Stories of the Rose: The Making of the Rosary in the Middle Ages Hardcover – April 1, 1997

An excellent book for those of us who pray the rosary & those of us who make modern & historical rosaries. I first saw this book recommended on the Paternoster Row blog. I started making historical rosaries many years ago when I was in SCA and would have loved a copy then. This book lacks pictures which I would have liked but I really enjoyed the scholarship & historical references to the Mary Psalters. If you are a history nerd of the religious persuasion, or are a medieval reenactor, this book is well worth having.

The Rosary has a long history of being the "prayer of the ordinary Catholic." It is a source of identity. That is why this book is so important. The author has painstakingly explored the numerous antecedent to the Rosary as we have it today. For those interested in the development in this precious prayer form this book is must reading.

The single best source on rosary history in English. The author is a professor of German at Southern Illinois University, and it shows: her research is meticulous, she cites all her sources so you can check them out for yourself, and her presentation is lively and readable.Other books on rosary history deal mostly with the prayers, and are written to inspire people to pray. This book is actually a history of the practice of praying the rosary, including where and when it originated, how it spread, and how it fitted into the everyday lives of medieval people.This book goes into impressive depth on devotional history, rosary and rosary-related literature, and the origin and growth of rosary guilds. My only disappointment is a mild one: it doesn't say much of anything about the actual beads -- what they are made of, where they came from, how people made or acquired their rosaries or paternosters. But that wasn't the author's purpose, nor is it her area of expertise, so it's quite forgivable. Maybe someone else will write THAT book someday.As you will see if you go to the Paternoster-Row website and Paternosters blog, this book is my first recommendation to anyone interested in the history of rosary and paternoster beads -- there is an immense amount of valuable information here.

"Stories of the Rose" is a valuable historical analysis of how the present "Rosary" came into use. It is a scientific study as described in the sub-title "The Making (history) of the Rosary in the middle Ages." It is not so much a "devotional" study as a detailed, well researched academic study of how the Rosary historically developed. (And is still developing e.g. Pope John Paul II 's addition of "The Mystery of the Light."). The author, Anne Winston-Allen, is an Assistant Professor of German at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. I personally found it very useful. Rev. Vincent M. Burke, SVD

This book provides a much needed study of the rosary, its creation, and its relation to the Bible. The connections between medieval love poems, the Song of Songs, and garden metaphors and imagery were probably the most fascinating!

A good overview of the rosary devotion

Lovely book and excellent transaction....

I got more than I bargained for in this book. As the public was being isolated more and more by clerical power the rosary offered the common folk a way to participate in the liturgy. The author addresses, especially, the plight of women & how the rosary enabled them to participate in the male dominant religious & government structure of the time. Primarily this is done through the rosary confraternities. Quite a grassroots effort for its day. This particular empowerment is nicely laid out throughout the book, without falling over the Feminist cliff. The book is heavily footnoted but since it is finely targeted to Germany most of the references are in German.I highly recommend this book for those wanting to get a historical perspective of this powerful prayer & the controversies that always swirled around it.

Detailed analysis and good range of pictures , useful for renaissance and religious students at degree level or above ,

Interessantissimo