Introduction; Book 1. The church and the cult of the saints in the medieval west: Part 1. Control of the Cult of the Saints from its Origins to the Thirteenth Century: 1. Late antiquity and the early middle ages: 'vox populi' and episcopal power (third to tenth century); 2 .Towards papal reservation of the right of canonisation (eleventh to thirteenth centuries); 3. The process of canonisation from its origins to its classical form (c. 1200 to c. 1270); 4. The evolution of the role of canonisation: from control to selection; 5. 'Sancti' and 'beati'; Part 2: The Rise of the Cult of the Saints and the Assertion of 'Modern' Sanctity: 6. The role of the papacy; 7. The role of the regulars; 8. The secular clergy and the laity; Conclusion: the cult of the saints between universalist aims and the rise of particularism; Book 2. Typology of medieval sanctity: Part 1. Popular Sanctity and Local Sanctity: 9. Popular sanctity; 10. Local sanctity; Part 2. Official Sanctity: Forms and Criteria of Christian Perfection According to Processes of Canonisation: 11. Typology of official sanctity: quantitative aspects; 12. Forms of sanctity and ways of life; 13. The evolution of the criteria of sanctity from the late twelfth to the early fifteenth centuries; Conclusion: the Roman church faced with popular and local sanctity: a silent rejection; Book 3. The signs and significations of sanctity: Part 1. The Manifestations and Effects of Sanctity in the Popular Mind: 14. 'Virtus': the language of the body; 15. The structures and expansion of the field of the miraculous; Part 2. The Roman Church and Sanctity: 16. The Holy See and the critique of miracles; 17. Life and virtues of the saints in the processes of canonisation; Conclusion: the hagiographical mentality and the popular mind; General conclusion; Appendices; List of sources; Bibliography; Bibliographical update; Index of places; Index of persons; Subject index.