La prédication en Pays d'Oc (XIIe-début XVe siècle)

Abstract

70BOOK REVIEWS mixture of direct and indirect discourse might carry other significance as well. Groundbreaking work on the problem of decoding synodical records was undertaken by Samuel Laeuchli in Power and Sexuality: The Emergence of Canon Law at the Synod of Elvira (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1972). Laeuchli divided the terse canons of Elvira (a.d. 309) into linguistic units and then classified the canons into six "decision patterns" in order to shed light on the debates and struggles that had been part of the synod. "The bishops and presbyters are long gone from the fertile plain of Granada," Laeuchli wrote.Yet, he added, "we are not left in the dark. In the canons that have survived, the observer discovers traces of a human drama in the inferable procedures and patterns of group confrontations" (p. 9). One would like to see similar linguistic analysis of the ecclesiastical records Cubitt writes about—and of others, of course. The use of direct speech in accounts of synods found in other genres—for example, letters by Boniface, and Bede's Ecclesiastical History (Book IV, chap. 5; see Cubitt, p. 83, notes 26-27)— communicates something of the atmosphere of such gatherings. It would surely be profitable to analyze the canons for evidence of differences in style and idiom that might reflect divergent sources and other circumstances relevant to their composition. For example, Cubitt points out that three canons of the "Clofesho" synod discuss almsgiving, psalmody, and relations with the laity at unusual length (p. 101). Inquiries into these and similar anomalies would illuminate methods of composition and might also reveal more of the political atmosphere in which some ecclesiastical records took shape. Cubitt gives generous credit to the scholars who have been remedying the neglect of these vital sources (Hanna Vollrath, Ian Wood, Patrick Wormald, and others), but even with this work acknowledged she finds herself with a large and fertile field to plow. Cubitt has produced a richly detailed and careful account that gives this important aspect ofAnglo-Saxon church history the prominence that is its due. Allen J. Frantzen Loyola University Chicago Laprédication en Pays d'Oc (XLL'-début XV siècle). [Cahiers de Fanjeaux: Collection d'Histoire religieuse du Languedoc aux XIIP et XIVe siècles,Volume 32.] (Toulouse: Éditions Privat. 1997. Pp. 428. 170 FF paperback.) This volume, the thirty-second in the Cahiers de Fanjeaux series, considers the subject of preaching in the Midi between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries . However, the chronological scope of the majority of the articles is much narrower, concentrating on preaching activity in the thirteenth century. The work itself consists of fifteen articles, an introduction and conclusion, and abstracts both in French and English. It is divided into three sections treating in BOOK REVIEWS71 turn (1) Preaching at the Time of the Crusade; (2) the Mendicant Pastoral, and (3) Preachers and their Audiences. This volume is a very welcome addition to the growing field of sermon studies. Section one, touching upon preaching at the time of the Crusades, is a curious mélange of articles ranging from the pastoral endeavors of Augustinian canons in Catalonia to the sermons of four preachers (Héliland of Froidmont, Jacques of Vitry, Philip the Chancellor, and Eudes of Châteauroux) against Cathar teachings. Unfortunately, only one article,"La prédication dissidente" by Jean Duvernoy, raises the issue ofheterodox preaching in the Midi. Section two contains five articles; two of these examine southern French mendicant exempta collections. The three others consider the sermons of Robert ofUzès, the two sermons preached byArmand of Belvezer on the life of Thomas Aquinas, and the sermons delivered by Bonaventure in the Midi. In this last article,Jacques Paul addresses the claim that Bonaventure, while in Montpellier ,preached in gallico. Paul offers some innovative suggestions about what possible nuances this phrase could have. The most impressive section of this volume, section three, is comprised of five articles which consider the audience of the preachers. In this section,Jean Longère examines preaching in the southern French synodal statutes of the thirteenth century. He concludes that they were heavily indebted to earlier collections of synodal statutes from northern France (Paris c...