In the Name of the "Lord": The Affirmation of the Cult of the Blessed Sacrament and the Liturgical Objects in the Late Medieval Period in Portugal

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to demonstrate the relationship between the affirmation of the cult of the Blessed Sacrament starting at the late twelfth century, and the characteristics of the objects directly related to the Body of Our Lord: chalices and patens, communion wafers boxes, ciboria and monstrances. The privileged sources for this research relate to the Visitations Books conducted between the last quarter of the fifteenth century and about 1571 to the churches under the jurisdiction of the Military Orders of Christ, Avis and Santiago, in Portugal. The results of this study demonstrate the survival of Gothic forms in Portuguese sacred jewellery during the first quarter of the sixteenth century (and even second), despite the introduction of the “Roman-style” decorative elements since the early days of this same century.