This short but very rich work considers the connection between the cult of the saints in late-medieval and early-modern Catholicism, and Renaissance humanism. While these subjects receive considerable attention, they are normally regarded as incongruous. In a startlingly fresh and highly analytical survey, Collins not only contributes to our understanding of both of these subjects, but, more crucially, demonstrates the solid yet complex relationship between them. The study is based upon a careful analysis of depictions, written in Latin between 1470 and 1530, of forty German saints, but also utilizes sources more traditionally identified with humanist production, such as vernacular lives, maps, and letters. Finally, the study is also enriched by the detailed interpretation of numerous illustrations that reproduce broadside prints, paintings, and works of sculpture.

Collins argues that humanists, in the period under discussion, were, to a surprising degree, very much engaged with the cult of the saints, and he explicates the numerous ways they used previously existing texts about saints to produce a body of literature that contributed to their well-recognized call for religious, moral, and cultural reform. Collins' treatment of how the humanists worked with and appropriated older vitae elucidates not only the relationship that humanists had with the medieval past, but also clarifies that between humanists and their readers, as the humanists had to focus on those aspects of the saint's life that would appeal to a contemporary audience. Analyzing the variations between the medieval and humanist-produced vitae contributes much to our understanding of religious customs and popular piety on the eve of the Reformation, and is one of the many assets of this book. But scholars less interested in German popular religion of this era will also find much of value in this monograph, as Collins discusses the humanists' aspects of style, use of classical imagery, use of neo-Latin, panegyrical strategies, treatment of the vernacular, and relations with their patrons and dedicatees.

The most common subject of these saints' lives was the holy bishop, and, interestingly, about half of these vitae were commissioned by, or dedicated to, secular princes. For the humanists and these princes, Germany, by the end of the Middle Ages, needed to be (re)christianized. It had been the holy bishops who had christianized Germany in its ancient, pagan times and who had corrected the problems befalling society. So, too, then, could fifteenth- and early-sixteenth-century bishops, inspired by the example of their predecessors, whose lives were being brought to life by the humanists, become agents of reform; the vitae would inspire episcopal and secular leaders to address contemporary ills within the church and society. Reclusive holy monks were also common subjects for humanist-produced vitae. While their isolated existence seems to violate the humanists' call for active engagement with society, the humanists could, as was the case with the holy bishops, select attributes that suited their purposes, such as, in the case of the hermit-monks, moral purity, immunity from the temptations of worldly life, and a commitment to learning and critical reflection.

One strength of the interpretive method of this book is that it carefully avoids assuming a direct connection between earlier German humanism and either Luther or Erasmus. That is, the work of the German humanists under study is analyzed independently of the Reformation, and Erasmian sensibilities are not regarded as normative for northern humanists. By steering clear of such teleologies and anachronisms, Collins provides a more accurate appreciation of these saints' lives within the context of Renaissance German humanism. This approach allows him to offer a fresh and nuanced perspective on humanist culture in pre-Reformation Germany. An interesting revelation brought to light is how little the fundamental themes associated with the devotio moderna, such as an emphasis on the inner life of the individual and meditation on Christ, played in the humanists' fashioning of these saints' lives.

Those interested in historiography will find much of benefit as well, for, as Collins demonstrates, the writing of a particular saint's life was, ultimately, a work of local history, but one created by the humanist for its universal, extraterritorial relevance as well. He examines the tensions and correspondences between local and universal histories, as they are revealed in these vitae. In one interesting chapter, Collins analyzes the variations among several humanist accounts of the life of Nicholas of Flue to discuss the correspondence between hagiography and historiography, and the novel manner by which such writings helped to fashion political and cultural identities in the early-modern period. Throughout the book Collins indicates how the variegated motives, rhetorical strategies, misunderstandings, and disagreements among the humanists, their patrons, and the dedicatees created a dialogic process that shaped the vitae.

In sum, this is a fascinating book that provides much of value to those interested in Renaissance humanism, popular religion in Germany on the eve of the Reformation, historiography, the dynamics of authorship, and the development of identity in early-modern Europe. While it is complex, it remains highly readable and could be used profitably by upper-level undergraduates.