan Sufism, sainthood involved not only a closeness to the Divine presence (walaya) but also the exercise of worldly authority (wilaya). The Moroccan Jazuliyya Sufi order used the doctrine that the saint was a "substitute of the prophets" and personification of a universal "Muhammadan Reality" to justify nearly one hundred years of Sufi involvement in Moroccan political life, which led to the creation of the sharifian state. This book presents a systematic history of Moroccan Sufism through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries C.E. and a comprehensive study of Moroccan Sufi doctrine, focusing on the concept of sainthood. Vincent J. Cornell engages in a sociohistorical analysis of Sufi institutions, a critical examination of hagiography as a source for history, a study of the Sufi model of sainthood in relation to social and political life, and a sociological analysis of more than three hundred biographies of saints. He concludes by identifying eight indigenous ideal types of saint that are linked to specific forms of authority. Taken together, they define sainthood as a socioreligious institution in Morocco.

Now recognised as the standard work on the subject, Realm of St Stephen is a comprehensive history of medieval Eastern and Central Europe. Pál Engel traces the establishment of the medieval kingdom of Hungary from its conquest by the Magyar tribes in 895 until defeat by the Ottomans at the Battle of Mohacs in 1526. He shows the development of the dominant Magyars who, upon inheriting an almost empty land, absorbed the remaining Slavic peoples into their culture after the original communities had largely disappeared. Engel's book is an accessible and highly readable history. 'This is now the standard English language treatment of medieval Hungary - its internal history as well as its regional and European significance.' --- P W Knoll, University of Southern Carolina (From 'Choice') 'A lively and highly readable narrative ' --- Albrecht Classen, University of Arizona (From 'Mediaevistik')

The King of Limits, Han Chen, was reincarnated in the body of the trash from the Han family. He relied on his Heavenly Treasures, the Heaven Swallowing Stone, to break through the imprisonment of the Nine Yin and Nine Yang bodies. From a tiny ant to a mighty being that could cover the sky with one hand, Han Chen had exterminated the devil and destroyed the devil, standing on the feet of thousands of sects. He was the supreme ruler of all worlds!

The extraordinary growth and development of the cult of St Thomas Becket is investigated here, with a particular focus on its material culture.

His father was killed, his family was annihilated, endless humiliation struck his soul, heaven and earth were unable to accept this hatred. The iron-blooded youth went against the will of the heavens, his status was poor, and he descended to the underworld, where he roamed the world of the undead, where he turned into the god of slaughter and massacred the heavens.