Blood in a Chalice, Wine in a Goblet: On the Social Practice and Materiality of the Piety in Utraquism
Abstract
The study uses the methodological approaches of the so-called new material culture and, through their prism, looks at several issues related to the religious practice of reception sub utraque specie in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The first of the problems hitherto little reflected on is related to the practice of serving a large number of believers, the second to innovating the shape of the chalice and using special large goblets with a tube/pipe/lip, which facilitated pouring the transformed wine into smaller goblets and serving the believers. The third area of the authors' interest is the question of the use of private chalices for reception by more affluent social strata, which would show the limits of the original radical inclusiveness of reception sub utraque specie. The analysis of church accounts recording the consumption of wine in the Utraquist liturgy supports a thesis about a significant decline in enthusiasm associated with the early reform period and frequent reception by the laity, which was significantly influenced by Lutheranism. Furthermore, the authors provide and discuss evidence of the practice of donating and using private chalices by laity.