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The Medieval Church · c. 1286–1291
The Rationale of the Divine Offices
William Durandus · c. 1230–1296
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What it is
An exhaustive allegorical explanation of the church building, its furnishings, the vestments, the mass, and the year — every column, colour, and gesture given a meaning.
Why it lasted
The standard medieval account of what a church and its worship signify, and one of the first books printed after the Bible.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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