Les registres des consistoires des Églises réformées de France - XVIe–XVIIe siècles: un inventaire par Raymond A. Mentzer

Abstract

chapter is devoted to a particular historic or cultural event, famous person, or aspect of society. After providing detailed information about these facts and events, Ledda reveals how they appeared in Romantic literature. Recounting the life and career of the infamous chief of police, Eugène-François Vidocq, for example, Ledda shows how he was Balzac’s inspiration for Vautrin in La comédie humaine and for Hugo’s characters Valjean and Javert in Les misérables. Places, as well as trends like the Tuileries gardens and “la vie de bohème,” are also central in works by Musset, Balzac, and Dumas. This account of a broad range of phenomena of the period makes for fascinating reading— from flaneurs strolling in Parisian parks, dandyism, the boulevards, the cholera epidemic, miserable living conditions in poor districts, the construction of barricades, and famous crimes and criminals. Ledda’s study is realistic while at the same time nostalgic—aptly recreating a lost era in the history of the capital. The book unfortunately lacks a map of Paris as well as a bibliography and an index. Ledda’s work goes beyond a historic description of Paris to provide a view of Paris, found in literature and in reality, true to its subtitle, Tableaux d’une ville disparue. Texas Christian University (TX) Sharon L. Fairchild Mentzer, Raymond A. Les registres des consistoires des Églises réformées de France – XVIe –XVIIe siècles: un inventaire. Genève: Droz, 2014. ISBN 978-2-600-01786-2. Pp. 170. 60 CHF. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, French Reform consistories, local church councils uniting pastors, church elders and deacons, met regularly to oversee the ecclesiastical,liturgical,and financial workings of each church.As Mentzer explains, the registers of French Reform church consistories offer a range of valuable documents to the historian, including information on the exercise of worship, the dates and manière of prayers and preaching, the finances of the church, the administration of aid to the poor and needy, and the teaching of the catechism. Until recently, however, many of the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century French Reform consistories had been inaccessible, making scholarship on the subject unsystematic and incomplete. Unlike Switzerland, where the registers of Jean Calvin were conserved in their entirety, in France, officers of the Court of Louis XIV destroyed many consistory registers following the 1685 Révocation de l’Édit de Nantes. Additionally, the French Reform registers that did escape destruction were often hidden in unknown locations, and in inadequate storage conditions. Mentzer’s inventory of these important historical documents provides a significant contribution to more thorough and comprehensive study and analysis. The inventory required more than ten years of research, during which Mentzer visited all of the libraries and archives in France that could house a register of a consistory. He identified 309 registers in Paris and in the French provinces. 290 FRENCH REVIEW 89.1 Reviews 291 These registers record data from 156 different French Reform churches and are currently housed in Paris in the National Archives, the Library of French Protestantism, and the National Library, as well as in churches, regional archives, and city halls throughout France.A number of registers remain in private hands. Mentzer’s book is divided into two main sections—three “introductory” chapters (“L’organisation et le fonctionnement du consistoire réformé aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles,” “Archives et registres du consistoire,”and“Historiographie et voies de recherche”), followed by an inventory of manuscripts of consistory registers, which includes the location and contents of registers throughout France.As Mentzer notes, the organization and content of Reform consistory registers is inconsistent. His summary of differences in the content of specific registers will help guide historians to the most appropriate sources for their particular areas of interest. Mentzer’s chapters on the archives and registers, as well as a historiography of scholarship on consistories, include discerning suggestions for future research. In addition to providing valuable information on the functioning of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century French Reform churches, many consistory registers include records that offer insights into the lives of women, the illiterate, and others less frequently represented in historical documents. Whereas most of the manuscripts...