Product Description: The essays in this volume transcend eastern and western geographical boundaries during a loosely-defined mediaeval and early-modern period, ranging from Carolingian Europe to Qing China, and pull rituals out of their geographical contexts...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Robes and Honor is a fascinating exploration of the possible common origin and subsequent developments of investiture across medieval Christianity and medieval Islam. The ceremony in all of its cultural variety was much more than the public adoption of a high-value textile as symbol of office; within a culture, robing established a personal link 'from the hand' of the giver - king, pope, head of a sect, ambassador - to the receiver - noble, general, official, nun, or acolyte...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Papers from a conference at the University of Minnesota, 1991.