Church and Culture in Seventeenth-Century France

This Original And Far-reaching Study Looks Afresh At The Involvement Of The Catholic Church In The Cultural Life Of France In The Seventeenth Century. Professor Phillips Provides A Comprehensive Overview Of Art And Literature, Education, Ideas And Censorship, And He Focuses On The Church As A Reforming And Reformed Institution In The Context Of The Counter-reformation. The Strength Of His Synthesis, The First Of Its Kind In English, Lies In The Breadth Of Its Concerns And In Its Combination Of Social, Religious And Intellectual History. 1. The Spaces Of Belief -- 2. The Spaces Of Representation -- 3. The Spaces Of Education -- 4. The Spaces Of Dissension -- 5. The Space Of Ideas -- 6. The Spaces Of Discussion -- 7. The Spaces Of Hostility: Belief -- 8. The Spaces Of Hostility: Unbelief -- 9. The Space Of The Word. Henry Phillips. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 316-325) And Index. Church and Culture in Seventeenth-Century France brings together the social, religious and intellectual history of the Grand Siecle and focuses on the involvement of the Church in a variety of cultural domains, including literature, art, censorship and ideas. It explores the limits as well as the extent of the Church's influence, especially in its attempt to impose orthodoxy in all areas and on all sections of society. Given that orthodoxy determines the believer's inclusion or exclusion from the Church, thus implying the notion of boundaries in a context of constraint, the study is conceived according to a number of spaces. The notion of space is sometimes interpreted literally, e.g. Port-Royal, the school and the church building, and sometimes metaphorically, e.g. orthodoxy itself, science and theology. The book also deals with religious attitudes to libertinage, atheism and deism, and with aspects of French Protestantism.

This original and far-reaching study looks afresh at the involvement of the Catholic Church in the cultural life of France in the seventeenth century. Professor Phillips provides a comprehensive overview of art and literature, education, ideas and censorship, and he focuses on the Church as a reforming and reformed institution in the context of the Counter-Reformation. The strength of his synthesis, the first of its kind in English, lies in the breadth of its concerns and in its combination of social, religious and intellectual history.

Contents 8 Preface 10 Introduction 12 1 The spaces of belief 20 2 The spaces of representation 55 3 The spaces of education 87 4 The spaces of dissension 111 5 The space of ideas 146 6 The spaces of discussion 182 7 The spaces of hostility: belief 200 8 The spaces of hostility: unbelief 237 9 The space of the word 273 Conclusion 308 Bibliography 327 Index 337 ISBN,0521570239,hardback,ISBN,0521892996,paperback Cambridge University Press After the period of religious wars which, in part at least, prevented France from initiating the reforms promoted by the Council of Trent, the seventeenth century witnessed the growth of a movement within the Church which sought to transform all aspects of social, religious and even political life. This book recounts the involvement of the Catholic Church in French cultural life during the Counter-Reformation. Exploring the extent of the Church's influence on all sections of society, Professor Phillips provides a wide-ranging and coherent synthesis of the period.