The Role of Miracles and the Supernatural in
             Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages
             Supernatural events and miracles are very common in
             medieval lierature. Many of these miracles were used for common
             purposes, which were to provide examples of an ideal Christian
             way of life and promote conversion to Christianity. They do
             this by writing about miracles that punished people who acted
             improperly, miracles that took place to reward Christians for
             doing good deeds, showing extreme and persistent faith, or for
             those who were leading moral lives. Some examples of medieval
             literature that contain miracles which serve this purpose are
             Saint Augustine's Confessions, MacMullen's Christianity and
             Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries, HillGarth's
             Christianity and Paganism, 350-750, Bede's Ecclesiastical
             History of the English People, Gregory of Tours' History of the
             Franks, and in the works of Saint Boniface.
             Saint Augustine's work includes a miracle that took place
             because a man begged his admission to god. This man was blind
             and had heard of people who were "...vexed by impure spirits and
             were healed..." (165). He immediately asked his guide to being
             him to the place were this was happening, which was where the
             bodies of the martyrs Protasius and Gervasius lay. He rubbed a
             sacred cloth over his eyes and immediately regained his lost
             eyesight. This miracle was included to show the benefits of
             showing one's allegiance to god and by doing so, Augustine would
             be able to get others to convert to Christianity. Augustine
             describes the roles of miracles himself when he wrote that they
             "...symbolize the sacraments of initiation and miraculous
             wonders necessary to initiate and convert 'uninstructed and
             unbelieving people' (I Cor. 14:23)" (299).
             MacMullen's book also contains accounts of miracles that
             were...