Communities of Discourse: Religious Authority and the Role of Holy Women in the Later Middle Ages
This essay considers the teachings of Angela of Foligno, Clare of Montefalco, and Margaret of Faenza, and how these pedagogical endeavors were both negatively and positively received by their male contemporaries.
Men of learning in Europe at the end of the Middle Ages
Mediaevalists prefer that we not view the Middle Ages in a static frame but rather a dynamic one. They want us to be aware of the shifts and changes that characterize the period. In "Men of Learning in Europe at the Close of the Middle Ages", Jacques Verger provides us with an important look at the evolution of social classes and an essential chapter in the study of cultural history. By the end of the Middle Ages, societal categories which were adequate for earlier periods - "those who pray, those who fight, those who work" - no longer allowed for the growing complexity of Western society. One of the key new groups which emerged was that of the learned men. Through their intellectual competency and their ability to build a social and political utility, these men came to be important figures. The fledgling modern state found them to be helpful allies and favoured their ascension among the traditional elite. Thus, they contributed not only to the advancement of knowledge, making the Renaissance period possible, but also to the reshaping of late mediaeval political structure. Combining cultural, social and political history, "Men of Learning in Europe at the Close of the Middle Ages" measures the influence acquired by certain disciplines - in particular religious, literary and legal - in the organization of European society. Anyone interested in the Middle Ages or intellectual history should enjoy this book.
Messianisme Royal de la Couronne D'Aragon (14e-15e Siècles)
Depuis une dizaine d'années, l'historiographie du politique retrouve un second souffle. Sous son impulsion, le thème de la genèse médiévale de l'État moderne mobilise les chercheurs. Une vaste enquête collective approfondit les principaux éléments du nouveau système de gouvernement, dont sont redevables, encore de nos jours, les sociétés occidentales : renforcement des institutions monarchiques, fiscalité accrue, apparition des assemblées représentatives, triomphe de la royauté sur le Saint-Siège, découverte de l'aristotélisme politique… Ce profond bouleversement, qui intervient autour des années 1280-1360, ne va pas sans heurts : la guerre, monopole royal, justifiant des prélèvements fiscaux obligatoires, contribuant à l'éclosion du patriotisme, est la toile de fond sur la scène de la naissance des structures étatiques, où épidémies et disettes ne sont pas de moindres comparses. Les cavaliers de l'Apocalypse — conflits, peste et famine — se jettent, à bride abattue, sur l'Occident.