ABSTRACT
Eucharistic belief was an important aspect of Christian religion in the central Middle Ages. From at least the eleventh century there was considerable debate about the actual presence of Christ within the newly consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist. By the end of the twelfth century Christian belief in the miracle of transubstantiation, the transformation of that bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ through a miracle that occurs every time a priest celebrates the Mass, had been thoroughly established. Using distinctions between “substance” and “accidents” derived from Aristotelian philosophy, theologians described the bread and wine being consecrated as mimculously becoming the “substance” of Christ himself, although continuing to have the “accidental” appearance of mere bread and wine. Each scrap of the Eucharist was Christ himself-just as every part of a broken mirror still reflected an entire image. While the wine was used up during the service (and was increasingly reserved for the priest alone), the consecrated bread was distributed to parishioners and some reserved for the sick. As these consecrated wafers came to be considered relics of Christ himself, they received increased devotion, including the establishment of a feast for this body of Christ, Corpus Christi. As the Host became more venerated, as a relic of Christ, who had left no earthly relics because he had ascended to heaven, Christian concern about protecting the Host increased.
