<p><em>Relics and Writing in Late Medieval England</em> uncovers a wide-ranging medieval discourse that had an expansive influence on English literary traditions. Drawing from Latinand vernacular hagiography, miracle stories, relic lists, and architectural history, this study demonstrates that, as the shrines of England’s major saints underwent dramatic changes from c.1100 to c. 1538, relic discourse became important not only in constructing the meaning of objects that were often hidden, but also for canonical authors like Chaucer and Malory in exploring thefunction of metaphor and of dissembling language.</p><p>Robyn Malo argues that relic discourse was employed in order to critique mainstream religious practice, explore the consequences ofrhetorical dissimulation, and consider the effect on the socially disadvantaged of lavish expenditure on shrines. The work thus uses the literary study of relics to address issues of clerical andlay cultures, orthodoxy and heterodoxy, and writing and reform.</p>