Furta Sacra: Thefts of Relics in the Central Middle Ages
John M. McCulloh|Patrick J. Geary
To obtain sacred relics, medieval monks plundered tombs, avaricious merchants raided churches, and relic-mongers scoured the Roman catacombs. In a revised edition of Furta Sacra, Patrick Geary considers social cultural context for these acts, asking how relics were perceived why thefts met with approval Christians.
The American Historical Review