Fathers, Pastors and Kings : Visions of Episcopacy in Seventeenth-Century France

by Alison Forrestal

• ISBN13: 9780719069765
• ISBN10: 0719069769
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2005-01-01
• Publisher: Manchester University Press

Summary

Fathers, Pastors and Kingsexplores how conceptions of episcopacy (government of a church by bishops) shaped the identity of the bishops of France in the wake of the reforming Council of Trent (1545-63). It demonstrates how the episcopate, initially demoralized by the Wars of Religion, developed a powerful ideology of privilege, leadership and pastorate that enabled it to become a flourishing participant in the religious, political and social life of the ancien reacute;gime. This is the first publication to analyze the attitudes of Tridentine bishops towards their office by considering the French episcopate as a recognizable caste, possessing a variety of theological and political principles that allowed it to dominate the French church.

Author Biography

Alison Forrestal is Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History at the University of Durham.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	viii
List of abbreviations	ix
Map of French dioceses	x
Introduction	1	(18)
Catholic renewal and episcopal traditions in the sixteenth century	19	(31)
The most perfect state: French clerical reformers and episcopal status	50	(24)
Lower clergy versus bishops	74	(35)
Ecclesiastical monarchy or monarchies?	109	(35)
An uneasy alliance	144	(27)
Manuals and hagiography: mirrors of French ideals?	171	(43)
Conclusion	214	(15)
Appendix: chronology of principal events	229	(3)
Bibliography	232	(22)
Index	254