Aviad Kleinberg argues that canonization remained a very rare phenomenon in the Middle Ages, with a very restricted impact on the formulation of the concepts of sainthood. The papacy did not offer a clearly articulated model of Christian sainthood, and did not use the process of canonization for an elaboration of the psychology of sainthood. What emerged out of medieval canonization was a set of procedures for determining valid proof. These canons of proof were applied in those rare cases of politically important cases that were brought before it. Most venerated saints did not enjoy the elevated standing of proven and approved sanctity, reached through canonization, but this did not in any way diminish from their status as objects for devotion and models of spiritual excellence. Sainthood, Kleinberg argues, was shaped in the less formal sphere of saintly stories, where technical requierement were very loose and where political control was limited. It is in historical and imaginary accounts of sainthood in action that we ought to look for the implicit theology of medieval sainthood.

Kleinberg Aviad M. Canonization without a canon. In: Procès de canonisation au Moyen äge : aspects juridiques et religieux / Medieval canonization processes : legal and religious aspects. Rome : École Française de Rome, 2004. pp. 7-18. (Publications de l'École française de Rome, 340)