This latest ambitious project of distinguished medieval historian Miri Rubin of Queen Mary, University of London, which builds on the earlier work of scholars such as Hilda Graef, Marina Warner, and Jaroslav Pelikan, proves, in the words of a Hollywood film released some years ago, that there truly is “Something about Mary.” In just over four hundred pages, Rubin attempts to trace the “ideas, practices and images” (xxi) that developed around the cult of Mary and the socio-political worlds in which her image was shaped from early Christianity until about 1600, with a concluding section which brings the story up to the twenty-first century. What sets Rubin's work apart from previous studies is the breadth of source material covered—art, literature, music, preaching material, with a special emphasis on miracle tales—but especially non-Christian source material regarding Mary, most notably examples which highlight how the figure of Mary often became a flashpoint in Jewish/Christian polemic of the Middle Ages, a fascinating subject on which Rubin is very well placed to expound given her previous work in this area.

Rubin's work is divided into six parts containing twenty-three chapters. Two of these parts (the first seven chapters) are devoted to the period before the year 1000, charting Mary's appearance in the gospels, both canonical and apocryphal, and her adoption by imperial Christianity, which emerged in the fourth century. The writings of well-known church fathers such as Origen, Athanasius, and Ambrose on Mary are touched upon, but the most interesting of these vignettes is surely that given over to the lesser-known, evocative hymns of Ephrem the Syrian. The idea of the “making of Mary” is a recurrent theme throughout Rubin's work, and one of the areas that Rubin draws out particularly well is Mary's centrality to imperial authority and orthodoxy in the heart of the empire at Constantinople, Mary's “special city” (63). The importance of the establishment and celebration of feast days of Mary through the centuries is underlined by Rubin throughout, and the reader is afforded a front-row seat as some feasts—such as the Purification and Assumption under Charlemagne—are prescribed for universal observance, and other later, would-be feasts of Mary—such as her spasimo, or swooning on Calvary—are rejected, the latter by Pope Julius II (d. 1513) on the advice of the future Cardinal Cajetan (362).

Undoubtedly, the most rewarding sections of Rubin's work are those which treat of the High and Late Middle Ages (parts 3–5). This is not merely due to the explosion of the Marian cult, which occupied these centuries, but it is also Rubin's special area of expertise, and this is very evident. Here the reader finds a veritable Aladdin's cave of riches as Rubin traverses huge swathes of territory in search of the various incarnations of Mary in the Middle Ages, from the cloisters of Cistercians and medieval women mystics to the streets of university towns where Mariology was discussed and debated—and also where, some streets away, she was employed as a bulwark against “heretics” and Jews—to medieval parish churches and, on occasion, right into individual households. Here Mary became, to paraphrase one of Rubin's section titles, ubiquitous and abundant; Rubin's range is no less impressive, moving from Ireland to Iceland and from Bohemia to Ethiopia.

However, it is the very richness of the medieval sections of Rubin's book that exposes a critical structural lacuna in the work as a whole. As a medievalist, one can certainly relish the sumptuous tapestry of material offered by Rubin in the middle sections; however, this reviewer wonders whether specialists of other periods might not feel somewhat shortchanged as a result. In fact, the work gives the impression of something that began as a detailed study of Mary in the Middle Ages (which it achieves superbly) and was later expanded to include earlier and some later material. This misrepresentation is also a problem when it comes to the title of the work, which does not suggest a cut-off point of around 1600 followed by what appears to be a token whistle-stop tour of succeeding centuries. It could be argued that Rubin might have been well advised to restrict herself to the Middle Ages in this examination or, alternatively, write what would necessarily be an even larger work, which would have allowed her the space she would clearly need to cover other periods in more detail.

In a work that is beautifully presented and lavishly illustrated, it is, however, regretful to note that Prof. Rubin has been poorly served in the editing process. There are numerous examples of simple typographical errors of spelling and syntax to be found throughout the work, most of which one would have expected to be discovered before the text went to print. In one notable example, Rachel Fulton's 2002 work From Judgment to Passion (New York: Columbia University Press) is incorrectly cited as From Judgement of Compassion (425). There are also occasional factual slips such as the claim that monoenergeia denotes the belief in one, single will in Christ; rather it denotes one “activity” in Christ, being here confused with the Monothelite doctrine (68). One also gets the impression in places that the writing may have been rushed; perhaps some of these issues can be addressed in future editions. One additional observation concerns the frequent use of the word “worship” to connote devotion to Mary; while there is little doubt that the Middle Ages in particular were not short of instances of Mariolatry, perhaps a less loaded term such as “venerate,” would be more appropriate when referring to more restrained examples of affection.

These observations aside, Rubin's Mother of God is to be warmly welcomed as an outstanding contribution to the field, particularly by medievalists of all hues, who will find here a mine of fascinating material which will provide rich fare for scholars far into the future.