| Between Church and State: The Lives of Four French Prelates in the Late Middle Ages Contributor(s): Guenée, Bernard (Author), Goldhammer, Arthur (Translator) |
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ISBN: 0226310329 ISBN-13: 9780226310329 Publisher: University of Chicago Press OUR PRICE: $86.13 Product Type: Hardcover Published: September 1990 Annotation: For the past several decades, French historians have emphasized the writing of history in terms of structures, cultures, and mentalities, an approach exemplified by proponents of the "Annales" school. With this volume, Bernard Guenee, himself associated with the "Annalistes," marks a decisive break with this dominant mode of French historiography. Still recognizing the "Annalistes"' indispensable contribution, Guenee turns to the genre of biography as a way to attend more closely to chance, to individual events and personalities, and to a sense of time as people actually experienced it. His erudite, lively, elegantly written study links in sequence the lives of four French bishops, illuminating medieval and early modern history through their writings. Guenee chooses as his frame the momentous period from the height of Saint Louis's reign in the mid-thirteenth century to the beginning of the Italian wars two hundred years later. During this time of schism in the church, of war between nascent states, and of treachery among princes, Bernard Gui (1261-1331), Gilles Le Muisit (1272-1353), Pierre D'Ailly (1351-1420), and Thomas Basin (1412-1490) all rose from modest circumstances to the dignity of office. Guenee shows us how these prelates used their talent, ambition, patrons, zeal, and experience to juggle the competing demands of obedience to church and state; to overcome competition from an upcoming new generation; and to cope with plague, war, and violence. Free of jargon yet steeped in learning, "Between Church and State" reveals the career patterns and politics of an era while forging a new model for points of departure in historical scholarship. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - Medieval |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 90035045 |
| Physical Information: 1.23" H x 6.36" W x 9.35" (1.60 lbs) 454 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: For the past several decades, French historians have emphasized the writing of history in terms of structures, cultures, and mentalities, an approach exemplified by proponents of the Annales school. With this volume, Bernard Guen e, himself associated with the Annalistes, marks a decisive break with this dominant mode of French historiography. Still recognizing the Annalistes' indispensable contribution, Guen e turns to the genre of biography as a way to attend more closely to chance, to individual events and personalities, and to a sense of time as people actually experienced it. His erudite, lively, elegantly written study links in sequence the lives of four French bishops, illuminating medieval and early modern history through their writings. Guen e chooses as his frame the momentous period from the height of Saint Louis's reign in the mid-thirteenth century to the beginning of the Italian wars two hundred years later. During this time of schism in the church, of war between nascent states, and of treachery among princes, Bernard Gui (1261-1331), Gilles Le Muisit (1272-1353), Pierre D'Ailly (1351-1420), and Thomas Basin (1412-1490) all rose from modest circumstances to the dignity of office. Guen e shows us how these prelates used their talent, ambition, patrons, zeal, and experience to juggle the competing demands of obedience to church and state; to overcome competition from an upcoming new generation; and to cope with plague, war, and violence. Free of jargon yet steeped in learning, Between Church and State reveals the career patterns and politics of an era while forging a new model for points of departure in historical scholarship. |
Contributor Bio(s): Goldhammer, Arthur: - Arthur Goldhammer is an award-winning translator who has translated books by Georges Duby, Jacques Le Goff, and Jean Starobinski. |