Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review“There may never be a definitive study of Jean Gerson, but McGuire’s book is the most comprehensive, insightful, and judicious known to me. It is the benchmark for further work on the great Chancellor.”
—Bernard McGinn,University of Chicago
“Jean Gerson was an idealist, Brian McGuire writes, ‘and idealists do not usually do well in the history books.’ But this book is an exception, for McGuire gives us a compelling portrait of this severe and lonely man who may, nonetheless, have been his era’s most effective champion of rational discourse, peaceful reform, and international cooperation. If Gerson’s diplomacy and conciliar policies had prevailed, much of Europe’s tragic history might have been averted. This awareness gives McGuire’s account of ‘the last medieval reformation’ a deep poignancy that complements his learned and lucid analysis of Gerson’s multifarious works.”
—Barbara Newman,Northwestern University
“I hope that the quality and comprehensiveness of this biography will serve to make known to a broader audience this most fascinating personality, whose life serves as a microcosm of the ideas and movements that characterized the religious and intellectual world of northern Europe in the late Middle Ages.”
—Louis B. Pascoe, S.J. American Historical Review
“Few scholars, if any, know Gerson’s works and their sources better than McGuire does. . . . He has assembled a vast amount of information into a coherent narrative. . . . This study is certain to become the starting point for much future research on Gerson.”
—Daniel Hobbins Journal of Ecclesiastical History
“The detailed chronology of Gerson’s life and publication history, together with the excellent bibliography, can be usefully consulted by students and scholars alike. This first-rate biography conveys a palpable sense of Gerson’s deep passions, keen intellect, and personal struggles that together mirror the many complexities of his own age.”
—Michael Wolfe Canadian Journal of History
“B. P. McGuire wrote an excellent biography of an important late medieval intellectual. He moreover presents an overview of Gerson’s writings. B. P. McGuire’s writing style is very pleasant. All of this make B. P. McGuire’s book a work worth reading and a study that anyone interested in Gerson will highly appreciate.”
—Michiel Decaluwe Revue D'Histoire Ecclesiastique
“McGuire is the first scholar in almost eighty years to have had the spirit to take on the formidable task of attempting a full-scale biography of Gerson. Going about that task with thoroughness, sensitivity, and good, calmly balanced judgment, he has indeed succeeded in establishing the ‘benchmark’ for future work on Gerson’s life. And that has to be recognized as no mean achievement.”
—Francis Oakly Catholic Historical Review
“McGuire’s biography is well researched and dispels some long-standing myths surrounding the theologian-philosopher. It contains concise summaries of all Gerson’s major and several of his minor works as well as numerous Gersonian passages translated into English by the author.”
—Judy Kem Sixteenth Century Journal
Table of ContentsCONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PREFACE GUIDE TO READERS
1. One Life in the Shadow of Death
2. Entering a Troubled World
3. Doing Theology for Everyone
4. Living a Personal Schism, 1394–1399
5. Making a New Home, 1399–1400
6. Returning to the Summit, 1400–1403
7. Guiding and Controlling, 1403–1408
8. Losing control and Finding a Loving Man, 1409–1415
9. Defending Truth and Failing Reform, 1415–1418
10. Wandering as a Refugee and Finding a New Home, 1418–1429
11. The Legacy of Jean Gerson
CHRONOLOGY OF GERSON’S LIFE AND TIMES
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES
INDEX
