Overview

This second volume begins with a Section on the religion of the people. The clergy offered the liturgical services, sermons, evangelistic missions, and the offices sanctifying birth, marriage, and death; distinctions are made between what they intended and how their ministrations were popularly interpreted and incorporated into the social order. Statistical soundings concerning the extent of religious practice and the degree of conviction involved are evaluated. Further chapters deal with processions, pilgrimages, and popular practices and superstitions, with hermits and confraternities, with the impact of reading the Bible and other edifying literature in an age of increasing literacy. Finally comes a view of the twilight world of magic and sorcery. Throughout this Section the comments of theologians and thinkers of the Enlightenment are recorded, whether in coincidence or contradiction. The next section deals with the efficacy of the confessional and the role of the casuistry of the Church in attempting to mould sexual mores, business practices, and in the world of the theatre. In the next two Sections, the role of religious issues in political affairs is detailed. An overview of the Jansenist quarrel and of the activities of the Jesuits brings in the story of the struggle between Crown and Parlement, while an extended portrayal of the life of the Protestant and Jewish communities leads to the history of the debate on toleration, involving the Gallican Church in political interventions and controversy. Throughout the two volumes the rising forces of anticlericalism and the tensions within the ecclesiastical establishment have been recorded, and these themes come to their climax in a final section on the role played by churchmen in the coming of the Revolution.

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9780198269632

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Reviews

`a monumental overview on virtually all aspects of French religious history during the last century before the Revolution. ... there is also much that is new, including fascinating sections on liturgical worship, sermons, pilgrimages, confessional practices, and the meaning of the illusive term abbe . And nowhere else can one find such a wealth of detail, a profusion of examples, organized systematically as a vertiable compendium on the religious complex of eighteeth-century France. ... the work will long be drawn upon by scholars in all fields as the most complete and accessible reference book available on the institutions, practice, and political history of the Old Regime church.' Timothy Tackett, Journal of Modern History, Vol 72, No 4, December 2000. `Magisterial two-volume history of the church in eighteenth-century France ... Rarely has history been written with such ease and thoroughness. Professor McManners combines scholarly detachment with sympathy to produce a thoroughly readable history, one that will not be superseded for many a day.' Contemporary Review `This magisterial, synthetic, and exceptionally readable inquiry into the Christian church and French society during the eighteenth century is at once broadly encyclopedic and deeply perceptive.' Raymond A. Mentzer, Church History, Studies in Christianity and Culture, Vol.69, No.2. `McManners embarks on an extended, fascinating examination of the organizational infrastructure of the Gallican church.' Raymond A. Mentzer, Church History, Studies in Christianity and Culture, Vol.69, No.2. `McManners also skillfully explains the ecclesiastical, political, and intellectual maelstrom surrouding the Jesuits and the orders eventual suppression. Here as elsewhere, McManners carefully delineates the formidable impact of the Englightenment and the proponents of rationalism.' Raymond A. Mentzer, Church History, Studies in Christianity and Culture, Vol.69, No.2. `These two volumes represent an enormous achievement ... Mcmanners offers a lucid and lively overview ... the analysis is fresh and informative. The author effortlessly guides the reader through the complexities of the ancien-regime church ... McManners never loses sight of the greater context as well as the profound developments and forces external to the church ... The achievement is impressive.' Raymond A. Mentzer, Church History, Studies in Christianity and Culture, Vol.69, No.2.

This massive two-volume work contained the fruits of over 50 years of research, and is a definitive book that will last as long as the subject is studied. It is, as Professor William Doyle has observed, the best book written by an Englishman on the French ancien regime. Nigel Aston, The Guardian The massive two volumes ... must represent one of the most notable works ever published by a scholar in his eighties. Robin Briggs, The Independent ...magisterial... The Times McManners has provided a compelling picture of the Protestant community. Huguenot Society Proceedings The author has read and evaluated almost everything which has been written on these large topics, from major books to articles in obscure provincial journals, and he is thus able to come close to an enormous range of archival sources which it would be impossible for a single scholar to consult at first hand. Huguenot Society Proceedings Professor McManners has produced an outstanding history of religion and its social context in the hundred years before the French Revolution. As his many admirers will have come to expect, it contains broad and challenging arguments, illustrated by vivid detailed examples, and is always eminently readable. Huguenot Society Proceedings McManners is one of the greatest historical stylists of his generation ... he has an unerring eye for a joke, a good story or a telling quotation. Accordingly this is one of those rare books that are instantly readable wherever they fall open. French History It is rarely that a reviewer has the privilege of reviewing a book that can genuinely be described as a life's work ... a penetrating picture of the Church of the ancien regime ... In the tapestry Professor McManners provides there are many fascinating threads ... Behind McManner's rich narrative lies a wealth of research and reading, as the notes make clear. The judicious balancing of illustrative (and often amusing) anecdote and analysis makes this rounded picture of the Gallican Church of the ancien regime a study that is unlikely to be superseded. Geoffrey Rowell, Church Times Magisterial two-volume history of the church in eighteenth-century France ... Rarely has history been written with such ease and thoroughness. Professor McManners combines scholarly detachment with sympathy to produce a thoroughly readable history, one that will not be superseded for many a day. Contemporary Review

This massive two-volume work contained the fruits of over 50 years of research, and is a definitive book that will last as long as the subject is studied. It is, as Professor William Doyle has observed, the best book written by an Englishman on the French ancien regime. Nigel Aston, The Guardian The massive two volumes ... must represent one of the most notable works ever published by a scholar in his eighties. Robin Briggs, The Independent ...magisterial... The Times McManners has provided a compelling picture of the Protestant community. Huguenot Society Proceedings The author has read and evaluated almost everything which has been written on these large topics, from major books to articles in obscure provincial journals, and he is thus able to come close to an enormous range of archival sources which it would be impossible for a single scholar to consult at first hand. Huguenot Society Proceedings Professor McManners has produced an outstanding history of religion and its social context in the hundred years before the French Revolution. As his many admirers will have come to expect, it contains broad and challenging arguments, illustrated by vivid detailed examples, and is always eminently readable. Huguenot Society Proceedings McManners is one of the greatest historical stylists of his generation ... he has an unerring eye for a joke, a good story or a telling quotation. Accordingly this is one of those rare books that are instantly readable wherever they fall open. French History It is rarely that a reviewer has the privilege of reviewing a book that can genuinely be described as a life's work ... a penetrating picture of the Church of the ancien regime ... In the tapestry Professor McManners provides there are many fascinating threads ... Behind McManner's rich narrative lies a wealth of research and reading, as the notes make clear. The judicious balancing of illustrative (and often amusing) anecdote and analysis makes this rounded picture of the Gallican Church of the ancien regime a study that is unlikely to be superseded. Geoffrey Rowell, Church Times Magisterial two-volume history of the church in eighteenth-century France ... Rarely has history been written with such ease and thoroughness. Professor McManners combines scholarly detachment with sympathy to produce a thoroughly readable history, one that will not be superseded for many a day. Contemporary Review

Author Information

Very big author. This is his magnum opus, the culmination of 40 years work.

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