French Bishops Research Articles

The End of An Elite: The French Bishops and the Coming of (he Revolution, 1786–1790

The End of An Elite: The French Bishops and the Coming of (he Revolution, 1786–1790

La confrontation Becket-Henri II comme paradigme historique

The parallel between the two Thomases confronted with two Henrys, bridging the gap of four centuries of history, has struck historians as well as playwrights. The striking feature of the murder perpetrated on December 29th, 1170 is that the Christian martyr was being persecuted not by an enemy of Christianity, but by a monarch anointed and supported by archbishop Theobald. The parallel was no coincidence, since Thomas Becket's shrine in Canterbury was destroyed by Henry VIII in 1538. And Thomas, as a given name, then became very frequent and a feature of Englishmen (e. g. as described by Rabelais in Pantagruel) until the Reformation. Though the name is not so frequent now (or precisely because of that), the author of Murder in the Cathedral is likely to have been aware of the historical impact of his first name. Thomas More himself wrote that he "longed to go to God [...] tomorrow for it is St Thomas' Even", and the parallel with Becket was made explicit by his son-in-law, William Roper and his biographer, Thomas Stapleton. Another such parallel may be drawn apropos of Pius VI and the French National Assembly of 1790. The Pope's brief addressed to the French bishops mentions the perfect resemblance between the attitude of the Assembly and that of Henry II (about the oath required of the bishops, the confiscation of property, the refusal to consider the bishops' distinction between temporal power and spiritual authority). In spite of the differences between the two martyrs, similarities predominate (their social origin, their education as lawyers, their influence on monarchs some 12 to 15 years younger).

The end of an elite: the French bishops and the coming of the revolution, 1786-1790

The end of an elite: the French bishops and the coming of the revolution, 1786-1790

Between Church and State: The Lives of Four French Prelates in the Late Middle Ages.

For the past several decades, French historians have emphasized the writing of history in terms of structures, cultures, and mentalities, an approach exemplified by proponents of the Annales school. With this volume, Bernard Guenee, himself associated with the Annalistes, marks a decisive break with this dominant mode of French historiography. Still recognizing the Annalistes' indispensable contribution, Guenee turns to the genre of biography as a way to attend more closely to chance, to individual events and personalities, and to a sense of time as people actually experienced it. His erudite, lively, elegantly written study links in sequence the lives of four French bishops, illuminating medieval and early modern history through their writings. Guenee chooses as his frame the momentous period from the height of Saint Louis's reign in the mid-thirteenth century to the beginning of the Italian wars two hundred years later. During this time of schism in the church, of war between nascent states, and of treachery among princes, Bernard Gui (1261-1331), Gilles Le Muisit (1272-1353), Pierre D'Ailly (1351-1420), and Thomas Basin (1412-1490) all rose from modest circumstances to the dignity of office. Guenee shows us how these prelates used their talent, ambition, patrons, zeal, and experience to juggle the competing demands of obedience to church and state; to overcome competition from an upcoming new generation; and to cope with plague, war, and violence. Free of jargon yet steeped in learning, Between Church and State reveals the career patterns and politics of an era while forging a new model for points of departure in historical scholarship.

The Home Plot: Women, Writing, and Domestic Ritual by Ann Romines

78 Western American Literature Local literature, shows how it must often involve a hybrid form of these oppos­ ing traditions. Sumida gives a good description of Local aesthetics which involve, at center, a sense of community, history and polyethnicity. In all, he consistently makes excellent comparisons and points out important differences between Local, mainstream American, and Asian American literature. And while he only gestures toward other “regional” and Native American literatures, readers are encouraged to further recover (not “discover”) connections between worlds on their own. SHARON S. SUZUKI University ofArizona The HomePlot: Women, Writing, andDomestic Ritual. By Ann Romines. (Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1992. 320 pages, $45.00/$15.95.) Romines expands the usual mid-nineteenth-century scope of scholarship on literary domesticity in her discussion of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sarah Orne Jewett, Mary Wilkins Freeman, Willa Cather, and Eudora Welty. Selecting writ­ ers who represent regional variety and a tradition “which both perpetuates and questions the ongoing practice of domestic culture,” Romines explores both the thematic and stylistic range of domestic fiction as it develops from nineteenth -century realism to the modernism of Cather and Welty. Cather is the only writer of the American West included. Although Romines intends to explore affirmations and critiques of domesticity, her reading of Cather typifies her greater attention to affirmation. Romines ex­ plains that Cather’s establishment of lasting relationships with women dimin­ ished the anxiety about entrapment in heterosexual domesticity that marks O Pioneers!, The SongoftheLark, and My Antonia, but Romines’reading of Cather’s later fiction insufficiently supports her claim. For example, to read Death Comes for the Archbishop “as the least conflicted version of housekeeping in Cather’s fiction thus far”overlooks how the homosocial domesticity ofthe French bishop and priest questions heterosexual domesticity. Similarly, Romines reads Shadows on the Rock as Cather’s “full entry into a life of housekeeping” through Cecile. However, Romines only obliquely ad­ dresses the problem that since Cecile is a girl who turns thirteen, even if Cather affirms Cecile’s domestic life with her father, she simultaneously criticizes heterosexual domesticity. In reading Sapphira and the Slave Girl as a nearly unqualified affirmation of domesticity, Romines cursorily notes the capacity of Till and Sapphira to destroy their daughters, and she too simply construes silences between mothers and daughters as Cather’s acknowledgment of the difficult mother-daughter relation. A theoretical inconsistency may partly explain Romines’insufficient atten­ Reviews 79 tion to Cather’s (and others’) questioning of domesticity. Despite disavowing essentialism, Romines variously reveals essentialist assumptions. For example, Romines writes that from the thirties, Cather’sfiction indicates that housekeep­ ing is “an inevitable portion of every North American woman’s potential heri­ tage” (my emphasis). Elsewhere, Romines implies that domesticity is an archetypally rather than historically constituted feature ofwomen’s experience when she likens fictional housekeepers to Hestia, Circe, Demeter, or Persephone. Had Romines clarified her theoretical assumptions and more fully ad­ dressed these writers’ critiques of domesticity, her study would be stronger. Nevertheless, Romines suggestively expands the scope of scholarship on the relation of American women’s writing and domestic culture. PAMELA WALKER Houston, Texas Letters of Catherine Cottam Romney, Plural Wife. Edited by Jennifer Moulton Hansen. (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992. 317 pages, $32.50.) Born in Salt Lake City in 1855, Catherine Cottam Romney spent most of her childhood in St. George, Utah, where her family was sent by the Mormon church to settle the Dixie Mission. At age eighteen, after persuading her parents that she could not live happily without him, she married Miles P. Romney, a personable man of many talents, twelve years her senior, becoming his third wife. He was to have five. Thus, as an untried girl she made the commitment to enter into and uphold the church’s principle of polygamy. Such a marriage conferred unusual status upon the woman: she was a wife instead of thewife and therefore always a fraction less than halfof the marriage. Not every woman so joined could abide this unequal division and maintain harmony both with husband and other wives. Catherine Romney’s letters docu­ ment a marriage that prevailed, enduring to the end of polygamy...

Survival Against the Odds? The French Bishops Elected to the Estates-General, 1789

The general view still prevails that the French bishops performed badly in the elections held to the estates-general in the spring of 1789. The final figure of only 49 bishops going to Versailles amid a horde ofcuréstends to be treated by historians as a clear demonstration of the new power of the lower clergy, confirming the view of the episcopal corps as aristocratic, out of touch, and unprepared for an electoral contest on a level of equality with the parish clergy. Prestigious casualties like Rohan-Guémenée at Cambrai, Mont-morency-Laval at Metz, Marbeuf at Lyon, and Dillon at Narbonne have attracted much notice, but they are really the exceptions. Closer examination indicates that the majority of prelates in fact put up a spirited performance, faced with Necker's electoralrèglementof 24 January 1789 – arrangements weighted deliberately in favour of thecurés.

Abbatial Elections at Saint Florent-de-Saumur (ca. 950–1118)

Research into the origins of bishops is not new, but it has taken on increasing importance within the last twenty years. In 1965 an important introductory study of the social origins of French bishops between the years 1150 and 1350 appeared under the auspices of the Institut de Droit Canonique de Strassbourg. Since then, other studies on the origins of the French episcopate have followed. Despite the fact that these studies possess intrinsic value as manifestations of interest in the family and social origins, the method employed in them raises questions. It is the scope of the studies—not so much in terms of chronology as in numbers of bishops considered—that is problematic. The large numbers of candidates considered render scrutiny of individual candidates and electoral processes impossible.

Nos Seigneurs du clergé de France en 1789

The French bishops, the first body of the first Order of the state, were frequently consulted during the 1780s, which indicates their importance. On 24th January 1789, the right to vote was accorded to all the members of the secular clergy and the baillage was fixed as the electoral unit, thus breaking with tradition by choosing the bishops in the dioceses. There were only about forty bishops in the Estates General and they took part in all the 1789 debates, especially in the discussions concerning the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the nationalisation of Church property and the establishment of the Catholic Church. The bishops «refusal to proclaim catholicism the state religion (28th August) was the first sign of disagreement with the deputies, followed in October by the distribution of incendiary pastoral letters ».

La mortalité des évêques latino-américains aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles

The mortality of almost all the bishops of Latin America in the 1 7th and 1 8th centuries has been studied from a religious source. Their mortality was much higher than that of French bishops (life expectation at 40 years of age : 20,3 years for the Latin Americans and 29,0 for the French bishops in the 18th century). No important differences in the life expectation at 40 years and at the age of nomination are to be found. The regions where mortality was highest were the tropical zones at sea level. In the temperate regions, farther from the Equator or located in the Andean valleys, living conditions were better for the bishop's health. The mortality of this special group may have been différent from that of the whole population, but it provides a reference point for the study of the mortality of adults in the past for Latin America.

A Missionary "Main Tendue" toward French Communists: The "Temoignages" of the Worker-Priests, 1943-1954

Until late 1953 and early 1954 the worker-priests were largely unknown, yet in a few short months they became a cause celebre not only in France but throughout the western world. Their particular form of priesthood had become suspect in the eyes of the Vatican, so that Pius XII felt compelled to terminate their missionary experience and instructed three of France's prominent cardinals to inaugurate that unpleasant task. Consequently, in January 1954 the French bishops issued a public statement calling upon the worker-priests to abandon their ministry and place their future work in the hands of their respective bishops.1 The response was immediate. Both the Catholic and popular press within France and abroad chose sides, and a public controversy arose with respect to this handful of priests. Not only could one find lengthy stories about these men in the partisan periodical literature, both religious and Marxist, but the wider press throughout the western world brought this unique brand of priesthood to the public's attention. Aricles appeared in Le Monde, Le Figaro, I'Express and I'Aurore in France as well as in the Canadian Saturday Night and the American popular journals the New Republic, Nation, Time, New Yorker, and The New York Times Magazine. By the mid1960s twelve novels-including Gilbert Cesbron's best seller, Les Saints vont

French Bishops Defend Nuclear Deterrence

French Bishops Defend Nuclear Deterrence

French Bishops Defend Nuclear Deterrence

French Bishops Defend Nuclear Deterrence

DAVID BERNHAM, BISHOP OF ST ANDREWS, 1239-1253

David Bernham was the first native-born bishop of St Andrews since the death of Fothad, the last Celtic bishop, in 1193. In a very real sense he represents the coming of age of a new national church in Scotland within the body of western Christendom. His predecessor, William Malvoisin (1202-1238), was the last, and perhaps the greatest, in the line of Anglo-Norman bishops which had begun with the ineffective appointment of Turgot in 1107. Malvoisin, with his close personal and family ties with England and France, was responsible for bringing the reorganization of the diocese along western lines to a successful conclusion. He also created an effective temporal administration and forged links with many of the major new forces at work in the western church. Above all, he was concerned with the definition of the respective jurisdictions represented in the diocese: episcopal, capitular, archidecanal, monastic. Malvoisin had attended the fourth Lateran council and made at least one other journey to the papal court. He regularly referred questions to the papal court for advice or decisions. During his episcopate both major mendicant orders were introduced into Scotland, as well as the austere Valiscaulians. The bishop completed the building of the choir of his cathedral church in a transitional Gothic style, completing the building programme begun by bishop Arnold in the early 1160s. This French bishop attracted into his household a number of young Scottish-born clerks who were to provide the next generation of leaders in the Scottish church. Among these clerks was David Bernham, who appears in the bishop's household by about 1225. He was university trained, although whether at Oxford and /or Paris is not known.1 At some time between 1225 and 1235 he became vicar of Haddington: he retained the seal he used as vicar as his secretum during the early years of his episcopate.2 The living was a wealthy one, valued at forty merks, four times the minimum stipend allowed by the statutes of the Scottish church. The sources of this stipend were subject to an exhaustive inquest shortly after David obtained the benefice.3 From this inquest it appears that the vicar had a number of chaplains to help in the running of the parish, but it cannot be assumed that Bernham was a total absentee, for he

The Anglo-Gallicanism of dom Thomas Preston, 1567–1647

Gallicanism - the name given to the general theory that the Church, especially the Church in France, is free from the jurisdiction of the pope, while remaining Roman and Catholic - is familiar to most historians. The existence of such a thing as Anglo-Gallicanism, on the other hand, seems scarcely credible. Post-Reformation English Catholics present the image of a persecuted and retiring group of people, who, in order to preserve their corporate identity, became more Italianate in their culture than the Italians and in their theology more papalist than the popes; and of the majority of English Catholics this was true. But throughout their history there runs a thin red line of dissent, which passes from the Appellant priests in the late sixteenth century, via Blackloism in the seventeenth, to Charles Butler, Joseph Berington and the Catholic Committee at the dawn of emancipation. Gallicanism, and perhaps its English counterpart, were given a death-blow by Napoleon’s application of papal authority to the French bishops. But Anglo-Gallicanism was an unconscionably long time dying, for at Downside in the early nineteenth century William Bernard Ullathorne, later bishop of Birmingham, was taught theology from Gallican textbooks. In this tradition a prominent part, in terms of impact and literary output, was played by another Benedictine, Thomas Preston, alias Roger Widdrington.

The Question of Priesthood

The large number of conferences, books and articles that now centre on the nature of the priesthood seem proof of a general disquiet on the part of both priests and laymen. From the Netherlands comes the edition of the papers on this subject given at a congress in Lucerne in 1967 (News Bulletin of the Institute for Inter-European Sacerdotal Exchange at Maastricht, April, 1968, Vol. 2, Nos. 1/2); the March number of Concilium, also emanating from Holland, is devoted to the subject. It has even been suggested in certain quarters that a campaign of agitation is being organized by a small group of rebellious priests and theologians operating from the Netherlands, which is responsible for the open letter signed by 260 French priests last November and for the resignation en bloc of the twelve executive councillors and regional representatives of the Mission de France in March this year. Both events are concerned with the same problem and reflect ideas aired at the Lucerne Conference. The 260 priests state that they have come to believe that the clerical status imposed upon priests with the style of life and human relationships which it implies is one of the biggest obstacles to the revelation of Christ in the modern world. The worker-priests, for their part, have resigned because of the failure of the French bishops to recognize that the role of the Mission de France implies a third form of pastoral ministry different both from that of the religious orders and that of the secular ministry.

Rome Converted and Paris Preserved

‘Has Rome been converted?’ is the question put by the title of Henri Fesquet’s book on Vatican II and its aftermath (Rome s’est-elle convertie? Paris, Grasset, 1966, 12.00 Frs.). Better placed than most to sound the reactions of the French bishops to events in Rome, Fesquet is Le Monde‘s correspondent on religious matters, and a very well-informed one he is. This makes the only slightly muted optimism of his book all the more surprising. He is convinced that the question must be answered in the affirmative, and he selects a number of themes to illustrate this — the new concept of the priest, the concern with the ecumenical spirit, with world poverty, with public opinion, and with the role of women in the Church.‘Thanks to Vatican II,’ he writes in the preface, ‘Catholicism is giving the impression of taking the Gospel more seriously. The Council’s most essential task . . . was for the Church to look at herself in the light of the New Testament. What does the Gospel tell us, if not that all progress passes through death ? The Church will only renew herself by accepting immolation in the image of her Founder.’ Immolation of the old, to direct the development of the new. A renewed Christian eschatology, for example, which will present itself to twentieth century man as the accomplishment and metamorphosis of humanity. And a way has been shown of reducing the tragic opposition between Marxism and Christianity, which only developed in the first place because Christians had forgotten their most urgent duty.

II. The Social Origins of French and English Bishops in the Eighteenth Century

The increasing emphasis of historians of the eighteenth century on the role of aristocracy under the old régime justifies looking once again, more carefully, at the upper clergy of the established religious cults. The leaders of the established churches were ex officio, if not also by birth, always members of the aristocracy. No comprehension of the membership, organization, or objectives of the eighteenth-century aristocracy is possible without consideration of its ecclesiastical wing—in the case of episcopal churches, of its bishops.

The French Catholic Hierarchy and the Algerian Question

OR ALMOST EIGHT YEARS, from 1954 to 1962, France passed through one of the most severe ordeals in her checkered history. The Algerian war toppled a regime, fundamentally altered the division of powers within France, revolutionized France's colonial policy, caused the ruin of some political parties, and made the fortune of others. The gravity of the conflict led almost all responsible Frenchmen, no matter how far removed from politics, to speak out on the Algerian question. During this time of social tension and moral disorganization men with recognized and unimpeachable integrity had a particularly good opportunity to present their advice to France. Of course, many such people can be found in the French clergy and Catholic laymen's groups. Numerically, French Catholics form the largest subgroup within the French nation. But the Catholic subgroup is far from being monolithic. Catholics profess no one political ideology; groups impregnated with Catholic values are located on almost every spot of the French political spectrum. Yet all Catholics must recognize the spiritual leadership of the Church hierarchy, and particularly of the French bishops.' As the recognized spiritual and moral leaders in a largely Catholic country, the French bishops have a unique opportunity to mold public opinion through their pronouncements and published declarations. A large audience of the Catholic faithful is always attentive to any bishop's declaration. Indeed, a great many French Catholics are willing to be directed by the Church even in political affairs.2 In addition, the most noteworthy declarations of bishops are reported by all major newspapers, and are given careful attention by French policy-makers. Ever since World War I pushed the church-state issue off center stage in French political life, the French bishops have been moving away from political involvement. Today one sees the result of this evolution: with certain exceptions an election, unrest among workers or farmers, or other political events bring from the bishops only general exhortations for civic virtue and political awareness rather than statements of high partisan content. But the Algerian war threatened

Contrition and Action

“The preaching of the truth,” said the Pope last year to the French bishops, “the preaching of the truth did not bring many victories to Christ: it brought Him to the cross. It is by charity that He won souls and drew them to follow Him. That is the only way in which we shall win them.” The importance of the question of means cannot be overstressed. Over and over again, great enterprises, Christian enterprises, have been brought to nought because evil, unchristian means have been adopted to achieve them. What is the business of the Christian, as a Christian, in regard to the temporal order? It is to work for the building of the temporal City of God: the remedying of injustice and hatred, the establishment of justice and charity. Temporal and spiritual meet and fuse in the structure of society inasmuch as this or that social structure preserves or destroys the eternal values; so that when a social structure destructive of Christian values obtains, it is part of the duty of the Christian to work to change it. What kind of means is he to adopt?We shall certainly be misled if we allow ourselves to forget —as so often we do—that on the one hand catholic means universal; on the other, that to-day there is no existing Christian temporal order.We shall certainly be misled if we think of the work of the Christian in the world in terms of making the world safe for the (existing) Christians.

French refugee Bishops in British territory

French refugee Bishops in British territory