The Catholic Historical
Review
VOL. XCII

APRIL 2006

No. 1

THE “TRAKTAT VON DER MINNE”:
A CHAPTER IN THE RECEPTION
OF MEISTER ECKHART’S MYSTICISM
BY

BERNARD MCGINN*

Despite the condemnation of twenty-eight articles from Meister Eckhart’s Latin and German works by Pope John XXII in 1329, the Dominican mystic continued to be read by a variety of German and
Dutch writers for the next century and a half. Eckhart’s reception is
evident not only among the German Dominicans, but also among
Franciscans and Augustinians. The Traktat von der Minne is a vernacular scholastic quaestio on 1 John 4:16 (“God is love”). This work,
unusual both in form and content, has recently been ascribed to the
Augustinian master John Hiltalingen of Basel (ca. 1332–1392). The
treatise combines Augustinian illumination theory, the identification of the movement of love within the soul as the Holy Spirit and
not a created form of grace, and Eckhart’s teachings about the uncreated something in the soul. Hiltalinger’s Traktat is one of the most
original adaptations of Eckhart’s thought in the fourteenth century.
The condemnation of a number of articles from the teaching of Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260–1328) by Pope John XXII in the Bull In agro dominico on March 27, 1329, has been seen as a decisive moment in the
history of the tensions between the teaching magisterium of the Church

*Dr. McGinn is the Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor Emeritus in the Divinity
School of the University of Chicago.

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THE “TRAKTAT VON DER MINNE”

and mystical piety in the late Middle Ages.1 New research has revealed
that the papal bull was not just restricted to the archbishopric of Cologne, where the case against Eckhart had initiated, but that the ban
was widely disseminated in German-speaking lands, in both Latin and
vernacular forms.2 Although the conclusion of the bull specifically excluded the person of the Dominican master himself from heresy, due to
his submission to the judgment to the Holy See throughout his trials
at Cologne and Avignon, it is clear from the damnatio memoriae found
in the preface that the pope and his ally, Henry of Virneburg, the Archbishop of Cologne, wished to prevent any spread of Eckhart’s teaching
in Germany. The Dominican’s mystical thought seemed too close to
the dangerous ideas of the so-called Free Spirit heretics, who threatened sound belief with their views of annihilation of the created self,
mystical identity with God, and the antinomian and anti-ecclesiastical
positions that were seen (rightly or wrongly) as flowing from such
teachings.
How much mystical heresy was actually to be found in fourteenthcentury Germany is difficult to determine.3 What is clear is that both
the ecclesiastical authorities and the mystics themselves were worried
about the Free Spirits, who so emphasized the libertas spiritus mentioned by Paul (2 Cor. 3:17) that they no longer thought themselves
bound by the precepts of the Church, let alone by the moral law. In
such an atmosphere of fear and suspicion, and with a strong papal prohibition so broadly disseminated, it might seem likely that Eckhart’s
writings, both his Latin commentaries and his vernacular sermons and
treatises, would have been sought out and destroyed, circulating at
best in clandestine fashion. The history of the reception of Eckhart,
however, shows quite another story. While the Dominican’s Latin
works survive only in a few manuscripts, they were probably never
1

For a summary of the significance of Eckhart’s condemnation in the context of late
medieval debates over mysticism, see Bernard McGinn, “‘Evil-Sounding, Rash, and Suspect of Heresy’: Tensions between Mysticism and Magisterium in the History of the
Church,” Catholic Historical Review, 20 (2004), 193–212.
2
Robert E. Lerner, “New Evidence for the Condemnation of Meister Eckhart,” Speculum, 72 (1997), 347–366.
3
Older views of widespread mystical heresy, such as that found in Gordon Leff, Heresy
in the Later Middle Ages, 2 vols. (New York, 1967), I, pp. 308–407, have been challenged by Robert E. Lerner, The Heresy of the Free Spirit in the Later Middle Ages, 2nd
ed. (Notre Dame, Indiana, 1997). My own position is set forth in chapter 2, “Mysticism
and Heresy: The Problem of the Free Spirit,” in Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism in Medieval Germany (1300–1500) (New York, 2005), pp. 48–79.

BY BERNARD MCGINN

179

meant for a wide dissemination, given their fragmentary and unfinished
nature. Nevertheless, Eckhart’s biblical commentaries and his Latin
quaestiones and prologues were read and used by important mystical
and theological figures both in the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries. The Dominican’s vernacular sermons were widely read and appreciated, surviving in hundreds of manuscripts, though usually as discrete
pieces and often in fragments, rather than in the kind of collection for
the liturgical year that he seems to have had in mind.4 It is clear that
Eckhart was too powerful and influential a thinker to be swept under
the rug. Many important mystical authors, even those who disagreed
with him, such as the Dutch canon Jan van Ruusbroec (d. 1381), read
and pondered his views.
A full history of the reception of Eckhart’s mysticism in the century
after his death remains to be written. Although some older works continue to be valuable,5 the past two decades have revealed new aspects
of the complex story of the spread of Eckhart’s writings through both
German-speaking and Dutch-speaking areas. Much, though by no means
all, of the flood of mystical literature of fourteenth-century Germany
bears Eckhart’s mark, in one way or another. Two major Dominican
mystics, John Tauler (d. 1361) and Henry Suso (d. 1366), both honored
Eckhart and made use of his mystical thought, though with significant
qualifications that show they took the papal condemnation and Eckhart’s ambiguous reputation into account.6 Loris Sturlese has shown
that the defense of Eckhart mounted by Tauler and Suso was based
upon a broader Dominican effort to rehabilitate their much-revered
confrere. Sturlese argues for the existence of a group of Eckhartisten
4
On Eckhart’s intention to create a collection of his Middle High German (MHG) sermons, see Loris Sturlese, “Hat es ein Corpus der deutschen Predigten Meister Eckharts
gegeben? Liturgische Beobachtungen zu aktuellen philosophiehistorischen Fragen,” in
Meister Eckhart in Erfurt, edited by Andreas Speer and Lydia Wegener, Miscellanea Mediaevalia, 32 (Berlin and New York, 2005), pp. 393–408.
5
Among older literature on the reception of Eckhart in the later Middle Ages, see Maria
A. Lücker, Meister Eckhart und die Devotio Moderna (Leiden, 1950); Josef Koch, “Meister Eckharts Weiterwirken im deutsch-niederländischen Raum im 14. und 15. Jahrhundert,” in La mystique rhénane (Paris, 1963), pp. 133–156; Ingeborg Degenhardt, Studien
zum Wandel des Eckhartbildes (Leiden, 1967), chaps. 2–3; and Rijkert A. Ubbink, De
receptie van Meister Eckhart in de Nederlanden gedurende de middeleeuwen, Amsertdamer Publikationen zur Sprache und Literatur, 34 (Amsterdam,1978).
6
For a comparison of how Tauler and Suso qualified Eckhart’s view of union with God,
see Bernard McGinn, “The Problem of Mystical Union in Eckhart, Seuse, and Tauler,” in
Meister Eckhart in Erfurt, pp. 538–553.

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THE “TRAKTAT VON DER MINNE”

centered on Cologne who were responsible for collecting, editing, and
explaining Eckhart’s writings.7
Eckhart’s influence was by no means restricted to the Dominican
order, despite the tendency in the later Middle Ages for schools of piety
and mysticism to cluster around particular religious affiliations. Many of
the most widely read of the often anonymous fourteenth-century mystical handbooks, such as the Book of Spiritual Poverty, make use of
Eckhart along with other forms of mystical teaching. The greatest mystical preacher of the second half of the fourteenth century was the
Franciscan Marquard of Lindau (d. 1392), who, like Eckhart, left treatises both in Latin and in Middle High German (MHG), as well as vernacular sermons.8 Marquard was obviously familiar with Eckhart. Indeed,
he cites him and uses material from his biblical commentaries, mixing
themes of Eckhartian negative theology with those more typical of
Franciscan mysticism drawn from Bonaventure and from the affective
interpretation of the Dionysian corpus pioneered by Thomas Gallus
and taken up by many late-medieval mystics. The Franciscan also criticized Eckhart, particularly on those aspects of his teaching, such as the
eternity of the universe, that were featured in the papal bull.9
Recent research has also begun to reveal the impact Eckhart had
upon the German Augustinian hermits. The Order of the Hermits of St.
Augustine developed from groups of anchorites in Italy in the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries. By the time they spread into Germany, the
Augustinian hermits had begun to look more and more like the successful mendicant orders of Franciscans and Dominicans in their organization and dedication to study. By 1300 there were four provinces and
more than eighty convents in Germany. A rich theology and spirituality
7
Loris Sturlese, “Die Kölner Eckhartisten: Das Studium generale der deutschen Dominikaner und die Verurteilung der Thesen Meister Eckharts,” in Die Kölner Universität im
Mittelalter, edited by Albert Zimmermann (Berlin, 1989), pp. 192–211.
8
There is an edition of Marquard’s sermons by Rüdiger Blumrich, Marquard von Lindau: Deutsche Predigten. Untersuchungen und Edition (Tübingen, 1994). The best introduction is that of Nigel Palmer, “Marquard von Lindau,” Die deutsche Literatur des
Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon (hereafter VL), edited by Kurt Ruh et al. (Berlin, 1978–),
vol. 6, pp. 81–126. In English, see the account in McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, pp.
329–340.
9
On the relation of Eckhart and Marquard, consult Loris Sturlese, “Über Marquard von
Lindau und Meister Eckhart,” in Glauben. Wissen. Handeln: Beiträge aus Theologie,
Philosophie und Naturwissenschaften zu Grundfragen christlicher Existenz. Festschrift für Philipp Kaiser, edited by Albert Franz (Würzburg, 1994), pp. 277–289; and
Freimut Löser, “Rezeption als Revision: Marquard von Lindau und Meister Eckhart,”
Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur, 119 (1997), 425–458.

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181

developed among these Augustinians during the course of the fourteenth century.10 A central figure was Henry of Friemar the Elder
(d. 1340), a contemporary of Eckhart, and like him a Paris master and
noted theologian and mystical writer, though only in Latin. Henry’s
most important mystical treatise, written in the first decade of the fourteenth century, was the De adventu Verbi in mentem, a scholasticallyorganized treatment of the birth of the Word in the soul as the central
theme of Christian mysticism.11 Henry shared Eckhart’s enthusiasm for
the birthing motif, though he also criticized Eckhart’s interpretation of
the birth in the course of his work. Later Augustinians, such as the
popular preacher Jordan of Quedlinburg (d. ca. 1370), also knew and
used Eckhart.12
The Augustinian reception of Eckhart is significant because it now
appears likely that one of the most interesting mystical treatises of the
second half of the fourteenth century, one that uses a good deal of Eckhart and expressly refers to him, also comes from an Augustinian. This
work, the “Traktat von der Minne” (“Treatise on Love”), was not popular, since it survives in only two manuscripts. Nevertheless, it is an
original work and one that provides an important example of the critical reception of Eckhart’s mysticism. The treatise is little known; indeed, it is only within the past two decades that the research of Kurt
Ruh and Karl Heinz Witte has begun to uncover something of the nature and significance of this expression of scholastic mysticism in the
vernacular.13 Important as the work of Ruh and Witte has been in giving
us a better sense of the context, author, and content of the treatise, the
10

The most detailed study of the spirituality of the medieval Augustinian hermits is
Adolar Zumkeller, Theology and History of the Augustinian School in the Middle Ages,
edited by John E. Rotelle, translated by M. Viebeck and Audrey Fellowes (n.p., 1996),
chap. 3. On their theology, see also Damasus Trapp, “Augustinian Theology of the 14th
Century. Notes on Editions, Marginalia, Opinions and Book-Lore,” Augustiniana, 6
(1956), 146–274.
11
Henry’s De adventu Verbi was edited by Adolar Zumkeller, Henrici de Frimaria,
O.S.A. Tractatus ascetico-mystici. Tomus I (Rome, 1975), pp. 5–61. For an English treatment of the work and access to the German literature on this figure, see McGinn, The
Harvest of Mysticism, pp. 368–377.
12
For more on the relation between Eckhart and Henry and Jordan, see Jeremiah
Hackett, “The Reception of Meister Eckhart: Mysticism, Philosophy, and Theology in
Henry of Friemar (the Elder) and Jordanus of Quedlinburg,” Meister Eckhart in Erfurt,
pp. 554–586.
13
Kurt Ruh, “Traktat von der Minne. Eine Schrift zum Verständnis und zur Verteidigung von Meister Eckharts Metaphysik,” in Philologie als Kulturwissenschaft. Studien
zur Literatur und Geschichte des Mittelalters. Festschrift für Karl Stackmann zum 65.
Geburtstag (Göttingen, 1987), pp. 208–229; and Geschichte der abendländischen Mys-

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THE “TRAKTAT VON DER MINNE”

relation between the “Traktat” and Eckhart’s mysticism deserves further investigation.
The “Traktat von der Minne” is in the form of a scholastic quaestio
that sets out to investigate the meaning of the text from 1 John 4:16:
“Got ist die mynne” (God is love).14 The quaestio follows the form well
known from the Summa theologiae of Thomas Aquinas, and while the
Summa itself had been translated into MHG in the fourteenth century,
it was still unusual to compose a scholastic quaestio in the vernacular.
The “Traktat” is not an attempt at a full account of the nature of love as
a name for God, but is rather an exploration of two of the major theoretical issues in contemporary mystical theology: the nature of the caritas/minne by which we love God, and its relation to mystical union.15
Although Eckhart’s challenging thought provides a major resource
for the positions taken, the “Traktat” has independent views on key
theological issues in late medieval debates over mysticism. It provides
evidence that the connection between rigorous scholastic theology
and the mystical thought characteristic of Eckhart’s approach was not
dead in the second half of the fourteenth century, although it had been
under attack since the time of the Meister’s condemnation. As Kurt Ruh
put it, this work is among the texts that “document a scholasticism that
tik. Band III. Die Mystik des deutschen Predigerordens und ihre Grundlegung durch
die Hochscholastik (Munich, 1996), pp. 362–366. Karl Heinz Witte, “Der ‘Traktat von
der minne’, der Meister des Lehrgesprächs und Johannes Hiltalingen von Basel. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Meister-Eckhart-Rezeption in der Augustinerschule des 14. Jahrhunderts,” Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur, 131 (2002),
454–487.
14
Ruh edited the treatise in his article “Traktat der Minne,” pp. 211–220. Witte provides a slightly corrected edition and a modern German translation on the website http://
www.hiltalinger.de, using Ruh’s format of 269 lines of text. Here I will use the Witte edition cited by line numbers. Both Witte and Ruh provide important explanatory notes and
comments.
15
The structure of the quaestio is as follows:
A) Introduction (lines 1–34):
(a) the traditional Thomistic thesis on the habit of caritas is set forth (two objectiones: lines 1–21)
(b) the new thesis (sed contra: lines 22–34)
B) The Body of the Article (corpus articuli: lines 35–131)
I. First major point: God himself is the love that unites us to him
C) Response to the two objections (obj. 1: lines 132–144; obj. 2: lines 145–168)
II. Second major point: refutation of the Thomist arguments
D) Further analysis of love and union (lines 169–269)
III. Third major point: God unites with us by the act of love and not by being.

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183

is coming of age [in the vernacular], a coming of age that happened
through the encounter with Meister Eckhart.”16
One of the more problematic questions about the Traktat concerns
its audience. Why was such a difficult theological tract presented in the
vernacular, when a clerical audience should have been able to follow
its intricate arguments more easily in Latin? Could a lay audience have
been envisaged for such a technical text? This may well be the case,
because a number of more difficult vernacular mystical works of the
fourteenth century (as well as the preaching of Eckhart and Tauler)
were obviously intended for a broad public. Although scholastic modes
of presentation are evident in the structure and arguments of a number
of German mystical treatises of the century,17 no other work proceeds
in such strict scholastic form.
Given the familiarity with Eckhart’s thought found in the “Traktat,”
Kurt Ruh surmised that despite the anonymity of the work in the two
surviving manuscripts, it was probably Dominican in origin, possibly
dating from the time of Eckhart’s trial and condemnation (ca. 1325–
1330).18 More recently, Karl Heinz Witte has argued that, rather than
being the product of a Dominican pen, the theological stance of the
tract shows it to be the work of the Augustinian John Hiltalingen of
Basel (ca. 1332-1392), whom Witte also credits with the production of
a group of three vernacular mystical treatises that had formerly been
ascribed to an anonymous figure called the “Master of the In Principio
Dialogue.”19 The identification is further evidence that the reception of
Eckhart’s thought was widespread in late medieval Germany, not least
among the Augustinians.
Active two generations after Henry of Friemar, Hiltalingen provides
evidence for the continued intellectual vitality of the Augustinian order
in medieval Germany. As is typical with most scholastics, little is known

16

Ruh, “Traktat von der Minne,” p. 228.
The anonymous treatise known as Das Buch von geistlicher Armut (“The Book of
Spiritual Poverty”), probably dating from ca. 1350–1375, shows the influence of scholastic modes of thinking, but does not follow a rigorous scholastic form. See McGinn, The
Harvest of Mysticism, pp. 377–392.
18
Ruh, Geschichte, III, p. 366.
19
For an edition and study of these treatises, see Karl Heinz Witte, Der Meister des
Lehrgesprächs und sein ‘In-principio-Dialog’. Ein deutschsprachiger Theologe der Augustinerschule des 14. Jahrhunderts aus dem Kreise deutscher Mystik und Scholastik
(Munich, 1989).
17

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THE “TRAKTAT VON DER MINNE”

about his life, and his Latin scholastic writings remain unedited.20 In
1371 Hiltalingen served as magister actu regens in the Augustinian
chair at Paris, showing that he was well respected as a theologian. Later
he was a provincial of the order and its procurator in Rome. At the time
of the Great Western Schism, however, Hiltalingen sided with the Avignon party, even to the point of becoming the “anti-General” of the
order. This fact may help explain the lack of interest in his writings
among later Augustinians after the end of the schism. In the 1380’s he
is recorded as a noted preacher in the Rhineland cities. He died at Basel
in 1392. The fact that the author of the “Traktat” explicitly says he is an
Augustinian (“vnd ich sprich mit sant Augustin”: line 28), as well as the
parallels that Witte has demonstrated between positions in Hiltalingen’s
acknowledged Latin writings and the “Traktat von der Minne,”21 makes
his authorship of the work highly likely, if not absolutely certain. Although it is not possible to date the treatise, one can hazard the guess
that such a carefully argued work probably comes from Hiltalingen’s
mature years (i.e., 1370’s-1380’s).
From the perspective of the history of mystical theology, the importance of the “Traktat” rests in its position on two major issues: first,
the nature of the saving love by which we are able to love God above
all things; and second, the kind of union between God and human
found in such love. Hiltalingen approaches these questions on the basis
of fidelity to the theology of his order rooted in the thought of Augustine, as well as an original retrieval of aspects of Eckhart’s thought.
In distinction 17 of the first book of the Sentences Peter Lombard,
citing Saint Augustine, had identified the Holy Spirit with the charity
given to Christians in the grace conveyed by baptism and the other
sacraments. As he puts it: “The same Holy Spirit himself is the love or
charity by which we love God and neighbor. When this charity is in us
in such a way that it makes us love God and neighbor, then the Holy
Spirit is said to be sent or given to us.”22 Thomas Aquinas and the major20
For a brief survey and references to further literature, see Karl Heinz Witte, “Hiltalingen, Johannes, von Basel OESA,” in VL, vol. 11, pp. 670–672. Older treatments of some
aspects of Hiltalingen’s theology and what is known about his life, include Damasus
Trapp, “Hiltalinger’s [sic] Augustinian Quotations,” Augustiniana, 4 (1954), 412–449;
Trapp, “Augustinian Theology in the 14th Century,” pp. 242–250 and 264–265; and Adolar Zumkeller, “Der Augustinertheologe Johannes Hiltalingen von Basel (d. 1392) über
Urstand, Gnade und Verdienst,” Analecta Augustiniana, 43 (1980), 57–162.
21
Witte, “Der ‘Traktat von der minne,’” pp. 460–461.
22
Magistri Petri Lombardi. Sententiae in IV Libris Distinctae, Tom. I, Pars II, 3rd ed.,
edited by the Patres Collegii S. Bonaventurae, Spicilegium Bonaventurianum, IV (Grottafer-

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185

ity of later scholastics abandoned this view, arguing that charity is a
supernatural, but still created, habitual form added to our nature to enable it to produce acts of loving God and neighbor “promptly and with
delight” ( prompte et delectabiliter).23 Meister Eckhart was one of the
few scholastic masters who upheld the Lombard’s view, both in his
Latin writings and in his preaching.24 The “Traktat” also defends this
position, claiming that it is the view of the bishop of Hippo. In the development of his argument, Hiltalingen makes considerable use of Eckhart, though from his own perspective.
In setting forth the dispute between the two contrasting positions,
the Augustinian-Lombardian view and the Thomistic position shared by
most scholastics, the treatise begins by summarizing two of Thomas
Aquinas’s objections to the view that the Holy Spirit himself is the love
by which we love God and neighbor in a supernatural way (lines 1–21).
These are both taken from the body of Thomas’s argument against Peter Lombard in the Summa IIaIIae, q. 23, a. 2, though Hiltalingen reverses Thomas’s order in his presentation. The first argument is that if
charity is not a created virtue, it would not be the real form or source
of our own act of love; the second is that if love is not a created form,
the act that flows from it is not an expression of human freedom and
therefore is not really ours. Then Hiltalingen, following the quaestio
format, sets forth the sed contra, that is, his own view that love in us
rata, 1971), Liber I, dist. XVII, cap. 1.2 (p. 142): “His autem addendum est quod ipse idem
Spiritus Sanctus est amor sive caritas, qua nos diligimus Deum et proximum . . . tunc
Spiritus Sanctus dicitur mitti vel dari nobis. . . .” The Lombard cites Augustine, De Trinitate 8.7.10–8.12 (PL 42:957–958). For a study and translation of this section of Lombard’s
Sentences, see Philipp W. Roseman, “Fraterna dilectio est Deus: Peter Lombard’s Thesis
on Charity as the Holy Spirit,” in Amor amicitiae: On the Love that is Friendship. Essays
in Medieval Thought and Beyond in Honor of Rev. Professor James McEvoy, edited by
Thomas A. F. Kelly and Philipp W. Roseman (Leuven, 2004), pp. 409–436. For the wider
context of this disputed issue, see Edouard Wéber, “Eléments néoplatoniciens en théologie mystique au XIIIe siècle,” in Abendländische Mystik im Mittelalter, (ed.) Kurt Ruh
(Stuttgart, 1986), pp. 196–207.
23
Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae IIaIIae, q. 23, a. 2.
24
Eckhart’s view that the Holy Spirit is himself the love by which we love God and our
neighbor is found in both the Latin and vernacular works appearing in the critical edition, Meister Eckhart. Die deutschen und lateinischen Werke herausgegeben im
Auftrag der deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (Stuttgart-Berlin, 1936–). The edition
has two major parts, Die deutschen Werke (hereafter DW), and Die lateinischen Werke
(hereafter LW). Citing by volume and page, some texts that put forth the identification of
the Holy Spirit and the charity within the believer can be found in DW 1:168, DW 2:41–
43, and DW 3:328. In the Latin works, see LW 3:438 and 550, and LW 4:53, 106, and
338.

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both as habit and as act is nothing else but the Holy Spirit. “According
to the words of Augustine,” he says, “and I speak as an Augustinian, not
only is the habit of love uncreated, but also the act of love is the Holy
Spirit himself.”25 Hiltalingen says he will demonstrate this position in
three stages: first, on the basis of two arguments (lines 35–131); second, by answering the two Thomistic objections given at the outset
(lines 132–168); and third, by showing how God is united to us by love
and not by being (lines 169–269).
The first part of the argument sets forth what could be called a strong
form of Augustine’s illumination theory, one which uses the analogy of
the need for divine illumination in knowing to show that the same must
be true for the act of loving. It is clear, Hiltalingen argues, that in heaven
we will know God by means of the knowledge that is God himself
(lines 54–63), but the same is also true on earth, because only divine
knowledge can mediate between the intellect and God (lines 82–90)—
like can only be known by like. Hiltalingen goes on to give a second
proof for this point based on an analysis of the relation of the active and
passive intellects, upping the ante to claim that every intellectual perception of truth requires divine knowledge to illuminate the mind
(lines 91–114).26 A broadly Augustinian doctrine of illumination was
shared by many medieval thinkers. What is new is how Hiltalingen extends this line of reasoning to the act of love when he claims: “Just as
we cannot know God apart from divine knowledge, so too we cannot
love him apart from divine love, because love is an inclination of the
will that springs from reason’s act of knowing.”27
The development of the second part of the quaestio disputata, Hiltalingen’s response to the Thomistic arguments that love is a created
form or habit in the soul (lines 132–161), displays the ability to make
careful distinctions in confronting difficult issues that was of the es25
Traktat (lines 27–29): “Aber nach sant Augustinus worten, vnd ich sprich mit sant
Augustin, das nicht allein ein habitus der mynne ist vngeschaffen, mer auch das werk der
minne ist der heilig geist selber.” Ruh thinks that the reference may be to Augustine, De
Trinitate 15.17.27 (PL 42:1080).
26
This view is not explicitly found in Augustine. Ruh, “Traktat der Minne,” pp. 223–
224, thought that here the treatise shows the influence of the Dominican theologian and
contemporary of Eckhart, Dietrich of Freiburg. Witte, “Der ‘Traktat von der Minne,’” pp.
466–468, opts for Henry of Ghent as a possible source.
27
Traktat (lines 115–118): “. . . das wir got nicht mugen bechennen den mit gotlichem
bechentnuss: so enmugen wir in auch nicht geminnen den mit gotliche mynne, wan
mynne ist ein neygung des willen, der von dem bechentnusse der vernunft entspringet.”
Lines 119–131 offer three proofs for this view.

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187

sence of the scholastic mode of theology. In answer to the objection
that without their own created form or virtue humans would find it difficult to love, Hiltalingen says that the Holy Spirit is the source of all
form and therefore for the Spirit to act directly makes it easier for us to
love, not harder. In response to the objection that without a created
form human freedom would be lacking, the Augustinian distinguishes:
“I do not say that love is only from the Holy Spirit, but it is also from the
freedom of the will, and in such a way that the person loving is more
acted upon than acting, as St. Paul says: ‘Those who are led by God’s
Spirit are God’s children’ (Rom. 8:14).”28 At the conclusion of his demonstration of the insufficiency of the Thomistic position, the Augustinian makes an important point that will dominate the remainder of the
quaestio, as he insists that the “special movement, or assistance” (sunderlich bewegunge: line 159) by which we love God in worthy fashion
is nothing other than the Holy Spirit, not anything created.
It is at this transition point to the third stage of his presentation that
the Augustinian turns to Meister Eckhart, invoking the Dominican’s
help to explain the nature of this “special movement.” Hiltalingen puts
it as follows: “This [i.e., the Holy Spirit as uncreated form in the soul]
is the uncreated something in the soul, about which Meister Eckhart speaks, that is united to each created being in all intellectual
activities. . . . And in every intellectual act of knowing the Eternal Word
is born and is a principle of the Holy Spirit and a flowing out. This is the
greatest perfection that God can give to created beings.”29 On the basis
of this combination of the Augustinian teaching on the need for a “special assistance” (auxilium speciale) with the Eckhartian teaching on
the uncreated something that is the source of the birth of the Word in
the soul, the third part of the “Traktat” goes on to an engagement with
Eckhart’s thought, especially with regard to the meaning of the esse
formale that constitutes created being, as well as the meaning of the
28
Traktat (lines 153–156): “Ich sprich nicht, das die mynne allein sey von dem heiligen
geist, mer sie ist auch von freyheit des willen, doch also das der mensch in minnen mer
wirt geworcht den er wurcket, als sant Paulus spricht: ‘Die von dem geist gottes gefurt
werden, die sint gottes kinder.’”
29
Traktat (lines 161–168): “Ditz ist das vngeschaffen in der seln, da Meister Eckhart auf
spricht, das da wirt vereint einer ieglichen creaturen in allen vernunftigen werken, . . . vnd
ein iglich in allen vernünfftigen bekentnusse gebirt das ewig wort vnd ist ein vrsprung
des heyligen geistes vnd ein ausfliessen, vnd das ist die groste volkumenheit die got vernunftigen creaturen gegeben mag.” Eckhart often spoke about the “uncreated something” in the soul (e.g., DW 1:197, 220, 380–381; DW 2:418, etc.), so it is difficult to say
if Hiltalingen had a particular text in mind. The first of the appended articles to the Bull
In agro dominico condemned one such passage as heretical.

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THE “TRAKTAT VON DER MINNE”

uncreated something in the soul. In this section Hiltalingen also sets
forth his original notion of union with God.
As Karl Heinz Witte has shown, Hiltalingen’s teaching on union seeks
to integrate three doctrinal blocks not easily compatible—Augustinian
teaching about the need for a special impetus of grace for every act of
true love; the view of Peter Lombard and Eckhart that the Holy Spirit is
the love by which we love God; and, finally, Eckhart’s teaching about
the uncreated something in the soul.30 The Augustinian’s integration of
these three positions rests upon his understanding of “formal being”
( formlich wesen/esse formale). He again cites Eckhart as he introduces this final section of the work: “On the third point I will show
how God can be formally united with us as intellect or love and not as
being (wesen), and how one is to understand the master’s saying [i.e.,
Eckhart’s] that God is the formal being of creatures.”31 Eckhart himself
had never said that God was the esse formale of creatures, though at
his trial he was accused of making such statements on the basis of the
first of the propositions from the Liber propositionum, namely, “Esse
est Deus” (“Existence is God”).32 Eckhart easily defended himself at the
Cologne trial, showing that he used the statement “Esse est Deus” only
of God’s absolute being, and not with regard to the formal being of
creatures.33 It is significant that this accusation against Eckhart was
dropped during the Avignon investigation and did not feature in the
bull of condemnation.
Hiltalingen seems to have thought that Eckhart did actually say that
God is the esse formale of creatures and so he set out to explain how
this is to be understood.34 Eckhart’s claim, according to the Augustinian, can be taken in two ways. The first would be as if creatures had no
30

Witte, “Der ‘Traktat von der Minne,’” p. 469.
Traktat (lines 169–172): “Zu dem dritten mall wil ich sagen, wie got muge vereint
werden formlich mit vns als ein vernunft oder als mynne vnd nicht als ein wesen, vnd
wie man es versten sullen ach des meisters synne, das got sey formlich wesen der creaturen.”
32
In both the “General Prologue” to the planned summary of his thought, what he
called the Opus tripartitum, as well as in the “Prologue to the Work of Propositions,”
Eckhart explains at length the meaning of the fundamental proposition, “Esse est Deus”
(LW 1:156–82). There is an English translation of this text in Master Eckhart. Parisian
Questions and Prologues, translated with an Introduction and Notes by Armand A. Maurer, C.S.B. (Toronto, 1974), pp. 85–104. The literature on Eckhart’s doctrine of esse is too
large to be cited here.
33
See the accusation (taken from a passage in the Prol. Gen. n. 12) as given in Processus Coloniensis I n. 36 (LW 5: 212), and Eckhart’s response in n. 117 (LW 5: 289).
34
See the discussion in Witte, “Der ‘Traktat von der Minne,’” pp. 469–471.
31

BY BERNARD MCGINN

189

formal created being of their own, which is impossible and would represent the pantheistic error for which Amalric of Bene was condemned.35 The second understanding is that God, as the being upon
whom all other things depend for their existence, “gives a self-identity
(istikeit) [to creatures], not in reality but formally in the sense that they
cannot have it formally from themselves.”36 In taking up the Eckhartian
neologism istikeit/isticheit (both forms occur), which may be rendered
as “intellectual self-identity,” that is, the “complete return” (reditio
completa) of intellect as intellect upon itself, Hiltalingen shows how
well he had grasped one of the key elements of the Meister’s thought,
though he employs it essentially to make his own point.37
Hiltalingen explains what he means by an appeal to the two essential
modes of the existence of things in a manner that recalls Eckhart’s distinction between esse virtuale, that is, the existence that all things
have as forms in the divine Intellect, and the esse formale/actuale that
they possess insofar as the form comes to inhere in them actually as
created realities.38 For Eckhart the forms inhering in creatures are never
self-sufficient; they always depend upon their higher existence in God.
This relationship of dependence becomes identity in case of an intellectual creature, whose intellect, insofar as it is intellect, is one with the
divine Intellect. This is what the Dominican’s neologism isticheit signifies, and which Hiltalinger well understood.
35

The early thirteenth-century master Amalric of Bene had been accused of saying that
God is the formal principle of all things. Amalric was condemned at Paris in 1210 and
again at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. His views were universally rejected by the
scholastics; e.g., Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae Ia, q. 3, a. 8.
36
Traktat (lines 181–182): “Nicht wurklich sunder formlich gibt ein istikeit, das sie von
ir selber nicht mocht haben formlich.”
37
In older Eckhart literature, istikeit was often understood as signifying something like
the Thomistic sense of esse as contrasted with essentia. The work of Alessandra Beccarisi
has shown that the term needs to be interpreted in the light of Eckhart’s teaching on the
nature of the priority of intelligere, or the puritas essendi, over esse, and the Neoplatonic doctrine of the complete return of intellect upon itself as taught in the Liber de
causis, Proposition 15. See Alessandra Beccarisi, “Philosophische Neologismen zwischen
Latein und Volksprache: ‘istic’ und ‘isticheit’ bei Meister Eckhart,” Recherches de théologie et philosophie médiévale, 70 (2003), 328–358; and “Isticheit nach Meister Eckhart.
Wege und Irrwege eines philosophischen Terminus,” Meister Eckhart in Erfurt, pp.
314–334, which discusses Hiltalingen’s uses of the term on pp. 327–333, and shows that
they have been misunderstood by Ruh and Witte. Beccarisi summarizes: “Johannes Hiltalingen beschränckt sich darauf, eine typisch Eckhart’sche Doktrin, zu der isticheit gehört, korrekt zu verwenden. Ja, noch mehr: Er benutzt die Doktrin der isticheit, um
Eckhart vor sich selbst zu verteidigen” (p. 328).
38
This distinction appears often in Eckhart (e.g., In Gen. I n. 77 in LW 1: 121–22) and
is much discussed in the Eckhart literature.

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THE “TRAKTAT VON DER MINNE”

Eckhart’s penchant for talking about created realities from the perspective of their existence in God (esse virtuale) and his notion of isticheit were among the more challenging and controversial aspects of
his teaching. John Hiltalingen does not hesitate to adapt Eckhart’s views
to his own purposes as he gives three proofs (two of his own and a
third close to Eckhart) for how the divine being may be considered as
the “formal identity” (formlich istikeit: line 185) of creatures in the
sense that all creatures depend on God for their self-identity even
though they do “possess” their own forms. As he puts it slightly later in
part three, “God possesses the being of all creatures as their efficient
cause, but not as their form, as we see in the case of the sun where
sunshine is contained in the air essentially but not formally.”39
The first of the reasons Hiltalingen gives (lines 187–206) deals with
the union of divine and human natures in Christ. The point of invoking
this is to show that the hypostatic union is not an impossible mixing of
two beings or natures, but is a uniting in the person of the Word, that
is, the self-identity (istikeit) of the Son. The second reason (lines 206–
231) deals with a controversial position advanced by another Augustinian theologian, Thomas of Strasbourg (d. 1357). Thomas argued that
just as Christ had no need for the light of glory for the vision of God’s
essence, so too the blessed in heaven will not need the light of glory,
but God himself will act directly on the intellect as it gazes on the divine essence. The argument suggests that this is also true of vision here,
though in a less exalted way. Finally, the third argument (lines 232–
254) takes up an example often invoked by Eckhart to distinguish the
two modes of the existence of things. Saying that God is the “formal
being” (formlich wesen/esse formale) of the creature may seem to
deny the reality of creatures and to go against the teaching of all the
masters, but, Hiltalingen continues, “the creature has its own being,
not only the being of essentiality, but also the being of self-identity, so
that this being that is the creature is not another being than the being
that it has in God, but is the same being in another manner,”40 just as a
house as it exists in the mind of its architect (esse virtuale) is different
39
Traktat (lines 204–206): “. . . das got entheltet wesen aller creaturen als ein wurckende sache, nicht als ein forme, als wir sechen, das die sunne entheltet iren schein in der
luft wesenlich vnd nicht formlichen.”
40
Traktat (lines 235–238): “. . . die creatur hab ir eygen wesen, nicht allein wesen der
wesslicheit, mer auch wesen der isticheit, also doch das ditz wesen das die creatur ist,
enist nicht ein anders wesen von den wesen das sie in got hat, mer es ist dasselb wesen
in einer andern weise. . . .”

BY BERNARD MCGINN

191

in its mode of being from the actual house of wood and stone that we
see (esse formale).41 It is only in this restricted sense that we can legitimately say, “God is the formal being of creatures and God is the selfidentity of creatures, and one can also correctly say that the creature is
the formal being of the God who is God.”42
At the conclusion, the Augustinian offers a summary of his view of
the modes of union between God and human as intellectual being (lines
255–269). Each thing has its own being (wesen), and therefore cannot
be united to another being in this mode of existence. But one thing can
be united to another in its istikeit or self-identity, the way God and man
become one in the istikeit of the Word. This union is a formlich istikeit
rather than a formlich wesen (Amalric’s error). This is how Hiltalingen
reads Eckhart, rather one-sidedly it seems, since there is no sign that he
understands Eckhart’s dialectical view of union which is rooted in the
Meister’s teaching about the grunt in which both God and human are
identically one, as well as in istikeit, that is, the self-identity of the intellect insofar as it is intellect. Eckhart’s teaching on union, which cannot
be taken up here, has ontological, or better meta-ontological, implications that Hiltalingen was either uninterested in or that he rejected.43
The Augustinian’s own agenda becomes clear at the end of the tract. It
is in the acts of knowing and loving God that we are formally one with
him. In restricting identical union to action, however, and not allowing
for identity in the ground from which being and action proceed, the
Augustinian took his distance from one of the more dangerous elements in Eckhart’s thought. Hiltalingen’s reading of Eckhart was a profound one, but also an interpretation that created a new way of
understanding union of identity with God.
John Hiltalingen’s “Traktat von der Minne” provides an excellent example of how late medieval vernacular works continued to rethink
some of the deep issues of mystical theory. That the Augustinian did so
in conversation with Meister Eckhart is not surprising, given how widespread and influential Eckhart’s thought was, despite the papal con41

An Aristotelian example often cited by Eckhart (e.g., In Io. n. 30 in LW 3: 23–24).
Traktat (lines 248–251): “. . . vnd darumb mag man werlich sprechen, Got ist formlich wesen der creaturen vnd got ist der creaturen istikeit. Vnd mag man auch wolsprechen, die creature ist formlich wesen gotes, der ist got.”
43
I have tried to lay out my understanding of Eckhart’s complex view of union with
God in Bernard McGinn, The Mystical Thought of Meister Eckhart (New York, 2001),
pp. 147–153; and “The Problem of Mystical Union in Eckhart, Seuse, and Tauler,” in
Meister Eckhart in Erfurt, pp. 538–553.
42

192

THE “TRAKTAT VON DER MINNE”

demnation. What is especially revealing is how Hiltalingen created new
perspectives on perennial issues. One would love to know how his lost
preaching, praised by contemporaries, presented this view of union
with God not in being or in the ground, but in istikeit as the source for
acts of knowing and loving that are not other than God knowing and
loving himself, but are also still our own acts. Hiltalingen’s unique combination of traditional themes of Augustinian theology and the radical
thought of Eckhart is an important chapter in the history of the reception of the great Dominican mystic.

“MAY THE HATCHET AND THE HAMMER
NEVER DAMAGE IT!”
THE FATE OF THE CATHEDRAL OF CHARTRES
DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
BY

MARY KATHRYN COONEY*

According to a very dramatic account of Chartres during the French
Revolution, the town’s Gothic cathedral barely escaped destruction
in November 1793 after the local Popular Society lobbied in favor of
a proposal to tear it down. An in-depth examination casts some
doubt on the veracity of this tale. Some of the sources that may have
supported this story have since been destroyed, while the records of
the municipal, district, and departmental governments make no
mention of any such proposal. Furthermore, the actions of the local
government on behalf of the cathedral throughout the Revolution
reveal the officials’ dedication to preserving its structural stability
and sacred character. They could hardly have contemplated destroying a building that they had so painstakingly tried to maintain.
According to a very dramatic account of Chartres during the French
Revolution, the town’s illustrious Gothic cathedral came close to ending up as a pile of rubble. The tale of its preservation proved every bit
as miraculous as the conservation of its sacred relic, the veil of the Virgin, from the fire of 1194. Cochon-Bobus offered a fateful proposal to
his fellow members of the commune’s Popular Society on 23 brumaire
An II (November 13, 1793). Since the cost of maintaining Chartres’s
famous, Gothic cathedral continued to mount, he reasoned that the
municipality should tear it down and erect a smaller monument to the
Revolution in its place. With the dechristianization movement well underway throughout France, the members of the Popular Society applauded his recommendation to rid their community of its most obvious
beacon of Christian worship. They decided to put pressure on the mu*Dr. Cooney is an assistant professor of history in Lourdes College, Sylvania, Ohio.

193

194

“MAY THE HATCHET AND THE HAMMER NEVER DAMAGE IT!”

nicipal council to execute this destructive plan, and in apparent compliance the town leaders even went so far as to find a contractor who
expressed his willingness to perform the task if the city would allow
him to sell the rubble.
At this critical point in the story, the fate of the medieval masterpiece
hung in the balance as the city’s officials were on the verge of consenting to the demolition. Suddenly, one among them had the foresight to
recommend that they consult Laurent Morin. This deus ex machina in
the guise of a local architect contrived a pragmatic argument to save
the monument. He advised the council to ascertain from the contractor
what he intended to do with the debris once the structure had been
leveled. A building of this magnitude, he pointed out, would produce
thousands of cubic meters of debris, and without an adequate removal
strategy, this rubble would obstruct the streets and severely hamper
trade and transportation into the heart of the town. Upon being questioned about the removal of debris, the demolitioner could not produce any viable means of satisfying these concerns and so withdrew his
offer. No other contractors proffered their services, and after this incident, no more schemes of dismantlement threatened the church.1
At first glance, this story seems entirely plausible since the time frame
and description of events correspond to the dechristianization movement that lasted from 1792 to 1794. In order to transfer people’s devotions from their religion to the new French Republic, the national
government sought to dechristianize the French nation by eradicating
all traces of Christian worship and replacing them with religious cults
that glorified the Revolution and deified the virtues of reason and liberty. In many instances, dechristianization led to the destruction of
Christian symbols, art, and sacred spaces. As a result, religious structures, even those of great renown such as Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris,
were damaged or even completely razed to the ground.2 Thus, the story
of Chartres cathedral’s possible destruction seems ostensibly consistent
with the dechristianization efforts during the Reign of Terror.
This tale, however, requires greater analysis before the cathedral of
Chartres can be classified as one of the near victims of the French Rev1
Abbé Guérin Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres pendant la terreur (Chartres,
1886), pp. 79–81.
2
For a more complete description of the dechristianization movement, including its
historiography, see Nigel Aston, Religion and Revolution in France 1780–1804 (Washington, D.C., 2000).

BY MARY KATHRYN COONEY

195

olution. Elements of this story seemed to appear for the first time in
Ernest de Buchère de Lépinois’s Histoire de Chartres, begun in 1854.
Without revealing his sources, de Lépinois briefly mentioned that a
group of radicals “wanted to knock down the admirable basilica and
only retreated from this stupid sacrilege because they were afraid, it
was said, to bury the city under the rubble.”3 Abbé Guérin Sainsot’s La
Cathédrale pendant la terreur, published in 1886, related the more
extensive narrative described above. Abbé Sainsot also provided more
information on the source of his account:
The architect Morin later loved to recall this story which moreover did him
much honor. M. l’Abbé Bonnet, former superior of the Grand-Séminaire de
Chartres, heard it more than once from his [Morin’s] mouth and he retold it
to M. l’Abbé Germond from whom we have it. This story conforms to what
we learn in the proceedings of the administrations and the Nécrologe général
which drew its inspiration from it.4

In-depth research into the fate of the cathedral of Notre-Dame-deChartres during the French Revolution casts some doubt on the veracity of Abbé Sainsot’s tale. First of all, his references fail to confirm his
story as he had asserted. He himself admitted that he received this account from a third party since no version by Morin himself appears to
have ever existed. Furthermore, Abbé Sainsot composed his work nearly
a century after the events which it described, allowing time to corrupt or
embellish the details. As for the written sources listed by Abbé Sainsot,
the Nécrologe général, which the Abbé claimed had been inspired by
the dramatic salvation of the cathedral, once belonged to the manuscript
collection of the Bibliothèque municipale de Chartres. Unfortunately, it
was destroyed by fire in 1944 and thus cannot corroborate his tale.5
More significantly, no description of this event exists in the proceedings of the municipal council of Chartres, despite Abbé Sainsot’s claim
3
Ernest de Buchère de Lépinois, Histoire de Chartres, 2 vols. (Chartres, 1858), II,
513.
4
G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, p. 81 n. 1. Most other accounts of the cathedral during the Revolution cite Abbé Sainsot as their source for this very dramatic episode. See Louis Réau, Les Monuments détruits de l’art français: Histoire du vandalisme,
2 vols. (Paris, 1953), II, 309; François Souchal, Le Vandalisme de la Révolution (Paris,
1993), p. 60; Roger Joly, Histoire de Chartres (Roanne, 1982), p. 95; Edmond Coz, “Les
Fêtes révolutionnaires et leur progression dans la cathédrale de Chartres,” Revue du
monde catholique, 5, no. 5 (December 1, 1900), 580.
5
The author is grateful to Michèle Neveu at the Bibliothèque André-Malraux for confirmation of this information regarding the Nécrologe général.

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“MAY THE HATCHET AND THE HAMMER NEVER DAMAGE IT!”

to the contrary. The only slight insinuation of the possibility of demolishing the church appeared in the registers of the departmental directory on March 20, 1792, well before Cochon-Bobus’s alleged
proposition.6 The directors at that time noted that the cathedral’s advisory body, the council of churchwardens, lacked sufficient funds in its
budget to pay for the extensive repairs which the structure needed. If
the civil authorities did not assume control of the cost of this renovation, the department administration concluded that “this church will
have to be abandoned and another one, whose maintenance will be
much less costly, will have to be constructed.” The department directors emphatically rejected the possibility of destroying “a monument of
architecture which merits to be saved with the most scrupulous care.”
Therefore, they decided to assume the expenses of the building’s upkeep, and they agreed to petition the Legislative Assembly in Paris for
the necessary funds.7 No other account similar to the 1793 proposed
destruction of the cathedral appears in any of the proceedings at the
town, district, or department level.8
One possible explanation for this deficiency of supporting information in the government documents could have been the shame which
the local officials felt for even contemplating the demolition of their
town’s venerable edifice. If so, this may not have been the first instance
of such an omission, since Abbé Sainsot claimed that such motivation
induced these public servants to exclude any mention of the removal of
the cathedral’s most sacred relic from its reliquary. At the beginning of
September 1793, representatives of the city and regional administrations met in the sacristy of the church to open the reliquary of the veil
of the Virgin. The civil officials found two priests to unlock the bejew-

6

In 1790, the National Assembly of France created new administrative divisions to replace the old system of provinces. The nation was divided into departments which were
subdivided into districts, cantons, and at the lowest level communes. Departments and
districts had their own directories that functioned as administrative bodies. Each commune had its own local government, the municipal council.
7
In this instance, Abbé Sainsot included an exact transcription of the directory’s proceedings, as he frequently did when he cited government documents [G. Sainsot, La
Cathédrale de Chartres, pp. 51–52—translations are by the author]. For his story about
Cochon-Bobus’s proposal to tear down the cathedral, Abbé Sainsot did not directly quote
from any sources to document the accuracy of his tale.
8
The author is grateful to Monsieur Thibault at the Archives départementales d’Eureet-Loir for verifying this information.

BY MARY KATHRYN COONEY

197

eled reliquary and remove the venerated cloth.9 The gold case would
then be sent to the national treasury.10 Abbé Sainsot rightly observed
that the proceedings of the municipal council recorded nothing regarding this incident for the day on which it was supposed to have occurred.11 Not long afterward, however, the council’s proceedings did
allude to it. The entry for September 18, 1793, indicated that Jérôme
Guillard, the commune’s procurer, recommended that the town sell the
jewels that had surrounded the reliquary in order to raise revenue.12 Although the explicit details of the relic’s removal did not receive an entry
in the administrative documents, the local officials had no misgivings
about later mentioning it in the municipal records. If shame did not
completely silence them on this occasion, it could hardly have done so
on a proposal of as great a consequence as the cathedral’s demolition.
If the local administration was ashamed of its actions in regard to the
cathedral and wished to omit particularly embarrassing episodes from
its reports, it probably would have tried to hide the most blameworthy
of the molestations that afflicted the structure during the Revolution.
But, the documentation positively identifies that not only was the council aware of this degradation, but sometimes the city leaders mandated
it, in order to comply with the decrees coming from Paris. On July 4,
1793, the legislature in Paris passed a law that demanded the obliteration of signs of royalty and feudalism on all public and religious buildings.13 The municipal council’s documents confirm that in order to
9
For the opening of the reliquary of the Virgin’s veil, Abbé Sainsot quoted from a work
which he attributed to the non-juring Bishop Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Lubersac of Chartres
[Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, pp.70–72, 70 n. 1, 77]. A transcription of this document appeared in histories of the cathedral which predate that of Abbé Sainsot. See Abbé
Marcel-Joseph Bulteau, Mois de Marie de Notre-Dame de Chartres ou Histoire abrégée
de cette célèbre madone (Cambrai, 1878), pp. 51–58; Alexandre Assier, Notre-Dame de
Chartres (Paris, 1866), pp. 234–238.
10
Louis Tuetey (ed.), Procès-Verbaux de la Commission des Monuments, Nouvelles
archives de l’art français, 18 (Paris, 1973), pp. 77–78.
11
For debate on the exact date of this event, see G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, pp. 70–71 n. 1.
12
Archives municipaux de Chartres (henceforth AMC), C 12, 3, fol. 96r–v, “Notice par
Valentin-Stanislas Roullier,” in Georges Champagne, Documents pour servir à l’histoire
de Nicolas Bonnet évêque constitutionnel du département d’Eure-et-Loir (1721–1793)
(Dreux, 1902), pp. 74–76.
13
M. J. Guillaume (ed.), Procès-Verbaux du Comité d’instruction publique de la Convention nationale, 6 vols. (Paris, 1894), II, 151–152; II, 653. To ensure continued enforcement of this measure, the National Convention reiterated this legislation two months
later on September 18, 1793.

198

“MAY THE HATCHET AND THE HAMMER NEVER DAMAGE IT!”

execute the National Convention’s decree, the town officials convened
a meeting to deliberate on the fate of the potentially offensive sculptures that ornamented the three portals of the cathedral. One citizen
advocated the removal of all sculptures, but another pointed out that
such an operation would prove too costly for a rural community already embroiled in a severe financial crisis. A contractor of Chartres,
named Citizen Sainsot, who also served as a member of the council,
offered to perform this task for free if the local administration allowed
him to keep the stones. Enticed by this gratuitous proposal, the town
leaders agreed “that all the saints and other signs of superstition that
surround the portal of the church and other exterior places will be removed and as a result [it] charge[d] Citizen Sainsot to execute the present decree according to his offer.”14 The councilors surely recognized
the gravity of this decision, and yet, they still recorded it in their proceedings.
A few entries later, the proceedings again make reference to the
smashed sculptures, but this time they record the severe rebuke which
the council received from A.-F. Sergent for granting Citizen Sainsot’s
request. Sergent, a local artist, served as a deputy to the National Convention where he had proven his devotion to the republican and Jacobin platform. At the same time, as a representative of the Commission
des Monuments, he had the duty to preserve artistic works whose
royal subject matter or commission did not diminish their contribution
to France’s cultural heritage. By the time he arrived at Chartres at the
end of An II, Citizen Sainsot had already removed six statues from the
north portal. Sergent denounced this statuary carnage as unpatriotic,
“How I regret to have seen that already some of these figures have been
knocked down and mutilated . . . by some citizens who thought that in
destroying prejudice, it was necessary to destroy historical traces as
well!” He then forcefully admonished “that none of the sculpture that
ornaments the exterior of the temple be destroyed.” His discourse was
transcribed verbatim into the council’s proceedings.15 Shame or disapprobation did not prevent the local administration from writing down
these instances of destruction, nor did it prevent these men from re-

14

AMC, C 12, 3, fol. 154r.
Ibid., fol. 211v. Citizen Sainsot, no apparent relation to Abbé Sainsot, used the remains of the statues from the north portal in the construction of his home in Chartres
[Marcel Couturier, “Decouvrir la Révolution en Eure-et-Loir,” Bulletin de la société archéologique d’Eure-et-Loir, no. 18 (October 1988), 46].
15

BY MARY KATHRYN COONEY

199

cording Sergent’s reprimand of their governance. Therefore, it seems
improbable that in regard to the fate of the structure itself, these officials would have suddenly fallen silent.
Perhaps the local officials simply failed to record the suggestion to
tear down the Gothic structure. Indeed, Edmond Coz, in his description of Chartres during the Revolution, noted that the government records remained silent on another devastating event, the burning of the
revered cult statue, Notre-Dame-de-Sous-Terre. This ancient image had
occupied a place of veneration in the crypt until the beginning of the
Revolution. Hoping to attract pilgrims to Chartres, the constitutional
bishop ordered that it occupy a more prominent place in the main part
of the church. A bonfire lit in the last days of 1793 burned many of the
church’s sacred articles; most likely, the cult statue was among those
thrown into the flames.16 The administration’s documents indeed did
not mention the fire; perhaps this incident represented a spontaneous
eruption of iconoclasm to which the authorities had not given their approval. All the same, the municipal council definitely had paved the
way for such action by its contempt for the cult statue that it had recorded in its proceedings just days before the fire. On 12 brumaire An
II (November 2, 1793), the councilors requested that the churchwardens remove the statue from its place of veneration “because it is ridiculous to see everyday superstitious people devoutly embrace the
stone pillar which supports the virgin.”17 After the bonfire, Sergent condemned the destruction of this image in his speech before the council.18 The civil authorities may not have recorded every act of violence
against the cathedral as it occurred, but at some point, these particular
incidents did find their way into the local government’s documents.
Again, it seems unlikely that the municipal council would have recorded these less significant events while remaining mute on the much
more serious proposition of destroying the whole edifice.

16

Coz, “Les Fêtes révolutionnaires,” p. 591. Abbé Sainsot speculated that this venerated image, sometimes referred to as the druid Virgin, may not have perished in the revolutionary conflagration, since he could not find any eyewitness accounts of this. Sergent
however did mention the destruction of the statue in his speech before the town council
[AMC, C 12, 3, fol. 207v; G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, pp. 97–98 n. 2].
17
AMC, C 12, 3, fol. 151r. An image known as the Virgin of the Pillar did exist at the
cathedral; however, Abbé Sainsot maintained that the bishop had moved this statue to
the crypt and put Notre-Dame-de-Sous-Terre in its place [Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, p. 79 n. 1].
18
AMC, C 12, 3, fol. 207v.

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Other sources that may have supported the tale of the cathedral’s
destruction lend no more support than did the government records.19
Vincent Chevard, who wrote the city’s history for the first prefect of
the department of Eure-et-Loir in 1800, briefly described the contemporary condition of the structure as “this majestic temple, which one always sees with new pleasure.” In the passage regarding the Revolution,
Chevard, who had served as mayor of the community in 1792, did not
give any indication of Cochon-Bobus’s supposed proposal.20 If the community officials had earnestly contemplated tearing down this landmark, Chevard would surely have made reference to it, if for no other
reason than to absolve himself of any impropriety by pointing out that
this scheme was not presented during his tenure in office.
In addition to the lack of written corroboration, the general trends of
Revolutionary vandalism do not correspond to Abbé Sainsot’s story.
Although tracing incidents and degrees of attacks against artistic treasures remains problematic, certain tendencies can be identified. Without a doubt, the sculpture programs, stained glass windows, and interior
bas-reliefs of nearly all French cathedrals were often on the receiving
end of the pickaxe blows of overly eager zealots attempting to prove
their devotion to the Republic. However, rarely did entire cathedral
buildings suffer complete destruction as did the abbey churches of
Cluny or Jumièges. In fact, only in the towns of Arras, Boulogne, and
Cambrai did the buildings themselves endure serious structural damage.21 Moreover, the complete razing of Cluny and Jumièges took place
during the Directory, well after the Chartres officials allegedly considered the same fate for their cathedral. Even if the Popular Society did
make their destructive demand, the citizens of Chartres, whose cathedral enjoyed such universal renown, could hardly have contemplated a
measure that most other communities, with much less remarkable edifices, failed to adopt.
19
The papers of the Popular Society, which may have substantiated Abbé Sainsot’s
story and the role played by Cochon-Bobus, are not found in the departmental or municipal archives. I am indebted to Monsieur Thibault at the Archives départementales
d’Eure-et-Loir for his confirmation of this information.
20
Vincent Chevard, Histoire de Chartres de l’ancien pays chartrain, avec une description statistique du département d’Eure-et-Loir, 2 vols. (Chartres, 1800–1802), II,
582–583.
21
Annie Regond, “‘Vandalisme révolutionnaire’ et protection du patrimoine pendant la
Révolution française: Pour une enquête nationale,” in Révolution française et “vandalisme révolutionnaire,” eds. Simone Bernard-Griffiths, Marie-Laude Chemin, and Jean
Ehrard (Paris, 1992), pp. 134–135. Nigel Aston included the cathedral buildings of
Avranches in his list of revolutionary damage [Aston, Religion and Revolution, p. 192].

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201

Suspenseful and melodramatic as it may be, Abbé Sainsot’s tale lacks
substantiation from the government documentation and other supporting evidence. Without access to the manuscript cited by Abbé Sainsot
or other potential sources, it is impossible to pronounce definitively on
the issue. At the same time, the lack of supporting documentation does
not necessarily imply that neither Cochon-Bobus nor anyone else ever
proposed the elimination of Chartres’s most prominent symbol of
Christian worship. Such violence against a religious monument, even
one so famous, would certainly not have been out of character for any
of the Popular Society’s members. Yet, the local authorities failed to
mention any such plan in their records, and therefore, even if this proposition had been introduced, they must not have seriously contemplated its implementation. Furthermore, their actions on behalf of the
cathedral before and after the supposed fateful suggestion provide
more solid proof of their attitude and policy toward this building.
Throughout the Revolution the members of the municipal council and
those men who sat on the directories of the district and department
repeatedly witnessed their respect for the venerated edifice and took
steps to preserve its structural stability and sacred character. Thus, they
could hardly have contemplated destroying a building that they had so
painstakingly tried to maintain.
Prior to 1790, the civil administration had no jurisdiction over the
affairs of Notre-Dame de Chartres. The canons of the cathedral chapter
managed all matters relative to the church, including providing clergy
for the religious rituals, serving as an advisory body for the bishop, and
maintaining the physical structure of the cathedral. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which the National Assembly promulgated in
June 1790, abolished the chapters and placed the upkeep of the episcopal churches in the hands of the local government. Although secular
bureaucrats, the members of the municipal and district administrations of Chartres, and those who served in the directory of the department of Eure-et-Loir conscientiously undertook their charge. Even
during the process of consolidating parishes in the spring of 1791,
the local civic leaders expressed their admiration for the medieval marvel and their desire to keep it sound and functioning. In the proceedings that it sent to the National Assembly, the district directory described
the cathedral as “one of the chief works of Gothic architecture, by
its elevation, its immense space, and also its solidity.” The members of
the directory concluded that the felicitous location of Notre-Dame,
the grandeur of its appearance, and the civic pride that it inspired rendered it the only suitable structure to serve as the sole parish of the

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“MAY THE HATCHET AND THE HAMMER NEVER DAMAGE IT!”

city. As a result, they agreed to close all other churches within the
town’s walls.22
Upon his ascension to the episcopal throne in February 1791, Bishop
Nicholas Bonnet joined with the civil authorities in the upkeep and
embellishment of his parish church.23 He quickly brought to the attention of the department directory the cathedral’s need for repair as well
as the individual acts of vandalism and theft which had nearly stripped
the church bare.24 In order to replace these stolen objects and preserve
this famous edifice for posterity, the directory appointed Laurent Morin, the architect-hero of Abbé Sainsot’s tale, to examine the building
thoroughly and offer suggestions for improvements. In his subsequent
report, Morin indicated that the church required additional furnishings,
since only one altar remained suitable for Mass and the choir stalls,
confessionals, baptismal fonts, and other furniture had been removed.
While one aspect of his suggestions remained controversial, namely,
his proposal to replace some of the stained glass windows with clear
glass, the majority of his other suggestions for the physical structure
involved measures of restoration and repair only. He focused on replacing the flooring and woodwork of parts of the nave and the side chapels and refurnishing the altars with the sacred objects needed for
worship. According to Morin, these necessary materials could be obtained from the town’s other churches which had been closed during
the parish consolidation. Consequently, Morin’s plan then would not
only repair the cathedral, but also put to use the sacred vessels that lay
dormant in abandoned sanctuaries.25
The local officials compared the findings from Morin’s inspection
with those from the bishop and a separate investigation performed by

22

Archives nationales de France (henceforth AN), D XIX, 826, 2nd; G. Sainsot, La
Cathédrale de Chartres, p. 25; Coz, “Les Fêtes révolutionnaires,” p. 577.
23
Archives départementales de Eure-et-Loir (henceforth ADEEL), L 440; “Cérémonie
célébrée en actions de grace de la nomination de l’évêque constitutionnel et compliments de la municipalité à Nicolas Bonnet,” in Champagne, Nicolas Bonnet, pp. 140–
143; Aston, Religion and Revolution, p. 124; Coz, “Les Fêtes révolutionnaires,” p. 576.
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy stipulated that representatives of the local laity
would elect the bishops and parish priests for their regions. For a more detailed explanation of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and its impact on France, see Timothy Tackett,
Religion, Revolution, and Regional Culture in Eighteenth-Century France: The Ecclesiastical Oath of 1791 (Princeton, 1986), pp. 14–16.
24
ADEEL, L 440; de Lépinois, Histoire de Chartres, II, 512; Coz, “Les Fêtes révolutionnaires,” p. 575.
25
ADEEL, L 40; Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, p. 17.

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203

the council of churchwardens, an advisory body for the constitutional
bishop. These other two reports concurred with that of Morin in the
extent of the degradations to the building and the ideas for ensuring
the conservation of the cathedral and its sanctity. All three also agreed
on the urgency to put some plan into action as soon as possible to
avoid further damage. The churchwardens had already given their permission for the commencement of the most pressing repairs, but since
some of the financial burden would fall on the departmental administration as well, the council of churchwardens awaited the decision of
the directory of Eure-et-Loir before it implemented the entirety of Morin’s proposal.26
The departmental administration was very willing to put Morin’s
plan into action, but they needed to secure the required funds. They
wrote to the Minister of the Interior on September 19, 1791, to ask him
for financial assistance to begin the work which they characterized as
“urgent” and “essential for divine worship.” This request went unanswered. The directory of the department then authorized Morin to continue only those repairs which were absolutely vital for the stability of
the edifice and the performance of religious services. In the meantime,
the department again begged the Minister of the Interior for money,
“The workers who have done these different tasks are nearly all in urgent need; they insist on being paid in order to live. The department,
not having any funds to devote to this expense, is forced to dismiss
them without being able to pay them.”27
The department directory finally secured funds from Paris, and Morin undertook some of his more aggressive work in 1792. By then, the
local and departmental officials became more and more torn between
wanting to preserve their cathedral on the one hand and fulfilling the
decrees from the national government on the other. The Legislative Assembly decreed that all precious metal vessels that were not absolutely
necessary for worship be sent to the national foundry. The directory of
the department decided to obey the Assembly in this matter, incurring
the fury of the churchwardens.28 The relationship between the cathedral’s council and the civil authorities further soured over the mounting expenses for the repairs. The bill for this work passed between the
26

G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, pp. 34–37.
ADEEL, L 440, Directory of the department of Eure-et-Loir to Minister of the Interior, September 19, 1791; ADEEL, L 440, Procureur général syndic of the department of
Eure-et-Loir to the Minister of the Interior, November 23, 1791; AMC, C 12, 2, fol. 32v;
G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, pp. 31–33.
28
ADEEL, L 439; Sainsot, La Cathedrale de Chartres, p. 55.
27

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“MAY THE HATCHET AND THE HAMMER NEVER DAMAGE IT!”

churchwardens and the local administration, at times without anyone
assuming payment. This growing discontent between the two groups,
however, did not seem to affect the local officials’ commitment to ensuring the salubrity of the building. On March 20, 1792, the directory
of the department once again faced the dilemma of a lack of money and
the mounting upkeep costs. It was at this time that the directory’s proceedings hint at the possibility of giving up the cathedral for a more
cost-effective alternative. As mentioned previously, the directory decided to accept full financial responsibility and to seek monetary aid
from the national government, rather than entertain the suggestion of
a Chartres without its most famous feature. Evidence of such devotion
by the local authorities further weakens the assertion that these same
men would contemplate its complete demolition a year later.
Despite the solicitude of Chartres’s civic leaders, the dechristianization efforts of 1793 would bring the greatest threat to the cathedral’s
existence thus far. Decrees passed by the National Convention in Paris
throughout 1793 imposed on town governments devastating measures,
such as sending precious metal objects and church bells to the national
foundry.29 In response to these decrees, the municipal council of Chartres did permit the destruction of some of the structure’s artistic elements. It dispatched the precious metal vessels, burnt some tapestries
to extract the gold from the braiding, and took down all but one bell
from the belfry.30 Some of the National Convention’s decrees even seemed
contradictory. The law of July 4, 1793, reiterated on September 18,
1793, prohibited symbols of the monarchy and feudalism on all public
buildings. At the same time, the National Convention seemed to favor
the preservation of some buildings since its law of April 13, 1793 forbade any damage to public monuments under penalty of two years in
irons. To further complicate the execution of the Convention’s wishes,
the decrees against royal and feudal symbols exempted from destruction artifacts of France’s cultural heritage. In fact, the national government called upon the Popular Societies “to put as much zeal into
destroying the proscribed signs . . . as [they] do into assuring the conservation of the objects above mentioned as essentially important to
the arts, history, and education.”31 This conflict between destruction

29

Tuetey, Procès-Verbaux de la Commission des monuments, pp. xviii-xix.
AMC, C 12, 3, fol. 139r; G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, pp. 63, 77–78;
Souchal, Le Vandalisme, p. 59; Réau, Les Monuments détruits, II, 309; Coz, “Les Fêtes
révolutionnaires,” p. 579.
31
Guillaume, Procès-Verbaux du Comité d’instruction publique, II, 151, 660–661.
30

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205

and conservation and the confusion it caused for local governments in
part kept the dechristianization measures from being enforced evenly
throughout France. At Chartres, the local authorities did authorize Citizen Sainsot’s removal of the statues from the church’s portals, but they
did not give a free hand to all artistic carnage. Apparently, they could
not decide which of the Convention’s laws to implement in the case of
the bas-relief that depicted Louis XIII’s consecration of France to the
Virgin Mary, since they decreed that this image would remain unaffected temporarily.32 While the municipal administration at times allowed damage to the cathedral’s artistic embellishments, it obviously
did not give its approval indiscriminately or thoughtlessly.
The records of the meetings of the municipal council illustrate their
staunch commitment to preservation in regard to the structure itself.
Until November 1793, the church had remained open for Catholic worship with the local government’s endorsement. In fact, after complaints
surfaced about “the indecencies that are daily committed in the enclosure,” such as citizens who tread noisily across the floor during Mass,
the municipal council issued a decree obliging all citizens to respect
both the sanctity of this holy place and the divine rituals that take place
within its walls.33 In response to the invitation by the National Convention, the town officials did decide to close the church to Catholic worship on 25 brumaire An II (November 15, 1793), and according to
Abbé Sainsot, Cochon-Bobus tendered his destruction proposal shortly
afterwards.34 As stated previously, no record of this suggestion can be
identified in the proceedings of the municipal government. Rather,
these records do portray a body of community leaders who remained
resolute in their efforts to preserve the structural stability of the church
at any cost. The price that they had to pay for the conservation was the
elimination of some of the building’s removable artifacts. Three days after
Citizen Sainsot began his impious work of dispatching statues from the
north portal, one of the members of the municipal council proposed
that the town present to the National Convention the remaining sculptures and sacred vessels as a “holocaust to reason [and] present to the
Convention the wish of the commune that this edifice of such beauty,
which for so many centuries has given [Chartres] a reputation that has
attracted foreigners, be saved in order to serve as the temple of reason

32

AMC, C 12, 3, fol. 48v; Tuetey, Procès-Verbaux de la Commission des monuments,
p. xvii.
33
AMC, C 12, 3, fols. 34v–35r, 64r; Coz, “Les Fêtes révolutionnaires,” p. 578.
34
AMC, C 12, 3, fol. 163r.

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& of liberty.”35 The local officials welcomed this suggestion to maintain
Chartres’s most prominent monument and ordered the transformation
of this medieval masterpiece into a Temple of Reason. They were willing to sacrifice some parts in order to save the whole and their efforts
ensured the structure’s conservation during the Reign of Terror.
As the town officials of Chartres prepared to rededicate their cathedral as a monument to the Revolution’s new deity, the goddess of Reason, they faced another quandary. The interior decoration of this former
shrine to the Virgin still betrayed its former use. Something would have
to be done with these images in order to ensure the complete transformation of the structure. The councilors had previously proved their
willingness to offer some of the artistic pieces as an oblation in order to
maintain the entire building. In effectuating the church’s transformation into a temple to the republican goddess, they would also dispatch
individual pieces in order to save the structure. For example, some interior sculpture must have been deemed expendable as Citizen Sainsot’s account of the inauguration of the Temple of Reason on 9 frimaire
referred to the replacement of some interior bas-reliefs with articles of
greater relevance to the new cult: “In vain one searched for the basreliefs on which were painted the emblems of ignorance, superstition,
pride, and the ambition of priests. One had substituted Inscriptions,
some moral maxims appropriate to the fête had been substituted, and
these ought to remain forever engraved on the heart of the free
man.”36
The removal of all “emblems of ignorance, superstition, pride and
the ambition of priests” must not have required the eradication of every piece, though. Just as the cathedral itself was reused for the new
cult, some statues that had represented Christian figures or allegories
could be “rebaptized” as symbols of the Revolution. The statues of
Faith, Hope, Charity, and Humility appeared at the first festival of Rea-

35

Ibid., fol. 62v.
Sainsot, Récit de la fête célébrée dans le temple de la Raison, cidevant cathédrale
de Chartres, le 9 frimaire l’an II de la République française, une et indivisible (Chartres, n.d.), pp. 2–3. Abbé Sainsot and subsequent authors believed that the bas-relief to
which Citizen Sainsot referred was the depiction of Louis XIII’s dedication of the Virgin
Mary. Abbé Sainsot claimed that the bas-relief was merely covered up for the festival of
Reason and not destroyed. This account seems consistent with the town council’s previous reluctance to touch the bas-relief when ordered to remove the marks of royalty from
public buildings [G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, pp. 88 n. 1, 105; Coz, “Les Fêtes
révolutionnaires,” pp. 582–583].
36

BY MARY KATHRYN COONEY

207

son as the symbols of Humanity, Force, Liberty, and Equality.37 Citizen
Sainsot, who had seemed so zealous to eradicate the images of superstition on the north portal, took credit for the most noticeable transformation, the reuse of the Assumption altarpiece as a tableaux of the goddess
of Reason. With a Phrygian cap on her head and pike in her hand, the
Virgin Mary appeared as the goddess herself, while the angels who surrounded her became spirits with “tongues of fire” suspended above
their heads.38 By reusing artistic pieces as symbols of revolutionary virtues and deities, the local officials in this case managed to secure not
only the building, but some of its decorative elements as well.
According to Citizen Sainsot’s detailed account of the inauguration,
this architectural treasure stood as such a revered symbol to the people
of the town that it not only deserved preservation but also transformation to a more “enlightened” use. The new revolutionary cult claimed
to offer the French citizens a more perfect religion based on Reason
and Nature, purged of “the ambition of priests.” In a similar manner,
the cathedral had been purified of the taint of superstition and ignorance and became even more sacred when dedicated to a more sublime
and worthy deity. Citizen Sainsot’s description of the interior of the
building related the success of the conversion efforts: “The former Cathedral, a temple too long profaned by lying priests, is the place that it
[the municipal council of Chartres] has chosen for this August ceremony. It is amazing that this church, one of the most ancient, a center
of miracles to which people came from all parts of France, has experienced so quickly such a fortunate metamorphosis.”39
In a speech delivered for this first fête of Reason, and recorded by
Citizen Sainsot, the procurer of the commune also elaborated on the
new cult and its purified temple. He compared the initiation of the new
religion to truth casting “the blasphemers from the temple,” and he
then called upon the enlightened citizens to “expel from the sanctuary
the charlatans who dishonor the cult of the Divinity, and to substitute
the language of truth in place of lying.”40 A dramatic enactment of this

37
Sainsot, Récit de la fête, p. 3; G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, p. 105; Coz,
“Les Fêtes révolutionnaires,” p. 582.
38
Sainsot, Récit de la fête, pp. 22–23; G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, p. 85;
Souchal, Le Vandalisme, p. 60; Gustave Gautherot, Le Vandalisme jacobin: Destructions administratives d’archives, d’objets d’art, de monuments religieux à l’époque
révolutionnaire (Paris, 1914), p. 245.
39
Sainsot, Récit de la fête, p. 1.

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expurgation from the temple followed the procurer’s speech. A character dressed as a priest in Mass vestments stood at an altar and obscured
the image of Reason (the former Virgin of the Assumption) by a blackish smoke coming from his sacred vessels. The figure of the Republic,
a woman clad in a tricolor costume, followed by National Guardsmen,
destroyed the articles of the Catholic religion and threw the body of
the priest out of the temple.41 This ceremony symbolically cleansed the
structure of the remnants of its former use so that it could begin its
new, worthier function.
After the inauguration of the temple, the municipal administration
established a commission to ensure the orderly and solemn observance
of a fête of Reason every décadi.42 Some in the community, however,
had taken the festival spirit too far. On 30 frimaire An II (December 20,
1793), a bonfire destroyed sacred objects, including perhaps the revered statue of Notre-Dame-de-Sous-Terre. Sergent, who had proven his
commitment to the preservation of artifacts by serving on the Commission des monuments and speaking out in defense of these pieces in the
National Convention, must have been appalled by this blatant act of
senseless destruction. No doubt wishing to prevent another bonfire, he
addressed to the municipal council a detailed arrangement for the suitable commemoration of the décadi fêtes, and the willingness of the
town’s government to carry out his advice would demonstrate the extent of their devotion to their medieval treasure. He opened his speech
with praise for the local inhabitants for embracing a more perfect religion. This would earn them a place of distinction in posterity, “These
ignorant and lying priests have only given us ridiculous rhapsodies or
miracles which have only been useful to them; but we will give our
children the admiration of progress, of natural philosophy and of virtue. This miracle is more worthy . . . than those of Saint Fulbert and
Saint Yves.” This mention of two of the cathedral’s most famous, medieval ecclesiastics provided the segue for the main subject of his speech,
“The gullible piety of our ancestors has transmitted to us a precious
treasure which makes us voluntarily forget their errors and their many

40

Ibid., p. 4.
Ibid., pp. 18–22.
42
Décadi replaced Sunday as the day of rest and celebration in the revolutionary calendar.
41

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209

centuries of ignorance. I wish to speak of this superb edifice which has
been erected by them for the cult of Mary.”43
From his youth, Sergent had held the Gothic marvel in high esteem
and had made it the subject of several of his first paintings and sketches.44
No doubt thinking back on these early pieces, he recalled in his speech
that both the architecture and the ornamentation merited protection as
it continued to inspire artists and amateurs alike. To his financiallyconscious, bourgeois audience, he indicated the benefits that the building brought and would continue to bring to the community. Once
France had concluded its foreign wars and entered a period of peace,
he predicted that tourists would travel to Chartres to view its medieval
masterpiece and would thus improve the local economy. To these visitors the citizens of Chartres could serve as examples of free presons
who enjoyed the benefits of an enlightened religion without losing a
precious piece of their heritage.45
In response to the recent bonfire that had consumed an ancient and
revered artifact from Chartres’s past, this Jacobin painter emphasized
that every aspect of the structure’s architecture and decoration, from
the bell towers to the stained glass windows, “bears the character of
perfection . . . one finds all this united in the finest and purest taste.”46
Dechristianizing the building thus did not require stripping it of its artistic elements, regardless of their affiliation with superstition or royalty. For allowing men like Citizen Sainsot to mutilate this work of art,
Sergent did not refrain from castigating the commune’s officials—nor
did they withhold this rebuke from their record of the council’s proceedings. To further shame them, Sergent observed that even Christianity had not eliminated all the pagan images of ancient Greece and
Rome. If the adherents of a religion of superstition and “lying priests”
could recognize the historical and artistic values of these works, those
enlightened by Reason could do no less.47 He approved the transforma-

43
AMC, C 12, 3, fol. 207r–v; M. C. M. Simpson, Reminiscences of a Regicide (London,
1889), p. 3.
44
Marc Tinoy, Sergent-Marceau (1751–1847): Une Curieuse figure de la Révolution
(Paris, 1943), pp. 40–41; Musée des Beaux-Arts de Chartres, La Cathédrale de Chartres dans les collections du musée, Musée des beaux-arts de Chartres, September 6–
November 8, 1994 (Chartres, 1994).
45
AMC, C 12, 3, fol. 207r–v.
46
Ibid., fol. 207v.
47
Ibid., fols. 211v–212r.

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tion of Christian sculptures into revolutionary figures and provided
even more details regarding attributes and non-intrusive changes which
would complete the conversion.48
Sergent did recommend the removal of some features and the displacement of certain tableaux which he deemed of inferior quality.
Overall, however, his entire program resonated with the themes of
conserving the area’s most valuable building, dignifying this Temple of
Reason and preserving the artistic treasures which it contained: “Thus,
let us save with care this monument! May the hatchet and the hammer
never damage it! It will always be a treasure for Chartres.”49 To lend
force to his appeal for preservation over destruction, Sergent conjured
up the specter of national indignation. He reminded his fellow citizens
that according to the law of April 13, 1793, which he himself had proposed on the floor of the Convention, any citizen found guilty of defacing a public monument would face the prospect of two years in prison,
“Such is the spirit of our laws, and such are the intentions of the National Convention.”50 The council greeted Sergent’s speech with applause and acclamation. It immediately established a committee—which
ironically included Citizen Sainsot—to implement these preservation
suggestions.51 The municipal council’s willingness to carry out these
measures further illustrated its commitment to the protection of the
Gothic masterpiece.
The town continued to use Sergent’s program for the décadi fêtes
through 1795, and as a result, no further bonfires or deleterious acts by
men like Citizen Sainsot threatened the structure or its artistic elements.52 Rather, subsequent ceremonies held at the former church to
celebrate the goddess of Reason and the Supreme Being incorporated
Christian statues into scenes of republican relevance.53 All the efforts
taken by the officials of Chartres to safeguard their famous monument,
48

Ibid., fol. 212v. Sergent did stipulate that altering the Assumption scene would require the permission of the sculptor to preserve the stylistic integrity.
49
Ibid., fol. 207v.
50
Ibid., fols. 211v–212r; Guillaume, Procès-Verbaux du Comité d’instruction publique, I, 477.
51
AMC, C 12, 5, fol. 214r.
52
Ibid., fol. 21r.
53
G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, pp. 116–118; Coz, “Les Fêtes révolutionnaires,” p. 590; Edmond Coz, “Les Fêtes révolutionnaires et leur progression dans la
cathédrale de Chartres,” Revue du monde catholique, 5, no. 6 (December 15, 1900),
690–692. Robespierre initiated the cult of the Supreme Being to replace the goddess of
Reason on 20 prairial An II (June 8, 1794).

BY MARY KATHRYN COONEY

211

and the lack of evidence to the contrary, indicates their conservationist
intentions. Even if the demolition of the cathedral had been posited,
the local authorities must not have given it meaningful consideration.
However, contemporaries did accuse the local and departmental governments of undermining the stability of the building, and hence its
very existence. The decision that would draw this criticism occurred in
the summer of 1794 when the municipal council chose to comply with
orders from the Commission des travaux publics. With France facing
war at home and abroad, the army made a desperate appeal for ammunition. In response to this urgent need, the Commission des travaux
publics obliged all communes to remove the lead roofs of former
churches and send the lead to Paris where it would be reformed into
bullets. The directories of the district and the department decided that
they could not refuse this command, and they delegated to Morin the
dolorous task of overseeing the removal of the lead and dispatching it
to Paris. This operation produced 458,164 livres of lead but at the expense of the nave vaults. They would remain exposed to the elements
for the next four years.54
Morin did propose some means of covering the structure and preventing further damage, but lack of money and lack of support at the
national level prevented the directory of the department from putting
his plan into action. Fully aware that “there is not a moment to lose in
order to protect it and prevent its solidity from being threatened,” the
directory did ask the Eure-et-Loir’s representative in the National Convention to seek the necessary approval and funding to recover the
building. The commune, district, and department officials also sought
assistance from the Comité d’instruction publique and the Commission temporaire des arts, but all of their inquiries produced no positive effects.55 With such limited financial means, the town administration
proved powerless to rectify the situation.

54

ADEEL, L 440, Administration of the district [of Chartres] to the directory of the department [of Eure-et-Loir], 28 frimaire An III (December 18, 1794); Abbé Henri Grégoire,
“Second rapport sur le vandalisme, par Grégoire, séance du 8 brumaire, l’an III, suivi du
décret de la Convention Nationale et imprimé par son ordre,” in Œuvres de l’Abbé Grégoire, 14 vols. (Nendeln, Liechtenstein, 1977), II, 326; Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, pp. 119–121; Réau, Les Monuments détruits, II, 309; Joly, Histoire de Chartres,
p. 159; Couturier, “Decouvrir la Révolution,” p. 33.
55
ADEEL, L 440. The Commission des monuments had been dissolved at the end of
1793 and its membership was merged into the Commission temporaire des arts [Tuetey, Procès-Verbaux de la Commission des monuments, p. lxv].

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“MAY THE HATCHET AND THE HAMMER NEVER DAMAGE IT!”

The controversial decision to remove the roof seemed necessary to
the civic bureaucrats at the time in order to assist in the war effort. After the fall of Robespierre and the end of the Terror in late July 1794,
these ends no longer seemed to justify the means in the eyes of contemporaries. Condemnations reigned down upon the local officials for submitting to pressure from the Jacobin regime and exposing the Gothic
nave to potential ruin. The most caustic lambasting came on the very
floor of the National Convention by Abbé Henri Grégoire, who coined
the word “vandalism” to convey the impact of the barbaric violence
perpetrated against monuments and works of art during the Terror. He
accused the citizens of Chartres of neglect for failing to recover the
building after extracting the lead: “Such is the basilica of Chartres,
whose lead it was undoubtedly useful to remove, . . . but instead of replacing this roof by some tiles or some shingles, this admirable edifice,
which the storms of winter have made to wither away, was left uncovered.” Chartres was the only town that received such a scathing evaluation, while Grégoire actually commended the communes of Amiens
and Strasbourg for preserving their cathedrals from damage.56
The news of Grégoire’s censure elicited outcry in Eure-et-Loir. In a
letter to the directory of the department, the district administration
vigorously denied the deputy’s charge: “You [the directory of the department] have not ceased to solicit the conservation of this monument, one of the most beautiful of the Middle Ages.” The district
authorities further detailed the steps which the directory had taken to
execute Morin’s proposals for recovering the roof and the efforts taken
to seek financial assistance for a building of importance to the entire
nation. In light of all the efforts which the local officials had undertaken
to ensure the conservation and stability of the structure, the district
demanded that Grégoire issue a retraction of his disparaging critique.
When the district’s directory did not receive an immediate, written
apology, it issued a call to action to repair both the cathedral and the
good name of Chartres:
I ask Citizen Colleagues [directors of the department of Eure-et-Loir], that
one of us go to Paris, that he present . . . the different means which we have
used in order to avoid its [the cathedral’s] loss and in order to speed up the
work, the prompt execution of which the friends of the arts demand. That
he demand and obtain honorable mention and the insertion into the bulletin
[of the National Convention] of the conduct of the department. And finally,

56

Abbé Henri Grégoire, “Second rapport sur le vandalisme,” in Œuvres de l’Abbé Grégoire, II, 326–327.

BY MARY KATHRYN COONEY

213

that he demand the execution of the plan proposed by Citizen Morin or any
other sensible person to save the monument intact for posterity. . . .57

The department responded to the district’s demands by dispatching
a representative to the National Convention to demand satisfaction,
which it received in Grégoire’s third speech on vandalism delivered on
24 frimaire An III (December 14, 1794). In it he stated, “The administration of the district of Chartres declares and proves that it has done
nothing wrong relative to the conservation of its basilica, the degradation of which it deplores in its many letters.”58 The town had its vindication as even its one-time critic conceded that it had done everything
possible to save its most precious monument. The cathedral, however,
would have to wait another three years for its roof. After much pressure from the local authorities, the Minister of the Interior finally
granted the funds necessary to recover the structure at the end of An
IV. On 20 germinal An V (April 9, 1797), Morin finally had permission
and funds to begin the reroofing.59
Despite the local government’s inability to execute this measure of
such vital importance for the structure sooner, it did not cease to show
its concern for the building, even displaying its solicitude beyond that
required of it. After the Terror and the end of dechristianization, the
National Convention passed the law of 11 prairial An III (May 30,
1795), which allowed Catholics to reclaim their former parishes with
the proviso that the private citizens assume all upkeep expenses for the
churches. Some inhabitants of Chartres petitioned the town’s administration on 1 fructidor An III (August 18, 1795) to resume Catholic worship in the cathedral. The municipal council agreed, according to the
stipulations of the 11 prairial An III decree. A few months later, though,
it became obvious that the individual worshipers could not possibly
meet the cost of repairing this medieval structure, so the council offered its assistance, in spite of the stipulation in the 11 prairial law.60
The building may have resumed its initial function as a place of Catholic worship, but according to the municipal council’s records the civil
57

ADEEL, L 440, Administration of the district [of Chartres] to the directory of the department [of Eure-et-Loir], 28 frimaire An III (December 18, 1794).
58
Abbé Henri Grégoire, “Troisième rapport sur le vandalisme, par Grégoire, séance du
24 frimaire, l’an IIIe de la République française, une et indivisible, imprimé par ordre de
la Convention Nationale, et envoyè par son ordre aux autorités constituées,” in Œuvres
de l’Abbé Grégoire, II, 341.
59
G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, pp. 140–146.
60
AMC, C 12, 5, fol. 148r; G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, pp. 132–133.

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“MAY THE HATCHET AND THE HAMMER NEVER DAMAGE IT!”

officials still recognized the “advantages resulting for the city of Chartres from the possession of such a noticeable monument.” Even the
brief return of religious persecution during An VII did not dissuade the
citizens of Chartres from advocating the preservation of the most illustrious member of their town. The local authorities persevered in their
efforts to maintain the stability of their landmark until the Concordat
permanently reinstated it as a Catholic church.61
When carefully examined, the story about the proposed destruction
of the cathedral, first intimated by de Lépinois and then elaborated by
Abbé Sainsot, seems more myth than fact. The proceedings of the local
government remained silent on the issue. Since shame or simple neglect do not appear to have been the motivating factors behind this
reticence, either this proposal never existed or, at least, the town officials never seriously considered carrying it out. The actions by the municipal, district, and department governments on behalf of the cathedral
throughout the Revolution support this notion. Despite financial set
backs and lack of support from Paris, the administrators of Chartres
time and again sought to preserve the structure. During the Reign of
Terror and dechristianization, these men did permit some damage to
the church’s ornamentation, but as for the building itself, they found a
means of not only maintaining it, but incorporating it into the revolutionary cults. After all, a monument which they described as “a majestic
temple” and “a treasure for Chartres” deserved not only conservation
but the most elevated use the Revolution could provide. After the Terror, the local officials may have ordered the removal of the lead roofing,
but they would not accept the accusation that they left this priceless
structure to fall into ruins. When presented with evidence of the administrators’ efforts to preserve their landmark, even their harshest
critic, Abbé Grégoire, withdrew his stricture. Thus, Abbé Sainsot’s dramatic tale of the cathedral’s near demolition not only lacks validity, but
it obfuscates the tremendous role played by the civil officials of Chartres in the conservation of this Gothic masterpiece.

61

AMC, C 12, 5, fols. 165v–166r; G. Sainsot, La Cathédrale de Chartres, pp. 158–161;
Coz, “Les Fêtes révolutionnaires,” 5, no. 6, p. 696.

THE GRASSHOPPER SHRINE AT COLD SPRING,
MINNESOTA: RELIGION AND MARKET CAPITALISM
AMONG GERMAN-AMERICAN CATHOLICS
BY

STEPHEN GROSS*

This essay provides a peculiarly Catholic slant to a long-running debate in American history over the role of religion in the transition to
rural capitalism. The author investigates the construction of a small
votive chapel outside the village of Cold Spring, Minnesota, ostensibly built to secure relief from the locust plagues of the 1870’s, and
argues that the shrine in reality had less to do with insect pests and
more to do with the community’s need to assert traditional, precapitalist values in the face of growing prosperity and rapidly changing market conditions. He maintains further that the ritual language
expressed in the chapel’s dedication evoked an intensely communalist ethic, based on shared striving, sharing, and reciprocity, that was
jeopardized by the transition to more commercialized agriculture.
Let us imagine a traveler on the country roads of the heavily GermanCatholic Stearns County, Minnesota, on the morning of August 15,
1877. Let us imagine further that he was a Yankee and a Protestant, that
on the previous day he had left Willmar, a growing agricultural center
in neighboring Kandiyohi County, and that he had planned to ride east
to St. Cloud, the county seat of Stearns County, for business. His route,
then, had already taken him first to Paynesville, from there to Richmond—also known, mysteriously, as Torah—and then a few short
miles to Cold Spring. In that village of a couple of hundred souls he had
spent the night at the hotel of John Kray, German-born, but an English
speaker, and an innkeeper with a reputation for both conviviality and
free thought. During the course of the evening the traveler had ventured into Kray’s gemütlich and smokey saloon, where he shared beer,
*Dr. Gross is an assistant professor of history in the University of Minnesota Morris.
He would like especially to thank Edith Borchardt for her assistance in transcribing the
nineteenth-century German orthography of some primary documents.

215

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THE GRASSHOPPER SHRINE AT COLD SPRING, MINNESOTA

tobacco, and stories with men whose English he only vaguely understood. At one point in the evening the innkeeper assumed his spot in
his big deer-horn chair and in an atmosphere made richly masculine
with pipe smoke and alcohol regaled our traveler and his German drinking companions with stories about his adventures during the Dakota
Conflict of over a decade ago. Our stranger, though, could not but notice that his companions sometimes, amid the constant jokes and tumult of the saloon, fell silent and turned inward, it seemed, to consider
the course of their lives in America. Some had been here for over thirty
years, and most had built substantial farms, succeeding far beyond the
imaginations of those they had left behind in the Old Country. But the
countryside in the past years had been ravaged by plagues of grasshoppers, Rocky Mountain locusts, that devoured almost everything in their
path, and the future of these immigrant families now seemed in doubt.1
The traveler, anesthetized by the alcohol and, like most men on the
road in the nineteenth century, accustomed to sharing a bed with other
unwashed and in this case intoxicated men, slept heavily that night.
However, at dawn this morning, a Wednesday, he awoke suddenly,
startled by the sounds of a series of explosions. Later he would learn
that this was cannon fire announcing for the German-Catholic residents
of the area that this, the feast of the Assumption, was a special day.
Perhaps a little panicked or maybe just curious, our visitor quickly retrieved his horse from Kray’s adjoining livery stable and then completed
a short tour of the dusty little town. He was puzzled by what he saw:
small frame houses and cabins decorated with flags and, spanning the
streets, garlands of oak and evergreen and arches made of the same
1
For a character sketch of John Kray, see William Bell Mitchell, History of Stearns
County (Chicago, 1915), II, 974–975. The St. Cloud Journal, December 29, 1880, contained a report, previously written for a Louisville newspaper, describing the atmosphere
of John Kray’s saloon. The description reads in part: “After the supper, then our pipes,
cigars and rough jokes and chatter of the miscellaneous crowd, which after a time
thinned out gradually to just a score of congenial spirits, who, with old John Kray, as the
prevailing genius, and the open bar conveniently near, pressed about the enormous fireplace, where the maple logs were never wanting, and through halos of smoke, sang
songs or told tales away into the night, interrupted by some new comer [sic] only too
glad to join the charmed circle.” This fictional vignette was inspired in part by Kathleen
Neils Conzen’s description of a Minnesota soldier deployed in the Stearns County area in
1864 who felt so ill-at-ease that he predicted in a newspaper letter that “‘the next internal
struggle will be a war with the Catholics.’” Letter in the Hastings, Minnesota, Conserver,
reprinted in the St. Cloud Union, March 17, 1864, cited in Kathleen Neils Conzen, “Making Their Own America: Assimilation Theory and the German Peasant Pioneer,” German
Historical Institute, Washington, D.C. Annual Lecture Series, No. 3, 1990, p. 18.

BY STEPHEN GROSS

217

material with legends in Latin and German. From the north he spied a
procession of people—men, women, and children; some walking and
some on horseback; all singing and all praying—making its way through
the village. Young girls, he noticed, led this strange parade and were
followed later by their mothers, ruddy-faced, stout women, wearing
hob-nailed boots and heavy woolen dresses, and then the community
men, dressed in black and the majority of them prominently bearded.
The walkers, some with rosary beads wrapped in their hands, were accompanied by a handful of priests, all in vestments, and young boys
serving as acolytes who carried incense and swung censers as they
strolled. The native-born observer of what was clearly an alien ritual
followed these pilgrims, albeit safely and discreetly from a distance, to
their final destination, a small, plain, wooden chapel gracing a steep hill
outside the village. He lingered at the foot of the hill a moment, thinking about this foreign culture and this strange ritual, and wondered
whether he was still truly in America.
No evidence points to a Yankee traveler in Cold Spring on that day in
August, 1877. However, Der Nordstern, the German-language newspaper published in St. Cloud, carried a detailed report of a religious procession (Bittgang in German) that wound its way through town and
culminated in the consecration of a small votive chapel on a hill overlooking the village. According to the paper, the purpose of the chapel,
named Maria Hilf, was to secure relief from the damage done by the
hordes of grasshoppers. The day began with a 5:00 A.M. cannonade that
could be heard at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, a Benedictine establishment located about seven miles from Cold Spring. A couple of hours
later two groups of pilgrims began processions that would end at the
newly constructed chapel outside of Cold Spring. One group left from
Jacobs Prairie, a crossroads hamlet with a few houses, a country school,
and a parish church, located a few miles north of Cold Spring. St. Nicholas, another parish center, but to the south of Cold Spring, provided
the other processional. Significantly, Cold Spring could not yet boast of
a parish church. The reporter, who seems to have observed the Jacobs
Prairie contingent more closely, noted that members of both groups
prayed and sang hymns along the way. The Jacobs Prairie pilgrims were
led by a wagon carrying the statue of the Virgin, and surrounding the
wagon were twelve girls dressed in white and bearing white flags. They
were followed by four priests and by twenty-six men on horseback.
Along the pilgrimage route the procession passed under Triumphbogen (triumphal arches), and in Cold Spring, according to the paper’s
correspondent, the houses were decorated with flags and trees as if the

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THE GRASSHOPPER SHRINE AT COLD SPRING, MINNESOTA

Blessed Virgin herself or a king had made their way through the village.
Upon the arrival of the pilgrims at the site, the four priests co-operated
in the consecration of the chapel, and this ceremony was then followed
by a solemn high Mass. The pilgrims from St. Nicholas provided music,
and “after mass the crowd scattered and sought to fulfill and satisfy
their physical needs at designated tables and bars.” The correspondent
was able to report that $340 was raised at the event and that $200 was
pure profit. He also asserted that the chapel was to honor the Mother
of God, to take refuge in her as their intercessor and be freed from the
ravages of the grasshopper plague. Concluding, he noted that the grasshoppers fled the area only eight days after Father Leo Winter, the young
Benedictine who had orchestrated the event, announced his plans to
build the chapel.2
The chapel described above no longer remains. But a modern visitor
will find on the same hill, known in German as Marienberg, its successor, a small granite structure dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin
Mary. This structure, built in 1952, replaced the original shrine, the
one’s whose consecration is detailed in the above vignette. The first
chapel seems to have been heavily used in the few years after its dedication and was the site of annual Assumption day processionals until its
destruction by a tornado in 1894. The current building—its locale, its
design, and its purpose—is meant both to evoke and to memorialize
the faith and piety of the original settlers, the ancestors of many of today’s residents, and to commemorate the grasshopper infestation, a
critical moment in the community’s early history. That the present
shrine is today known as the “Grasshopper Chapel” obviously connects
this pilgrimage site with those past events. The timing of this chapel’s
consecration on October 7, 1952, the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary,
and its dedication to the Assumption of the Virgin recalls the dedication of the original chapel on the Feast of the Assumption. More evocative, though, is the carving above the entry which depicts the Virgin
assumed into heaven with two grasshoppers kneeling in fealty at her
feet. The wooden statue described in the 1877 newspaper account and
later rescued after the first chapel was visited by its tornado, stands on
a ledge above the altar and portrays the Virgin holding the Christ Child.
The shrine also speaks to the Church’s continued engagement in rural
life, and every summer the local parishes co-operate in sponsoring a
novena of Thursday night Masses in hopes of securing a good harvest.

2

Der Nordstern, August 23, 1877.

BY STEPHEN GROSS

219

Later in the summer on the feast of the Assumption St. Boniface parish
in Cold Spring recreates the original procession to Marienberg.3
Modern residents in this area, still overwhelmingly Catholic, continue to see evidence of the miraculous in the events surrounding the
construction of the original shrine. Interestingly, though, two rival accounts have grown up describing the extent and timing of the miracle.
The official history of St. Boniface parish in Cold Spring, written by a
Protestant and long-time official of the Cold Spring Granite Company,
one of the area’s most important businesses and a major contributor to
the reconstruction of the chapel in the 1950’s, takes an ecumenical approach and locates the departure of the insects in the spring of 1877.
According to this version, the insect pests fled the entire state that
spring after John S. Pillsburg, the governor of Minnesota, proclaimed a
state-wide day of prayer and fasting to effect divine deliverance. Robert
Voight, a Catholic priest and the author of the small pamphlet, “The
Story of Mary and the Grasshoppers,” is less appreciative of the governor’s efforts and notes that the locusts remained in the area until late
summer and then left only after the dedication of the chapel that August. The miracle, according to Voight, was more localized and more
the product of German-Catholic faith, devotion, and sacrifice, and, in
fact, the historical record is more consistent with his account.4
How are we to understand this story and the events surrounding the
construction of the shrine? The story, not surprisingly, is more complicated than that described in either of the “official” versions, both of
which obviously emphasize the power of prayer and the grace of God.
Rather, this history engages, on a basic level, parish politics, including
the actions of Father Winter, a restless young priest who founded the
shrine. On another, it involves the response of a group of GermanCatholic immigrants to a rapidly changing social and economic environment. Understanding the story, then, demands exploring the immediate
political motives of individual actors, including those of the local parish
priest, who had both a penchant for dancing and a devotion to the Virgin. It requires, as well, examining the values and attitudes of local
residents at a time of severe economic tension and cultural dislocation.
The story is set in a specific place in time, in an area that was being in3
Centennial Committee, Amid Hills of Granite—A Spring of Faith: A History of St.
Boniface Parish, Cold Spring, Minnesota, 1878–1978 (n.p., 1978); and Robert J. Voight,
The Story of Mary and the Grasshoppers (n.p., 1991).
4
Centennial Committee, Amid Hills of Granite, p. 25; Voight, Story of Mary and the
Grasshoppers, pp. 20–21.

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THE GRASSHOPPER SHRINE AT COLD SPRING, MINNESOTA

undated by grasshoppers but was at the same moment rapidly forging
market connections with a larger regional economy. This is key, for the
construction of the chapel and the ritual processions that it fostered
had to do both with seeking divine relief from insect pests and with
anticipating a deterioration in communal ideals as a product of market
capitalism. What becomes clear in exploring this story is the manner in
which residents asserted through the construction and dedication of
the shrine the primacy of pre-capitalist values and affirmed the workings of an economy based on sharing and reciprocity, a sort of “equity
consciousness,” that stood at the center of both spiritual and social arrangements.5
Historians of religion in America have traditionally linked the explosion of evangelicalism in the first half of the nineteenth century, the
Second Great Awakening, to the market revolution. This term refers
not simply to the rapid expansion of trade and commercial networks,
and for farmers the fast transition from subsistence or semi-subsistence
farming to commercial agriculture; it also has to do with the process by
which market capitalism became hegemonic and stamped forever American politics and culture. Nathan Hatch, for example, in his magisterial
The Democratization of American Religion argues that new religious
movements at the dawn of the nineteenth century “had the . . . effect
of accelerating the break-up of traditional society and the advent of a
social order of competition, self-expression, and free enterprise.”6
Charles Sellers takes the point a step further and outlines two contradictory religious responses to capitalist expansion in early nineteenthcentury America. One relied on a theology emphasizing a kinder and
gentler God and advanced a view entirely compatible “with the market
ethos of self-disciplined effort.” Its adherents rushed to engage the market and to impose the virtues of individualism, self-restraint, and work
discipline on a traditional culture still wedded to communitarian values. The opposite response, expressed best by Joseph Smith and early
Mormonism, preferred spirituality to reason, tradition to change, mutual dependence to entrepreneurship, and a stern Jehovah to a loving
God. Thus, American Protestantism became locked in a battle, a “Kul-

5
I borrow this term from Jane Schneider, “Spirits and the Spirit of Capitalism,” in Ellen
Badone (ed.), Religious Orthodoxy and Popular Faith in European Society (Princeton,
1990), pp. 24–53.
6
Nathan Hatch, The Democratization of American Religion (New Haven, 1989),
p. 14.

BY STEPHEN GROSS

221

turkampf,” according to Sellers, pitting “piety against moralism, the
magical spirituality of a parochial and fatalist countryside against the
self-reliant effort of a cosmopolitan and activist market.” Although
scholars have criticized Sellers’ dichotomy on a number of different
grounds, including misusing basic theological categories, few would
challenge that religious ferment in this setting was inextricably linked
to profound social and economic change.7
Historians of the American Catholic experience have been slow to
join this discussion. Catholic immigrants in the nineteenth century
were more often destined for American cities, and they typically arrived too late to participate fully in the market revolution. Not surprisingly, then, historians have proven more interested in the experiences
of urban immigrants and have opted to emphasize themes of institution
building, assimilation, and anti-Catholic nativism.8 None of this is misplaced. However, large numbers of Catholic immigrants did choose to

7

Charles Sellers, The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America, 1815–1846 (New
York, 1991). Scholars have criticized Sellers’ outline of a dualistic response on a number
of grounds: his categories are too crude, they do not conform to generally accepted theological distinctions, and his argument distorts the relationship between political identity
and denominational affiliation. Moreover, it has been charged, he describes a too radically bipolar response on the part of nineteenth-century Americans to market relations:
the virtuous yeomanry striving to guard egalitarian and communitarian ideals versus
greedy, self-righteous entrepreneurs. See, Daniel Walker Howe, “The Market Revolution
and the Shaping of Identity in Whig-Jacksonian America,” in Melvyn Stokes and Stephen
Conway (eds.), The Market Revolution in America: Social, Political, and Religious Expressions, 1800–1880 (Charlottesville, 1996), pp. 259–281; and Richard Carwardine,
“‘Antinomians’ and ‘Arminians’: Methodists and the Market Revolution,” ibid., pp. 282–
307.
8
General works that emphasize institution building and the Americanization of the
Church from an urban perspective include James Hennesey, S.J., American Catholics: A
History of the Roman Catholic Community in the United States (New York, 1981); Jay
P. Dolan, The American Catholic Experience: A History from Colonial Times to the
Present (Notre Dame, 1992; originally published, Garden City, New York, 1985); and
Charles R. Morris, American Catholics: The Saints and Sinners Who Built America’s
Most Powerful Church (New York, 1997). One notable exception to this pattern is Jeffrey Marlett, Saving the Heartland: Catholic Missionaries in Rural America (DeKalb,
Illinois, 2002). Marlett notes that approximately 80 percent of the nation’s Catholics
lived in cities in 1910. Jon Gjerde, in The Minds of the West: Ethnocultural Evolution in
the Rural Middle West, 1830–1917 (Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1997), describes the
role of religion, especially Lutheranism and Catholicism, and ethnicity in the rural Midwest.

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THE GRASSHOPPER SHRINE AT COLD SPRING, MINNESOTA

settle in the rural Midwest and often in areas that were, at least initially,
poorly integrated into a larger market economy.9 Many, of course, were
peasants, accustomed to small-scale farming, semi-subsistence agriculture, the necessity of combining farming with various forms of wage
labor, and, most importantly, the workings of a moral economy in governing the marketplace. Commercial capitalism could be a real threat
to these rural immigrants; it challenged traditional social relations,
those that structured both families and communities, while simultaneously jeopardizing the values and moral principles which underlay the
social order. More precisely, the imperatives of commercial agriculture
threatened to substitute wage labor, contractual social arrangements,
and value based on the behavior of an amoral market for shared work,
social and economic reciprocity, and the weight of custom and tradition in determining economic relationships. Viewed another way, the
logic of the market was to collapse much of the traditional edifice of
family and community life and encourage the emergence of more egalitarian, more voluntary, and more individualized social arrangements.
That scholars engaged in the larger project of American Catholic history have largely neglected this topic does not diminish its importance.
Indeed, examining the manner in which rural Catholics encountered a
new ethic—modern, capitalist, and Protestant—is essential to understanding the larger process by which immigrant Catholics adjusted to a new
world. Historians of American immigration, of course, build their work
around this theme of adjustment and accommodation, although they
have too often concentrated on a number of specific social factors—
the size of the immigrant group, the class status of its members, and the
group’s success in building institutional support in the form of, say, the
parish church or political machine—as key to understanding how people adjusted to the pressures of a new environment. But, as Kathleen
Neils Conzen reminds us, it is also necessary to reference the entire
repertoire of cultural resources which could be marshaled by a community and used to cope with change and possible disequilibrium.
More specifically, she argues that understanding the immigrant experience in the American countryside requires “an altered conceptual
framework, with a clearer focus upon culture itself—the socially produced structures of meaning expressed in and engendered by public

9

Kathleen Neils Conzen estimates that 90 percent of the German-Catholic parishes in
the Midwest were rural: “German Catholics in America,” in Michael Glazier and Thomas
J. Shelley (eds.), The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History (Collegeville, Minnesota, 1997), p. 575.

BY STEPHEN GROSS

223

behaviors, language, images, institutions—than generally has been the
case in immigration historiography.”10 In the case of the German Catholics making their march up the little hill outside of Cold Spring, they
enjoyed an especially rich liturgical tradition of public prayer and ritual,
an important cluster of symbolic resources, whose very plasticity facilitated invention, easy mobilization, and expanded utility. This heritage
would prove to be especially useful in responding to the demands of
agrarian capitalism; however, because of this rich tradition, this encounter would be more complex, more multi-faceted, more marked by
competing goals and aspirations, and therefore more often tinged with
tension and anxiety than that described by other scholars.
Cold Spring is located in Wakefield Township in the southeastern
quarter of Stearns County, Minnesota. St. Cloud, the county seat, is
about fifteen miles away. Although Wakefield, as well as most of the
surrounding townships, was from an early date almost exclusively German and Catholic, it did attract settlers from a number of different regions in German-speaking Europe. The charter group, immigrants from
Kreis Bitburg of the Rhineland’s Eifel uplands, arrived in 1855 and clustered in the northeast quadrant of the township. They were almost
immediately joined by settlers, some of whom may have been relatives,
from the other side of the border shared by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Luxembourgers and Eifelers were to become the majority and
came to dominate the eastern and southern parts of the township. In
1856 the original immigrants were joined by Bavarians who settled in
the north and northwestern part of the township, and by 1860 at least
fifteen Bavarian families had settled in what became known logically
enough as the “Bavarian Settlement.” A group of families from Kreis
Lingen and Meppen in the Kingdom of Hanover who settled in the
western third of the township completed the original settlement process. These North Germans were part of a larger settlement cluster
extending into the neighboring Munson Township; they traveled to the
village of Richmond in Munson for church, and they sent their children
to that village’s district school.11
10

Conzen, “Making Their Own America,” p. 7.
This brief discussion is based on a number of sources, including local newspapers,
plat maps, federal and state manuscript census reports, land deed records, transcribed
oral histories (originally conducted by the W.P.A. in the 1930’s), as well as family histories compiled by local genealogists. Local histories, including parish histories, were very
useful. Besides Centennial Committee, Amid Hills of Granite, see Brice J. Howard, Sts.
Peter and Paul’s, Richmond—One Hundred Years (n.p., 1956), and Jacobs Prairie—
100 Years (n.p., 1954).
11

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THE GRASSHOPPER SHRINE AT COLD SPRING, MINNESOTA

Father Francis Xavier Pierz, a Slovenian missionary already in his seventieth year in 1855 and whose first duty was to minister to the Indians
in the Upper Midwest, provided much of the impetus for German settlement. In the mid-1850’s Pierz, a German-speaker, launched a letterwriting campaign in the nation’s German-language newspapers and
was at least partially responsible for drawing settlers to the area. He
also had a hand in attracting Benedictine missionaries to the area, who
arrived in the spring of 1856 and eventually established a monastery
and college in Collegeville just to the north of Wakefield.12 Two rival
parishes quickly grew up in the township. One, as described above, St.
James, was located at Jacobs Prairie, a small crossroads boasting a
church, a country school, and sometimes a blacksmith shop, in the
northeast quadrant of the township. The other, St. Nicholas, lay along
the town line between Wakefield and Luxembourg Township to the
south and with a saloon was only marginally more cosmopolitan than
Jacobs Prairie. Although both these parishes seem to have been spared
any significant in-fighting during their early years, parish battles within
the larger region were a reality during the founding process and would
become even more common in the last two decades of the century.13
Cold Spring would become the township’s only true urban center but,
as also previously noted, was without a parish during the area’s settlement phase. Despite the early construction of a dam and mill in 1856,
the village experienced slow and uneven growth. Cold Spring’s population in 1870 hovered somewhere around 100 residents, but in the next
decade the village’s population grew by about 150 percent. It was,
however, only late in this decade, in 1878, after the grasshopper infestation had ended, that Cold Spring could boast of a parish church. As
we will see, the construction of the small Gnadenkapelle, votive shrine,
outside of town would play a central role in parish development.14
An early resident of Richmond, the neighboring village a few miles to
the west, chronicled in his history of the town that the first settlers traveled until they found a place “where they were no longer in anyone’s
12
For a biography of Pierz, see William P. Furlan, In Charity Unfeigned (St. Cloud,
Minnesota, 1952). See, in addition, Colman J. Barry, O.S.B., Worship and Work, Saint
John’s Abbey and University, 1856–1956 (Collegeville, Minnesota, 1956), pp. 20–23.
13
For descriptions of parish fights, especially over education and the intent of the
clergy to develop parochial schools, see Vincent A. Yzermans, The Spirit in Central Minnesota: A Centennial Narrative of the Church of St. Cloud, 2 vols. (St. Cloud, Minnesota,
1989).
14
Population estimate for Cold Spring, which was unincorporated during the settlement phase and thus not counted as a separate government entity, was based on the
United States manuscript census schedules for Wakefield Township, 1870 and 1880.

BY STEPHEN GROSS

225

way.”15 This sense of being a people apart and one in need of protection from the dominant culture also colored the writings of Father
Pierz. In a supplement to a book he authored about native people, the
old missionary included an explicit invitation to good German Catholics to settle Minnesota:
I do wish, however, that the choicest pieces of land in this delightful Territory would become the property of thrifty Catholics, who would make an
earthly paradise of this Minnesota which heaven has so richly blessed, and
who would bear out the opinion that Germans prove to be the best farmers
and the best Christians in America. I am sure that you will likewise do credit
to your faith here in Minnesota; but to prove yourselves good Catholics do
not bring with you any free thinkers, red republicans, atheists or agitators.16

Pierz had introduced this theme in an earlier letter when he warned
that “any work-shy city bums, proud freethinkers and Godless naturalists, who only cause unrest and mischief, should . . . remain far from
my missions.”17 His success in creating a German-Catholic “paradise” is
reflected in the persistent ethnic and religious homogeneity of the area.
Minnesota’s so-called “Holy Land,” a name derived from the large number of places named after saints, encompasses a central core of approximately twenty townships or about 700 square miles. At the turn of
the last century the census bureau estimated that 86 percent of Stearns
County churchgoers were Roman Catholic.18
The homogeneity of the region and the insularity of its communities
allowed both for a slow, albeit not painless, adjustment to the new land
and the retention of a traditional set of values and ideals. Historians of
rural America have consistently emphasized the extent to which social
relations in the precapitalist countryside were structured around no-

15
G. H. Bruning, “Zur Geschichte von Richmond” ([n.p.]), Stearns County Heritage
Center, Richmond file. Bruning was one of the area’s first settlers and wrote this short
history around the turn of the century. It was later transcribed by Alexander Pallansch in
1939 for a project commissioned by the Works Projects Administration, Stearns County
Museum Project.
16
The quote is taken from Barry, Worship and Work, pp. 22–23. Translation by Rev.
J. B. Tennelly, S.S.
17
Wahrheits-Freund (Cincinnati), May 3, 1855.
18
See Conzen, “Making Their Own America,” for an introduction to the area’s history.
The percentage Catholic is from the Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census,
Special Reports on Religious Bodies: 1906, I, 327–329, cited by Hildegaard Binder Johnson in “The Germans,” They Chose Minnesota: A Survey of the State’s Ethnic Groups (St.
Paul, 1981), p. 181.

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THE GRASSHOPPER SHRINE AT COLD SPRING, MINNESOTA

tions of mutuality and reciprocity and have noted how the equitable
exchange of labor and goods enforced a moral economy.19 GermanCatholic pioneers to Stearns County shared this ethic with other rural
people, but in their case it was reinforced by both experience and their
Catholicism. The villages of peasant Europe, especially in the relative
backwaters like the German Eifel, because of their constant vulnerability to civil and natural disaster, nurtured a special mentality, one intensely appreciative of the essential unity of the sacred and the material
worlds and acutely aware of people’s dependency upon God, the saints,
and other supernatural forces. These peasant immigrants, who built
dense networks of mutual dependence through the exchange of labor
and goods, applied the same strategy in negotiating with the saints.
Bargaining with your neighbors was vital to maintaining a sort of social
equilibrium, and dealing with the saints helped to preserve a sense of
cosmic order. But negotiating with the saints had a larger efficacy, as
they could intervene to control the impact of bad luck, bad weather,
and sometimes bad neighbors. Both kinds of bargaining were expressive of a sort of mentalité that appreciated the essential limitedness of
the individual, that recognized salvation as a social project, and that
eagerly sought both grace and power through communal action. Of
course, the logic of capitalism and the larger “civilizing” process which
accompanied it worked to transform this ethos and substitute for it a
commitment to market-driven individualism. But German-Catholic farmers in Stearns County continued to honor the powerful role played by
the spiritual; they continued to refer to an ethic of equity in structuring

19
Historians of rural America have engaged in a now long-running discussion regarding both the timing of capitalist expansion in the American countryside and the posture
of rural people—either as nascent capitalists or communitarians—toward the market.
Key works here include: James T. Lemon, “Early Americans and Their Social Environment,” Journal of Historical Geography, 6 (1980), 115–131; James A. Henretta, “Families and Farms: Mentalité in Pre-Industrial America,” William and Mary Quarterly, 35
(1978), 3–32, and “The Transition to Capitalism in America,” eds. James Henretta, Michael Kammen, and Stanley Katz, Transformation of Early American History: Society,
Authority and Ideology (New York, 1991); Christopher Clark, The Roots of Rural Capitalism: Western Massachusetts, 1780–1860 (Ithaca, New York, 1990); Michael Merrill,
“Cash is Good to Eat: Self-Sufficiency and Exchange in the Rural Economy of the United
States,” Radical History Review, 3 (1977), 42–71; Winifred Barr Rothenberg, From
Market-Places to a Moral Economy: The Transformation of Rural Massachusetts,
1750–1850 (Chicago, 1992); Daniel Vickers, “Competency and Competition: Economic
Culture in Early America,” William and Mary Quarterly, 47 (1990), 3–29. Allan Kulikoff
offers a useful synthesis in The Agrarian Origins of American Capitalism (Charlottesville, 1992).

BY STEPHEN GROSS

227

social relations; and they only slowly constructed larger connections to
outside markets.20
The same sort of peasant values—caution, a commitment to shared
risk, a distrust of speculative wealth, and an only modest interest in
consumer goods—guided these settlers in their encounter with American markets. Most of the first settlers were intensely poor and, hailing
from the Eifel, an area of poor soil, partible inheritance, and dwarf estates, were neither practiced in nor inclined toward capitalist agriculture.21 Unlike other immigrant farmers, these German Catholics were
slow to grow wheat, the primary cash crop in the middle of the nineteenth century, and instead made sure to establish a secure subsistence
base before turning to commercial farming.22 To be sure, the deliberative pace of the area’s integration into a larger market system was not
merely a reflection of peasant conservatism; it was also a product of
events beyond their control. Rocky Mountain locusts ravaged the area
in 1856 and 1857 at a time when European settlement was just beginning, and countless memorialists would later remember that period as
a time of great hardship and near starvation.23 A few years later the area

20
This discussion is heavily indebted to Schneider, ”Spirits.” See, in addition, Bob Scribner, “Cosmic Order and Daily Life: Sacred and Secular in Pre-Industrial German Society,”
in Kaspar von Greyerz (ed.), Religion and Society in Early Modern Europe, 1500–1800
(Boston, 1984), pp. 17–32, and Herman Hörger, “Organizational Forms of Popular Piety
in Rural Old Bavaria (Sixteenth to Nineteenth Century),” ibid., pp. 212–222; William A.
Christian, Jr., Local Religion in Sixteenth-Century Spain (Princeton, 1981), pp. 23–125;
and Caroline B. Brettell, “The Priest and His People: The Contractual Basis for Religious
Practice in Rural Portugal,” in Badone (ed.), Religious Orthodoxy, pp. 55–75.
21
Jonathan Sperber, Rhineland Radicals: The Democratic Movement and the Revolution of 1848–1849 (Princeton, 1991), pp. 20–21.
22
Scholars who have noted the propensity for wheat-growing among immigrants include: Jon Gjerde, From Peasants to Farmers: The Migration from Balestrand, Norway,
to the Upper Middle West (New York, 1985), pp. 178–182; Robert C. Ostergren, A Community Transplanted: The Trans-Atlantic Experience of a Swedish Immigrant Settlement in the Upper Middle West, 1835–1915 (Madison, Wisconsin, 1988), pp. 198–200;
Allan Bogue, From Prairie to Corn Belt: Farming on the Illinois and Iowa Prairies in
the Nineteenth Century (Chicago, 1963), pp. 123–124; and D. Aidan McQuillan, Prevailing Over Time: Ethnic Adjustment on the Kansas Prairies, 1875–1925 (Lincoln, Nebraska, 1990), pp. 163–170.
23
For descriptions of grasshopper depredations, see the published accounts for the St.
John’s student newspaper written by Father Bruno Riess, O.S.B., a pioneer Benedictine
monk, in The Record, vol. II, no. 2 through vol. III, no. 6 (February through August,
1889). See, in addition, Barry, Worship and Work, pp. 39–43; and the many oral history
accounts recorded by interviewers for the W.P.A., Stearns County Museum Project,
Stearns County Heritage Center.

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would be caught up in the conflict with the Dakota, who launched a
few raids into the county but mainly succeeded in causing widespread
panic and in driving farm families to the fortified confines of the various
villages. More significant was the war’s impact on the area’s few Yankee farmers and merchants, who had the necessary capital, motivation,
and connections to encourage rapid development, but who quickly
abandoned the area and its growing population of immigrant GermanCatholics.24
This slow pace of economic development should not be interpreted
as evidence of a widespread antipathy to commercial farming. Rather,
local farmers were virtuosos at safety-first agriculture, and sources suggest that members of the pioneer cohort during the settlement and
land-clearing phase never consciously avoided the market as much as
they sought to control its impact. In 1859 a resident from neighboring
Richmond wrote a German-Catholic newspaper in Cincinnati and, typical for a Minnesotan, was compelled to report on the weather, mentioned the progress of the new church construction, and then noted
that the “farmers only complain about the market.”25 Early on, farmers
avoided St. Cloud, the closest market center, and instead traveled an
ox-cart trail to the eighty-mile distant St. Paul in order to sell their produce.26 Even more annoying to St. Cloud’s Yankee establishment, the
area’s German farmers often withheld produce from the market and
waited patiently for the proper time to sell.27 At the same time, surviving tax assessment lists reveal little interest in accumulating consumer
goods and accouterments of status, and most farmers plowed their
earnings back into the family farm.28 In part this was a product of the

24

Conzen, “Making Their Own America,” p. 17.
Wahrheits-Freund, October 20, 1859.
26
For typical accounts, see W.P.A., Interview of Henry Evens by Walter B. Haupt, May
13, 1937, translation by Walter B. Haupt; and Mitchell, History of Stearns County, pp.
1010–1011, 1029. John C. Hudson in Plains Country Towns (Minneapolis, 1985), pp.
30–31, observes the same behavior in late nineteenth-century North Dakota.
27
The St. Cloud Democrat, June 6, 1860, February 1, 1866.
28
Tax records for Wakefield and the adjacent Munson Township list items which
might be considered luxuries: pianos and watches. Nobody in either township owned a
piano or organ in 1870, and only fourteen people had a watch or a clock. The number of
watches and clocks increased tenfold in the next decade (154 in 1880); one family had
purchased a piano by 1880, and seven others now owned organs. However, farmers,
who spent their money on more practical items, were slow to purchase even these modest symbols of bourgeois status. A merchant family owned the single piano, and only one
farm family owned an organ. Farmers, instead, plowed their profits back into the land.
The average farmer who remained in the community in these years saw the tax value of
25

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229

initial poverty of the first settlers, and as late as 1870 perhaps a quarter
of local farmers were still unable to produce a surplus.29 But even as
conditions improved it was only the few village merchants who held
excess real estate; farmers typically purchased extra land only to establish their children in close proximity.30
By the 1870’s, when Rocky Mountain locusts made their return visit
to the area, the local economy was in the middle of a growth spurt.
John Zapp, a St. Cloud businessman and county officeholder, in 1869
testified to the area’s growing prosperity in a letter to his German
hometown:
In 1860 many of our German farmers owned, perhaps, two oxen, one or two
cows, and a few hogs, and a log house hardly fit to live in. . . . Now these
same men own cattle, horses, and sheep, besides reapers and other . . . farming implements, some even threshing machines, live in comfortable houses,
and their property would sell from two to ten thousand dollars.31

Although not all farmers shared equally in this prosperity, Zapp’s observations are supported by statistics derived from the federal agricultural
census. Farmers living in Wakefield and neighboring Munson Township on average doubled their number of improved acres in the years
between 1859 and 1869. The average farm value increased threefold,
from $528 to $1558, in these same years. But farmers were still slow to
commit to wheat, and although the average farmer produced significantly more wheat in 1869 than he had ten years earlier (163 to 67
bushels), he had devoted more energy to expanding his oats and barley
production, crops which allowed greater flexibility toward the mar-

all property, both real and personal, increase by over $277 in these years. Most of this
increase, over $238 worth, was in the value of real estate, and much of this was the result
of bringing new acreage into cultivation. Stearns County Assessor, Tax Assessment Rolls
for Munson and Wakefield Townships, 1870 and 1880.
29
This observation is based on computations of household level data from: The United
States, federal manuscript population and agricultural schedules, Munson and Wakefield
Townships, 1870.
30
Kathleen Neils Conzen, “Peasant Pioneers: Generational Succession Among German
Farmers in Frontier Minnesota,” in The Countryside in the Age of Capitalist Transformation: Essays in the Social History of Rural America, edited by Steven Hahn and Jonathan
Prude (Chapel Hill, 1985), pp. 259–292, and Stephen Gross, “Handing Down the Farm:
Values, Strategies and Outcomes in Inheritance Patterns among Rural German Americans,” Journal of Family History, 21 (1996), 192–217. See, in addition, Sonya Salamon,
“Ethnic Differences in Farm Family Land Transfers,” Rural Sociology, 45 (1980), 290–
308.
31
St. Cloud Journal, February 4, 1869.

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ket.32 However, by the mid 1870’s, the time of the immigrants’ second
encounter with grasshoppers, many Stearns County farmers were devoting more and more acres to wheat. The trigger was the expansion
of the railroad across the Mississippi at St. Cloud in 1872 and then its
extension to St. Joseph and Albany in the north central tier of townships a few years later. The damage caused by the second great grasshopper infestation in the middle years of the decade and, therefore, the
necessity of some farmers to meet a spiraling debt load accelerated this
trend, and Stearns County farmers in 1881 devoted to wheat approximately double the acreage they had in 1875.
Residents responded to the damage wrought by these insect predators in creative ways. Some diversified and moved acreage from wheat
to corn, and Stearns County farmers planted over 4,000 more acres of
corn in 1877, the last year of the infestation, than they had in the previous year. This experiment in diversification was brief, though, and after
the grasshoppers left, the county’s farmers quickly removed about
1,000 acres of corn from cultivation.33 Some used fire, first by raking
straw into windrows, hoping to attract the locusts and then igniting the
straw. When this failed, some started large scale prairie fires. At least a
few men were forced to leave home and seek jobs elsewhere, and no
doubt most sought to supplement their family diets by hunting and fishing.34 One innovative Stearns County resident experimented with using
captured grasshoppers as hog feed, and others used the so-called “hopper dozers,” horse drawn implements, designed to gather up locusts in
canvas skirting. The residents of Spring Hill Township had, perhaps,
the most creative response; they issued bonds, which they sold in Minneapolis, and in this way raised money for subsistence needs and for
seed grain.35 A more long-term response, and the one not employed—at
least, immediately—would have been to abandon wheat growing and
to diversify by raising other crops. Farmers, however, were not yet
prepared to follow that path. The grasshopper plagues of the 1870’s
32
The United States, manuscript population and agricultural schedules, Munson and
Wakefield Townships, 1870 and 1880.
33
Crop statistics were regularly reported in the local newspapers; St. Cloud Times,
March 10, 1875, July 2, 1875, July 19, 1876, July 25, 1877; and St. Cloud Journal Press,
July 20, 1876. See, in addition, Mitchell, History of Stearns County, pp. 452–474.
34
W.P.A., Interview of Henry Evens.
35
For the various responses of county residents see: St. Cloud Times, June 13, 1877,
and February 25, 1880; St. Cloud Journal-Press, June 7, 1877, June 14, 1877, July 5, 1877,
and July 19, 1877. The best description of the grasshopper plagues in Minnesota is Annette Atkins, Harvest of Grief: Grasshopper Plagues and Public Assistance in Minnesota, 1873–78 (St. Paul, 1984); see, especially, pp. 30–43.

BY STEPHEN GROSS

231

demonstrated the uncertainty and unpredictability of rural life; they
did little, though, to change the logic and trajectory of agricultural production.
The answer, then, was not to abandon the market. Its call was too
seductive, and its benefits—more efficient production, the increased
means to expand acreage, and finally a greater access to consumer
goods—outweighed the disadvantages. Moreover, as a result of the
grasshoppers, many farmers faced increased debt and could not, even
if they wanted, easily abandon wheat-growing. The wealthiest merchant in Cold Spring, the Slovenian-born Marcus Maurin, who would
later lead the drive for the establishment of a new parish for that town,
raised interest rates on loans from 10 to 12 percent, and his countryman in neighboring Richmond, Jacob Simonitsch, likewise increased
his rates. Both men, though, seemed to have been reluctant to pursue
bad debts and generally deferred legal action until the 1880’s. Still, the
plagues did cause hardship, and the number of farmers listed on the
census rolls declined slightly during the decade.36
Another possible solution to the crisis and the one increasingly pursued by their cousins in Catholic Germany, was to organize, buy and
sell cooperatively, and perhaps even join other agriculturists in political activity; however, this alternative could not be seriously considered
as America’s premier farmers’ organization, the Grange, was dominated
by Yankees and Protestants and was tainted with the evil of prohibitionism. The ultimate answer, then, was to reaffirm, in the face of growing market pressure, all the old verities and the principles of a moral
economy, both as a way of assuaging anxiety and as a reminder that
caution, good sense, and safety-first might still guide them in crop selection and marketing decisions. This project thus would be to discipline the market, not by invoking the power of the state, but through
the reaffirmation of and rededication to communal values. This was the
course they chose.
Many settlers by the mid 1870’s had already experienced the damage
wrought by Rocky Mountain locusts, and the grasshopper invasions of
the 1850’s during the initial stages of European settlement had reduced
many pioneer families to near starvation. The religious response of the
1870’s was also a reprise of long-practiced rituals, and during both sets
36

Minnesota Historical Society, Stearns County District Court, Civil Case Files. The
number of farmers included in the agricultural census for Wakefield and the adjacent
Munson Townships fell from about 240 in 1870 to 215 in 1880. The United States, manuscript agricultural schedules for Munson and Wakefield Townships, 1870 and 1880.

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of plagues the area’s German Catholics from a number of different parishes arranged processionals in response to what was in both cases a
multifaceted threat. The processionals established in the 1850’s persisted into the 1870’s, and Catholics from a number of parishes continued to meet and walk on a number of different feast days during spring
and summer months. Interestingly, the English-language newspapers in
St. Cloud in describing these rituals identified both the feast of St. Boniface on June 5 and that of St. Magnus, the patron for good harvests and
the protector against hail, lightning, and vermin, on September 6 as
“Grasshopper Day.”37 It is significant that St. James parish in Jacobs
Prairie had hosted an annual processional on September 6, the feast day
for St. Magnus, and that this gave way to Cold Springs’ Assumption Day
ritual.
Small intra-parish processionals were common in Catholic Germany,
but they were traditionally considered by both civil and ecclesiastical
authorities as unhealthy expressions of popular religion and were, at
least in the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth century, often
discouraged. The revival of these sorts of devotionals in the middle
decades of the nineteenth century should be understood in part as a
response to a trend toward secularization, rapid industrialization, and
the growing power of the state throughout Prussian-controlled areas.
More to our point, the successful transplantation of these ritual forms
to rural Minnesota speaks to significant cultural continuity.38 But if the
structure of these rituals survived the immigration voyage intact, their
meaning proved more fluid and open to subjective reading. Indeed, the
first set of rituals, those staged in 1857 and 1858, seems to have addressed needs that had diminished in importance by the time of the
second locust infestation. Participants in the earlier processionals were
more anxious about basic survival, but the first processions also helped
map the land, proclaim it as sacred, and assert Catholic power in a so-

37

See, for example: St. Cloud Journal, June 5, 1873; St. Cloud Times, June 10, 1873,
April 28, 1875, May 5, 1875, June 9, 1875, September 9, 1875.
38
For changes in Catholic religious life in Germany, see Jonathan Sperber, Popular
Catholicism in Nineteenth Century Germany (Princeton, 1984); and David Blackbourn,
Marpingen: Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Nineteenth-Century Germany (New
York, 1993). Important works on German-Catholic immigrants include: Jay P. Dolan, The
Immigrant Church: New York’s Irish and German Catholics, 1815–1865 (Baltimore,
1975), and Catholic Revivalism: The American Experience, 1830–1900 (Notre Dame,
Indiana, 1978); Philip Gleason, The Conservative Reformers: German American Catholics and the Social Order (Notre Dame, Indiana, 1968).

BY STEPHEN GROSS

233

cial and political milieu dominated by Yankees.39 These functions were
less important in the 1870’s, although the function of moving people
emotionally and psychically back to the Old Country had to have been
little changed. Likewise, the way in which processionals and pilgrimages evoke what the anthropologist Victor Turner has termed communitas and work to integrate both individuals and groups back into the
larger community is universal.40
39See Thomas A. Tweed, Our Lady of Exile: Diasporic Religion at a Cuban Catholic
Shrine in Miami (New York, 1997), for an expansive discussion of a shrine and the construction of identity. Beate Heidrich, “Die Heimat nicht vergessen,” in Lenz KrissRettenbeck and Gerda Mohler (eds.), Wallfahrt kennt keine Grenzen (Munich, 1994),
pp. 513–526, discusses the multiple perspectives and meanings attached to a post-World
War II German pilgrimage site. That early processions in Stearns County assisted in the
construction of a new diasporic identity by referencing the dominant culture and emphasizing the difference between cultures is apparent in a report published in the Cincinnati
Wahrheits-Freund, July 2, 1857. The piece described a procession in St. Cloud and noted
that many Yankees, who had never witnessed such an event, were in attendance: “Some
of the Yankees witnessed the event and stared, as they had never seen this, and its meaning was strange to them. It must be said in praise of them that in such circumstances they
were well-behaved and not once tried to disturb the atmosphere.” (“Manche der Yankees
sahen dies mit an und gafften; denn so was hatten sie nie gesehen und die Bedeutung
desselben war ihnen fremd. Zu ihrem Lobe muss man sagen, dass sie sich bei solchen
Gelegenheiten artig betrugen und nicht einmal durch eine Miene zu stören versuchten.”)
These annual processions also had the potential to function politically and present an
alternative picture of local power, one in which baroque Catholic piety was counterpoised against a moralistic and intrusive power structure dominated by Yankees. For a
discussion of the political power emanating from religious processions within a roughly
contemporary European setting, see Iso Baumer, “Kulturkampf und Katholizismus im
Berner Jura, aufgezeigt am Beispiel des Wallfahrtswesens,” Kultureller Wandel im 19.
Jahrhundert, Proceedings of the 18th Deutsches Volkskunde-Kongress held in Trier,
September 13 through 18, 1971 (Göttingen, 1973), pp. 88–101.
40
Victor Turner, Dramas, Fields and Metaphors: Symbolic Action in Human Society
(Ithaca, New York, 1974), and with Edith Turner, Image and Pilgrimage in Christian
Culture (New York, 1978). The integrative functions of these rituals is reflected in an
article in the Wahrheits-Freund, September 23, 1858. The reporter described the congregation at St. Joseph meeting at 6:00 A.M. and beginning an hour later to walk the eight
miles to Jacobs Prairie. Two miles from their destination they were met by the parishioners from Jacobs Prairie, who accompanied the procession back to the church. Mass
was held outside at the base of a huge mission cross, decorated with flowers and holy
pictures. The priest in his sermon expressed his joy at the unity and love which prevailed
in the parishes and his wish that it would always remain so. See, in addition, Walter
Hartinger in “Neukirchen bei Heilig Blut: Von der geflüchteten Madonna zur Flüchtlingsmadonna,” in Kriss-Rettenbeck and Mohler (eds.), Wallfahrt kennt keine Grenzen, pp.
407–417, who examines the development of a Bavarian shrine along the Czech border
which served a large transnational mission field and bridged national and class differences.

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Still, the new ritual was different in an important way from those that
the first settlers devised. The original processionals were staged on the
feast days of St. Boniface, St. Ulrich, and St. Magnus, all male saints and
the last two thought to be especially efficacious in dealing with pestilence, and the Cold Spring shrine was dedicated to the Virgin on the
feast of the Assumption and christened Maria Hilf. This stems in part
from the Church’s renewed interest in Marianism during this period, as
signaled by the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception
in 1854. However, as described earlier, St. James had hosted so-called
“Grasshopper Day” processionals since the founding of the parish, and
the replacement of St. Magnus by the Blessed Mother in 1877 and the
movement of the pilgrimage site from Jacobs Prairie to Cold Spring also
suggests a loss of faith in the efficacy of the traditional saint. Moreover,
the Virgin Mary, in contrast to a minor saint, however adept in combating pestilence, could bring her power to bear on larger concerns and
address issues more central to the local ethos. On yet one final level,
the religious response of the 1870’s was tied up with local parish politics and what was ultimately a successful campaign to establish a new
parish for the village of Cold Spring.
The driving force behind the founding of both St. Boniface parish in
Cold Spring and the grasshopper shrine was Father Leo Winter. Cold
Spring, despite possessing a mill and an ambitious, albeit tiny, business
community, still lacked a parish church when Winter was assigned the
twin parishes of St. James and St. Nicholas. Father Leo, only twentyseven years old and recently ordained, had originally been assigned
parish work in the area around St. Paul but was then brought back to
the abbey at St. John’s after, in his words, “committing the foolishness
of dancing,” apparently in public.41 During the summer of 1877, just
before the grasshoppers abandoned the area, Father Leo persuaded his
parishioners from both St. Nicholas and St. James to construct a chapel,
a Wallfahrtsort (a place of pilgrimage), and to pledge an annual pilgrimage for the next fifteen years. For his part, Winter promised to say
Mass at the chapel every Saturday, weather permitting. Initially upon
his assignment the young priest stayed in the rectory at Jacobs Prairie,
but in October he was ordered to move to nearby Richmond, where he
remained barely a week. Because he was now saying Mass almost daily
at the new shrine, his abbot allowed him to move once more and this
time to Cold Spring. Although Father Leo would later disclaim any in41
A transcribed, typewritten document by Leo Winter, O.S.B., and submitted to Abbot
Alexius Edelbrock, April 9, 1881, St. John’s Abbey, Saint Boniface Parish, Cold Spring file.

BY STEPHEN GROSS

235

trigue in picking a hill outside of Cold Spring as the site of his chapel,
insisting instead that it was an act of God, not everyone shared that
view; the Jacobs Prairie parish historian would later note that the construction of the chapel “served as an opening wedge for the movement
into Cold Spring.”42 Indeed, the young priest later noted in a small document chronicling these events that some residents refused to contribute to the construction of the chapel, and on a separate page, which
has since disappeared, Father Winter included “[a] small list of those
who could have contributed but did not—out of malice or spite—
which does them no good . . . to their eternal shame and that of their
progeny.” This evinces a larger pattern of dissent; Winter’s later announcement that he planned to move his residence to Cold Spring
sparked a significant community protest at Jacobs Prairie. He later
claimed that he held a parish meeting and attempted to negotiate with
the farmers but that they would not co-operate. And so, in his words,
he “held a short hearing, closed the church and said so-long.” Almost
simultaneously and in partnership with Marcus Maurin, Cold Spring’s
leading merchant and one of the wealthiest men in the county, he began to raise funds for the construction of a parish church in Cold
Spring.43 Another document, authored retrospectively by Winter’s successor at Cold Spring in 1891 notes succinctly, “On May 20, 1877 Fr.
Leo Winter became pastor of the parish of St. James. Soon he felt very
much at home in Cold Spring, and so he established his residence
within these walls. And in a short time he became a very active advocate for the case of a church in Cold Spring, and as a result it quickly
assumed a form and pattern.”44
It would be a mistake, however, to reduce the context surrounding
the construction of the Assumption chapel to parish conflict and cleri42

Howard, Jacobs Prairie—100 Years, p. 37.
Translated documents written by Winter and describing the construction of the chapel
are included in Amid Hills of Granite, pp. 2–5. However, the document authored by
Winter and held at St. John’s Abbey Archives, St. Boniface Parish, Cold Spring File, which
described his battle with the Jacobs Prairie farmers, is omitted. According to the document, Father Leo was ordered in October by his abbot to move to Richmond and from
there to take care of both St. Nicholas and St. James. He stayed only one week and then
moved to Cold Spring, because he was saying almost daily Masses in the new chapel. This
alarmed the Jacobs Prairie farmers. He admitted planning to move to Cold Spring and
organize a parish there, but he denied any intent to harm St. James Parish. (“Die Ursache
des ganzen Streites war weil diese Bauern wahnten, dass ich für Cold Spring eingenommen, was ich auch in der Tat war, und dass ich, sorgend, dass eine Gemeinde in Cold
Spring sich organizieren, ihre Gemeinde bei Seite setzen und ruiniren wolle, was aber
nicht meine Absicht war.”). See, in addition, Der Nordstern, August 2 and 9, 1877.
44
St. John’s Abbey, St. Boniface Parish, Cold Spring file, document dated May 20, 1891.
43

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THE GRASSHOPPER SHRINE AT COLD SPRING, MINNESOTA

cal intrigue. A few weeks after the dedication of the chapel, on September 8, Father Leo gathered his two flocks together again at the chapel
site, said Mass, and then read a notarized document chronicling his version of recent history. Winter, who admittedly had his own agenda in
promoting the new votive procession, harshly described the attitude of
some of his parishioners and the creeping corruption associated with
market forces:
After they had gotten together some property, many thought they had it
made and had almost forgotten how to pray. They thought themselves independent from God and his commandments. . . . They had the proud impertinence to think that they had money and even paid for the upkeep of the
pastor, or as the saying goes, hired him, therefore, the pastor had to do what
the farmers wanted. I say this for the eternal memory of future generations.
Many of these proud devils learned once more to pray.45

Winter’s analysis, despite the young priest’s self-righteousness, points
to the reality of an emerging crisis within the local ethos. The slow growth
of the area’s economy had structured a high level of family autonomy
and had nurtured the maintenance of reciprocal obligations within and
between households. Greater market involvement, according to Father
Leo, was a threat as it encouraged an extreme individualism and tended
to divorce the settlers from their God and perhaps more importantly, at
least to the young priest, from God’s servants. The problem of individualism and declension, according to Winter, was expressed by indifference to the Mass. Many residents, he argued, no longer had Masses said
and this was “because many had forgotten their catechism from their
youth and the value of the mass.” They had become so prosperous that
“they and their dependents no longer required the grace and blessings
of the mass,” and they refused to pay for them as farmers did not want
their priest to “become rich and lead the high life.” Thus, American
prosperity had undermined devotion to the ritual that comprised the
essence of Catholic life and that best symbolized the unity of all the
faithful. Many of Winter’s parishioners, although not all, shared that reading; the devastation of the grasshoppers both signaled God’s displeasure and revealed the uncertainty and insecurity produced by the market.
The solution was to become a family again and “to turn seriously to the
love of God’s Mother and to pledge out of love to build a chapel in her
honor . . . if she would free us from this horrid plague through her
mighty intercession with God.”46 Mary here is the “tender and con45

Winter, quoted in Amid Hills of Granite, p. 2.
Ibid.

46

BY STEPHEN GROSS

237

cerned mother who calls her children away from the brink of disaster
and offers them safety and comfort under her sheltering mantle.”47
The young priest, as suggested above, was most critical of the wealthier farmers. It was they, he insisted, who no longer needed the Church
or the clergy and who believed that the Church’s servants should “dance
to the pipes” played by the farmers. He was kinder to the less prosperous and noted that the plague took a greater toll on the poor and those
that were just starting out. Poorer farmers, indeed, were more likely to
grow wheat, and Winter astutely observed that the locusts preferred
wheat to oats. At the same time, the young Benedictine worked with a
broad brush and painted a larger picture of growing declension. His was
a jeremiad colored by parishioner greed, obstinacy, and arrogance, and
at least one other local priest, writing a decade later, worked from the
same sort of palette. In 1889 and 1890 Bruno Riess, one of the pioneer
Benedictine monks in the region, authored a series of articles in the
student newspaper at nearby St. John’s that memorialized the first set of
grasshopper plagues. He told of a local German farmer who explained
to his neighbors that when they “lived in the states from which we emigrated we were good for nothing” and that God set out to “cure” them
by leading them into the wilderness and then trying them with grasshoppers. There was always the possibility of redemption, though, and
Father Bruno told another story of an old farmer living around Jacobs
Prairie who was determined to plant his entire stock of seed during the
midst of the plague. His sons attempted to dissuade him and argued that
the locusts would eat everything they planted. The old man was not
convinced and told his sons, “No boys we will do our part and plant as
usual. But let me tell you this: if God gives us a harvest, we shall give one
third to God and the church; the second third shall be the part for the
poor, while for ourselves we will reserve the balance. Now if the good
God wishes to accept of our gift, He will permit the grain to grow.” So
he planted his entire allotment and was rewarded by having one-half a
normal crop, while his neighbors lost everything that they had planted.
According to Father Bruno, the old man distributed his grain true to his
word. Riess’s allegory emphasized all those virtues—faith, hard work,
patience, commitment to community—advocated by the pilgrim church
and which had served these immigrant farmers so well, and it was precisely these values which now seemed most at risk.48
47

Sandra L. Zimdars-Swartz, Encountering Mary: From La Salette to Medjugorje
(Princeton, 1991), p. 19.
48
Riess, The Record, vol. II, no. 2 through vol. III, no. 6 (February through August,
1889).

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THE GRASSHOPPER SHRINE AT COLD SPRING, MINNESOTA

One of the ways in which these events worked was to help residents
construct a coherent narrative, a sacred drama of sorts, which explained and made meaningful their experiences in America. Central to
that story was how economic success had weakened the immigrants’
faith and undermined their devotion to community. But the narrative
also pointed to the future and promised renewed hope to those who
would return to the Church and surrender their pride and willfulness.
Residents, in participating in the procession on that Feast of the Assumption and in the dedication of the chapel, contributed to the script.
Much like the processionals in Italian Harlem described by Robert Orsi,
the Bittgang to Marienberg can be seen as a symbolic restaging of the
immigrant journey, but one which operated inversely and brought the
participants back home again to the Old Country. Italian-American feste
also worked as rites of healing and integration; movement from rural
Italy to New York City and the adjustment to the imperatives of American capitalism severely strained the peasant family and conspired to
disrupt the immigrant community.49 The ritual march to the grasshopper chapel functioned in much the same way. The settlers temporarily
abandoned their primitive log cabins and small frame houses, perpetual
reminders of their uprootedness and dislocation in Minnesota, and solemnly walked a route made sacred and German by flowers, flags, and
Triumphbogen. The arrival of the pilgrims at the chapel site, at a locale
existing within nature and sanctified with a German name, was very
much a homecoming as they paid homage to the Blessed Mother and
participated at first in a ritual meal, the sacrifice of the Mass, and then
joined together in a picnic lunch. A combination of sensory experience—the smell of incense, the Latin prayers, the sermon and music in
German, and, after the consecration of the chapel, the taste of beer and
German cooking—all must have evoked memories of Germany. In fact,
an observer of an earlier procession in Stearns County reported, “Truly,
one feels that they have been transported back to Germany when they
see the beautiful customs of the Fatherland, votive and other processions, which proceed over fields and meadows.”50
The symbolic journey back to the Old Country could also be painful,
and this was, after all, as Father Winter insisted, a penitential rite. Par-

49
Robert Orsi, The Madonna of 115th Street: Faith and Community in Italian Harlem, 1880–1950 (New Haven, 1985).
50
Wahrheits-Freund, July 2, 1857. See Heidrich, “Die Heimat nicht vergessen,” for a
discussion of how German refugees from Central and Eastern Europe have used pilgrimages for comparable functions.

BY STEPHEN GROSS

239

ticipants were reminded not simply of the “beautiful customs of the
Fatherland,” but also of the family and friends left behind and perhaps
of the guilt of having abandoned loved ones. Consider, for instance, the
large extended Iten clan that immigrated from Canton Zug in Switzerland in 1866 and joined their brother on a farm outside of the town of
St. Cloud. The first act of the new arrivals, who had waited until after
their mother’s death to emigrate, was to present a picture of their
mother to their sibling.51 Like the Itens who brought a portrait of their
mother with them, the Cold Spring pilgrims brought a statue of the
Holy Mother, which they placed at the head of their procession and
surrounded with a dozen young girls dressed in white. The settlers,
though, did more than simply transport and then install their Blessed
Mother; they also prepared the way for her. The streets and houses of
Cold Spring were specially decorated to welcome the Virgin, and they
made sure that she was accompanied by the most innocent and purest
members of the community. The site of her new home was beautiful,
according to Der Nordstern, and “the place, which a month ago was a
wilderness, and overgrown with wild brush, can today be called a paradise, a place of refuge for pilgrims.”52 The site was indeed a liminal
space, located between two parishes, between nature and civilization,
and a place which moved people back and forth between the sacred
and the profane, between the Old World and the New. It was a good
locale for someone whose role was to intercede and mediate and help
provide peace, solace, and pardon to her children in America.
Through the devotion to the Virgin and by her intercessory power
the community was restored. It became a family again with the Blessed
Mother at its head, and members of the family were reminded of the
power of the traditional community to restrain acquisitive and individualistic behavior. Specifically, the organization of the procession reintegrated the various corporate groups—divided by age and sex—as well
as, incidentally, the various German regional groups, into society, and
in the process accomplished a moral reordering of society. More generally, though, the march to Marienberg also evoked the behaviors and
ideals which formed the basis of family and community life. The proclamation of the pilgrimage, the public and communal pledge to repeat
the ritual on an annual basis, the co-operative effort necessary to orga-

51Urspeter Schelbert, “Grabbeters Iten wandern 1866 nach Amerika aus,” Zuger Neu-

jahrsblatt 1994 (1994), pp. 20–32. Joseph Iten, the brother who first emigrated from
Switzerland, is the author’s great grandfather.
52Der Nordstern, August 23, 1877.

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THE GRASSHOPPER SHRINE AT COLD SPRING, MINNESOTA

nize the march, the work—offered up by community women—to prepare food, and the free offering of cash donations by a people facing
another bad harvest: all speak to communitarian values and reciprocal
behavior. Indeed, the pilgrimage involved a profound act of exchange
in the form of a sacred compact between the priest, his parishioners,
and the Virgin. Of course, relations based on exchange can nurture
both co-operation and discord, and the centrality of exchange in this
local culture easily gave rise to both sharing and violence. Interestingly,
in a comparable devotional, also organized in the wake of the grasshopper plagues, the young men of two neighboring parishes engaged in a
different sort of negotiation, a mock combat of sorts, by placing a plank
over a small creek and then fighting to throw each other into the
stream. In this instance the potentially destructive aspects of the local
ethos were ritualized and defused, while at the same time the integral
role of exchange was reaffirmed. These two parishes, located a few
miles to the south and east of Cold Spring, were divided along ethnic
lines between north Germans—Plattdeutschers—and Luxembourgers.
After their arrival at the shrine and a Mass and picnic, the young males
from the rival parishes began their ritual combat. The Plattdeutschers
ridiculed the poverty of their neighbors and called them “Knochenknarrer”—bone chewers. The Luxembourgers, in turn, mocked their
neighbors’ success by taunting them as bacon eaters—“Speckfresser.”
Fighting ended when a bell rang announcing the return procession.
The issue which prompted this ritualized combat, as indicated by the
epithets used by the young men, was property, and in these fights
property was depicted as something invidious and destructive of community.53
The reaffirmation of core community values was necessary if not essential to the procession’s participants, as one function of devotionals
of this type is to explain and make meaningful the community’s suffering. Father Leo, for all his heavy-handedness, assisted in that task by
identifying market-generated wealth and prosperity as the source of
declension. However, it was not simply or solely the prospect of wealth
that threatened; the confusing workings of the market and its fluctuating prices compromised local power and exacerbated the already uncertain nature of agricultural life. The communal sacrifice underlying
the procession asserted a profound claim of local autonomy and dignity
in response to the impersonal and uncertain working of market forces.
After all, these erstwhile peasants were well-schooled in dealing with
uncertainty and adversity and knew that redemption would always
53

Described in Voight, Story of Mary and the Grasshoppers, p. 26.

BY STEPHEN GROSS

241

come and as a product of community prayer, penance, and sacrifice.
Ultimately, then, the miracle of the grasshoppers’ flight from the area,
a departure which still left considerable damage in its wake, was interpreted as evidence of divine pardon and a return to grace. The maintenance of community and the preservation of social ideals based on
reciprocity were perhaps equally miraculous.
Other miracles were also possible, and these too were effected
through penance and suffering. The St. Boniface parish history described the path up Marienberg and emphasized the pain necessary to
complete the pilgrimage journey. “Up the face of the steep slope
earthen steps were cut, on which the devout would kneel step by step
with a Hail Mary at each.”54 Many residents were convinced that such
devotion might result in healing physical ailments, and according to
legend a “sickly” son of Nicholas Hansen, a parish trustee, was brought
back to good health and later entered the priesthood. According to the
story, Bonaventure Hansen was a twelve-year-old boy with a vocation
to the priesthood, but before he could enter the seminary he was stricken
with St. Vitus Dance, otherwise known as Sydenham’s chorea, a neurological disorder accompanied by involuntary spasms and twitching.
This jeopardized his vocation, but his parents kept the faith and decided to walk the twelve-mile pilgrimage route with the invalid boy in
tow in order to procure a cure. The boy’s mother, it was reported, “had
a great faith and trust in the Lord and a special love of the Eucharist. She
very much wanted her son to get well so he would be able some day to
offer the sacrifice of the mass.”55 In other words, she was committed to
the task of giving her son to the Church for the good of the larger
Catholic community. So the family set off, praying and singing in German along the way, and as they walked they noticed that young Bonaventure became “stronger as they went along.” After a few hours on
the road, his jerking subsided, and by the time the family reached the
chapel the boy was completely cured. This is, of course, a loving sacrifice, both on his and on his parents’ part and one that works to the
benefit of the larger Catholic community.
The story of the Hansen boy and his parents is still told and still
works to illustrate that faith and hard work are necessary to achieve
54

Centennial Committee, Amid Hills of Granite, p. 26.
This story appears in much the same form in a number of different places. See the
Cold Spring Record, March 15, 1994, for a detailed version. See also Voight, Story of
Mary and the Grasshoppers, p. 27, and Centennial Committee, Amid Hills of Granite,
p. 26.
55

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THE GRASSHOPPER SHRINE AT COLD SPRING, MINNESOTA

grace. These values are enshrined in the local ethos and are plainly expressed in the events surrounding the construction of the grasshopper
shrine. The chapel as a symbol, in the Catholic sense of the word, revealed and expressed an essential reality otherwise hidden and disguised by appearance or accident. Thus, the chapel served as a gateway
into the community and exposed its core reality as well as the ideals for
which it strove. Work and persistence were highly esteemed, but the
dynamic which structured social relations was exchange and reciprocity. In reality, though, the journey to the New World and the temptations of prosperity had undermined the dynamic. The ritual march
promoted healing, and participants no doubt emerged from the experience more cognizant of their ties to the community and more sensitive
of their obligations to others. But if the ritual made suffering and struggle meaningful, it also guided the settlers to the future by reminding
them of those virtues which had served them so well in clearing their
lands. Unlike other nineteenth-century American farmers who set out
to reform the market—seeing their exploitation in political terms—
Stearns County’s German Catholics believed their plight represented,
in effect, a communal failure and expressed a sort of moral confusion.
Moreover, laboring toward institutional reform was for them dangerous, as it involved establishing dubious political alliances with Protestants and prohibitionists. Although within a few short years they would
set their scruples aside and accept and support the Democratic Party’s
new populist agenda, for the remainder of the century these GermanCatholic farmers would approach the market by continuing to trust in
hard work, thrift, and prayer.56
This is not to maintain that Stearns County farmers were oblivious to
the functioning of agricultural markets. Although conservative and pessimistic in their perception of economic forces, they still based their
decisions on what to plant and when to sell on the behavior of commodity prices. They refrained, however, from any grandiose pretense
of institutional reform, not only because they had the Virgin at their
side, but also and more importantly because they studied the necessary
virtues. Rather than representing a superstitious surrender of power
and will, the processions reminded the faithful that the appropriate
solution to the deleterious effects of the market was to live a life of
grace and control the impact of the new economic order. As expressed
56
Paul Kleppner, Cross of Culture: A Social Analysis of Midwestern Politics, 1850–
1900 (New York, 1970), pp. 38–42, 332–333; and Frederick Luebke, Immigrants and
Politics: The Germans of Nebraska 1880–1900 (Lincoln, Nebraska, 1969), pp. 65–66.

BY STEPHEN GROSS

243

by the old missionary, Father Pierz, in an earlier letter inviting GermanCatholic settlement to the area, this involved practicing certain virtues:
This healthy and splendid region offers considerable advantages to the energetic, diligent, pious and persevering immigrant.57

The crosses erected outside the pioneer churches after parish missions
carried a similar reminder, “Blessed is he who perseveres to the end.”58
Of course, some capital, prior experience with American agriculture, a
large supply of children as laborers, and, perhaps, luck or knowledge
in choosing land also helped. But piety, persistence, diligence, and energy did not hurt.

57

Wahrheits-Freund, November 2, 1864: “Dem rüstigen, fleissigen, frommen und ausdauernden Einwanderer bietet diese gesunde und prachtvolle Gegend die erheblichsten
Vorteile. . . .”
58
“Wer ausharrt bis ans End, der wird selig.” Dolan, Catholic Revivalism, pp. 79–80,
describes how crosses were normally planted at the end of revival missions to serve as a
constant reminder to the faithful.

THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING
OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Report of the Committee on Program
The 2006 annual meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association
convened on Thursday afternoon, January 5, at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Hotel. The program consisted of fifteen panels, a tour of two historical
Catholic churches, and the presidential luncheon, an event which also allowed
members of the Association to celebrate Monsignor Robert Trisco’s long years
of service as Secretary/Treasurer and editor of The Catholic Historical Review.
The program was assembled by a committee that included Thomas Kselman
(Chairman, University of Notre Dame), Brad Gregory (University of Notre
Dame), John McGreevy (University of Notre Dame), and Margaret McGuinness
(Cabrini College). Professor McGuinness was especially helpful in organizing two
panels related to the history of Catholicism in Philadelphia, the tour of St. Mary’s
and St. Joseph’s, and a reception at the American Catholic Historical Society of
Philadelphia’s headquarters. In general, the chairmen of the different panels
reported good attendance, even at the sessions on Thursday afternoon and Sunday morning, with the numbers ranging from a dozen to sixty present in the
audience. Two of the panels at the meeting were co-sponsored by the American
Historical Association, and one by the American Society of Church History.
The meeting began with two panels on Thursday afternoon, January 5, both
of which were interrupted by a fire alarm that emptied the building for a few
minutes. The first, chaired by Joseph Casino, from the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center, was entitled “The Role of Catholic Philadelphia in World Affairs.” John Quinn (Salve Regina University) presented a paper
on “The Rise and Fall of Repeal: Slavery and Irish Nationalism in Antebellum
Philadelphia.” This was followed by Richard Warren’s (St. Joseph’s University,
Philadelphia) paper, “Catholicism in Philadelphia as a Social Nexus for Latin
American—U.S. Relations During the Age of Revolution.” Sister Mary Louise
Sullivan, M.S.C. (Cabrini College) provided the comment.
The second panel, on “Catholic Education in the Twentieth Century,” was
chaired by Philip Gleason (emeritus, University of Notre Dame), a former president of the Association. One of the participants, Father Richard Gribble, C.S.C.
(Stonehill College), was unable to attend because of a meeting of his Congregation. His paper, “Catholic Education in San Francisco in the Early Twentieth
Century: Two Pioneering Efforts,” was read by Christopher J. Kauffman, Father
244

THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

245

Gribble’s doctoral advisor at the Catholic University of America and a former
president of the Association. His paper dealt with the activities of two important clerical leaders concerned with parochial education in San Francisco. Father Peter Yorke was a pedagogical theorist and the author of a number of
widely distributed textbooks in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Edward Hanna, Archbishop of San Francisco from 1915 to 1935, fought for
tax-exempt status of parochial schools in California, a right not obtained until
1951. Alan Delozier (Seton Hall University) presented a paper reviewing the
presidency of Monsignor James F. Kelley, who oversaw the professionalization
and expansion of Seton Hall College during his tenure from 1936 to 1949.
Helen Ciernick (Santa Clara University) presented a paper on “Catholic Students in Transition: The History of the National Federation of Catholic College
Students in the 1950’s and 1960’s.” Dr. Ciernick analyzed the tension between
the student organization and the National Catholic Welfare Conference, interpreted as a sign of increasing lay self-assertiveness. In his comment Professor
Gleason noted that tensions between a central bureaucracy and competing
peripheral institution could also help explain the difficulties experienced by
the National Federation of Catholic College Students. The session was well attended and provoked enough interest that most of the twenty or so members
of the audience returned for the discussion after the fire alarm episode.
The meeting continued with two panels on Friday morning, January 6. William Portier (University of Dayton) chaired and commented on a session dealing with Catholic Modernists entitled “Criticism, Hagiography, and Mysticism.”
Lawrence Barmann (emeritus, Saint Louis University) presented “Baron Friedrich von Hügel, Father George Tyrrell, and Mysticism.” C. J. T. Talar (University
of St. Thomas, Houston) explored Henri Brémond’s attitudes toward mysticism
by exploring his treatment of Fénelon and Bossuet in “Apologie pour Pur
Amour: Bossuet and Fénelon in Controversy.” Harvey Hill (Berry College) pursued the relationship of mysticism and modernism through a study that focused on Alfred Loisy’s response to Henri Bergson’s Two Sources of Religion
and Morality, “Henri Bergson and Alfred Loisy on Mysticism and the Religious
Life.” In his comment, Professor Portier noted that all the panelists had been
participants in the “Roman Catholic Modernism Group” that had met at annual
meetings of the American Academy of Religion from 1976 to 2001. Drawing
from a recent article by Leigh Eric Schmidt, Portier wondered if a single and
coherent meaning of “mysticism” could be applied to its use by modernists and
those who studied them.
A second panel on Friday morning was entitled “Devotion and Practice: Joseph Fichter’s American Catholicism in the Mid-Twentieth Century.” Sandra
Yocum Mize (University of Dayton) served as chair. The first paper was presented by R. Bentley Anderson, S.J. (Saint Louis University) on “Catholic Pride
and Prejudice: Suppression of Fichter’s Southern Parish Study, 1947–1972.”
James O’Toole (Boston College) followed with a presentation on “Studying
Popular Devotional Life: Fichter and Others as Sources.” The commentator was
Margaret McGuinness (Cabrini College).

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On Friday afternoon two panels met, the first on “Music as Evangelization:
The Power of Song in the Franciscan Missions,” a joint session with the Academy of American Franciscan History chaired by Jeffrey M. Burns (Academy of
American Franciscan History). Margaret Cayward (University of California,
Davis) delivered a paper entitled “Medieval or Modern? Viewing the California
Missions through Music.” Kristin Dutcher Mann (University of Arkansas, Little
Rock) spoke on “Music, Doctrinal Instruction, and Indigenous Responses in the
Missions of Northern New Spain.” Paul André Dubois (University of Laval) presented “Abbé Pierre Maillard’s Religious Chant Manuscripts: Witnesses of Christian Life in Micmac Missions of Acadia at the End of the French Régime.” The
commentator was William Summers (Dartmouth College).
Also on Friday afternoon Jon Roberts (Boston University) was chairman of a
panel on “Contextualizing Catholic Doctrine: Biology, Psychology, and Papal
Pronouncements in the Nineteenth Century.” It was a well-attended session,
with approximately forty people in attendance. Anne Taves (University of California, Santa Barbara) began the session with a paper that maintained that one
of the issues addressed by the papacy in Pascendi dominici gregis and the oath
against modernism was the idea of religious experience as mediated through
the subconscious as envisioned by William James. At the heart of reservations
about James’s ideas, Taves argued, was concern about the issue of religious
authority. Acceptance of the dictates of the subconscious seemed to open a
Pandora’s box that undermined the status of church tradition and hierarchy.
Eric Hintz (The University of Pennsylvania) described the transition from belief
in “delayed animation” to “immediate animation” in Roman Catholic discussions of the origin and nature of life in the late nineteenth century. Hintz argued that one of the major factors in accounting for that transition was the
increasing emphasis that Catholics placed on the doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception. A stimulating commentary by John Haas (Bethel College, Indiana)
was followed by about an hour of animated discussion.
On Friday evening, January 6, the Association’s business meeting was held
with the president of the Association, Thomas Kselman, in the chair. Sister
Mary Christine Athans, B.V.M., presented the report of the Committee on Nominations, and Robert Trisco read the report of the Secretary and Treasurer. On
behalf of the Committee on the John Tracy Ellis Dissertation Award Monsignor
Trisco announced the name of the winner. Professor Kselman reported the
main decisions taken by the Executive Council on the previous evening. This
was followed by a well-attended social hour.
On Saturday morning, January 7, the program continued with one roundtable discussion and two panels. The roundtable discussion, “What Difference
Does a Nation Make? Rethinking Religion in Nineteenth-Century Europe,” was
a joint session co-sponsored by the American Historical Association. Following
introductions by the chairman, John Boyer (University of Chicago), four panelists made brief presentations reviewing some of the recent historiography in
which religion has taken on a more central position in an understanding of the

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social and political developments in modern Europe. The participants were:
Marc Lerner (University of Mississippi), Ellen Koehler (University of California,
Davis), Carol Harrison (University of South Carolina), and Anthony Steinhoff
(University of Tennessee-Chattanooga).
The second panel of Saturday morning, entitled “Studies in Church Leadership: American Cardinals in the Twentieth Century,” was organized in honor of
Monsignor Trisco. Monsignor Raymond Kupke (Seton Hall University), who
served as chairman and commentator, observed that all seven principals in the
panel—the three cardinals, the three presenters, and the chair—all had one
element in common. All seven had known Monsignor Robert Trisco, in whose
honor the panel was presented by three of his doctoral students. And all had
benefited from that association—the cardinals from Trisco’s work as a peritus
at Vatican Council II, and the rest from his able direction as a doctoral mentor.
In honor of Trisco, the room was filled to standing-room capacity with more
than sixty attendees, including Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Bishop Earl
Boyea, both of whom have also been Trisco students. The Reverend Thomas
Lynch (St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers, New York), spoke on “Cardinal Spellman of New York (1889–1967).” In his presentation Father Lynch focused on
the cardinal’s appreciation of being an American, particularly as seen through
the prism of the debate over the Myron Taylor mission and United States diplomatic relations with the Holy See. The Reverend James Garneau (Mount Olive
College, North Carolina) spoke on “Cardinal Cushing of Boston (1895–1970).”
Father Garneau described Cardinal Cushing as a “democratic prince of the
Church,” and fleshed out his interest in religious inclusiveness by highlighting
his work on behalf of religious liberty at Vatican II, and in the foundation of the
St. James Society for Latin American missions. The Reverend Rory Conley
(Archdiocese of Washington) spoke on “Cardinal O’Boyle of Washington
(1896–1987),” focusing on his ground-breaking work on behalf of racial integration of the schools and parishes of the nation’s capital. The papers exemplified the meticulous scholarship and thoughtful analysis characteristic of
Monsignor Trisco and his students. Each of the panelists presented a more nuanced vision of one of the three American cardinals from an age which may
appear to some to have been the “brick-and-mortar” era of American Catholicism.
A third panel on Saturday morning dealt with “Varieties of Women’s Experience in the Ultramontane Church.” The chair and commentator was Kathleen
Sprows Cummings (University of Notre Dame). This panel linked the study of
ultramontanism—in which the primary actors are presumed to be men in positions of power—with the experience of women—traditionally excluded from
power, and therefore understood as tangential to the “real story.” Judith Stone
(Western Michigan University), in “Gender Identities and the Secular/Clerical
Conflict in fin-de-siècle France,” argued that “the most striking and indisputable
distinction between clericals and anticlericals in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries was gender.” In supporting this bold statement with extensive evidence Stone provided a fresh interpretation on secular/clerical conflict

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in France. Jeffrey Zalar (Pepperdine University), in “Dirty Books: Women’s
Reading and the Limits of Clerical Power in Germany, 1890–1914,” argued that
women’s decision to read or avoid so-called “dirty books” was intimately tied
to clerical perceptions about the stability and coherence of the Catholic culture. Sally Dwyer-McNulty (Marist College) presented “‘Greetings’: Communications Between American Women Religious and Clergy Regarding High School
Girls and Dress.” Like Professor Zalar, Professor Dwyer-McNulty stressed the
willingness of women to resist clerical authority.
At the presidential luncheon, which was held in the elegant, oak-paneled
Meade Room of the historic headquarters of the Union League of Philadelphia,
James Powell of Syracuse University, the First Vice-President of the Association,
presided. Justin Cardinal Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, welcomed the Association to the city and gave the blessing. William Cardinal Keeler, Archbishop
of Baltimore, was also seated at the head table. Following the meal Mary Elizabeth Brown (Marymount Manhattan College) reported on the work of the John
Gilmary Shea Prize Committee, which awarded the 2005 prize to Father Stephen Schloesser, S.J., from Boston College, for Jazz Age Catholicism: Mystic
Modernism in Postwar Paris, 1919–1933 (Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 2005). Kenneth Gouwens (University of Connecticut), on behalf of the
Committee on the Howard R. Marraro Prize, awarded the prize for 2005 to Father
Augustine Thompson, O.P., from the University of Virginia, for Cities of God:
The Religion of the Italian Communes (University Park: Pennsylvania State
University Press, 2005). Professor Powell then introduced Thomas Kselman,
the outgoing President of the Association from the University of Notre Dame,
who delivered a presidential address entitled: “What If? The Bautain Circle and
the Trajectory of Catholic-Jewish Relations in Modern France.” Professor Powell then introduced the Most Reverend Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee, who spoke movingly about his mentor, Monsignor Trisco, in a set of
remarks on “Scholarship and Sanctity: A Tribute to Monsignor Robert Trisco.”
Archbishop Dolan announced as well that Monsignor Trisco had been honored
by being named a protonotary apostolic supranumerary by the Holy Father.
The luncheon concluded with a gracious response from Monsignor Trisco,
whose work as Secretary/Treasurer and Editor of the journal made him the key
figure in managing the Association, organizing the annual meetings, and editing
The Catholic Historical Review for over four decades.
On Saturday afternoon the program included a panel on “U.S. Catholics and
Latin American Crises,” with David Badillo (Lehman College, City University of
New York) as chairman and commentator. Ralph Frasca (Marymount University, Virginia) presented a paper on “The Press and the San Patricios during the
Mexican War: Martyred Catholics or Traitorous Deserters?” Frasca analyzed the
experience of Catholic immigrants who deserted from the army of the United
States to fight for Mexico during the Mexican-American war. Francis Sicius (St.
Thomas University, Miami) spoke on “Operation Pedro Pan: The Church’s Response to the Cuban Child Refugee Crisis of the Early 1960s.” As a result of this
“operation” as organized by Monsignor Bryan Walsh, 14,000 Cuban children

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came to the United States just after the victory of Castro. In his comment Professor Badillo noted the importance of taking a broad view of “American Catholic” history, and the value of work that brings together the experience of
Catholics in the United States and Latin America.
On Saturday afternoon participants at the meeting had the opportunity to
visit two historic Philadelphia Catholic churches. Guided by Bobbye Burke,
archivist at Old St. Joseph’s Church (the first Catholic church in Philadelphia),
about thirty people braved the cold and received in-depth tours of Old St.
Joseph’s and St. Mary’s churches. Ms. Burke’s presentation included discussions of church architecture, the history of Philadelphia Catholicism, and antiCatholicism in Philadelphia. Following the tour, participants were invited to a
reception hosted by the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia at
the headquarters of the society, 263 South Fourth Street.
On Sunday morning the Most Reverend Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee, celebrated Mass for living and deceased members of the Association in
the Marriott.
The final two sessions took place on Sunday morning and early afternoon.
On Sunday morning a panel that was co-sponsored by the American Society of
Church History dealt with “Religion, Politics, and Society from Napoleon to the
Revolution of 1848.” The panel examined religious currents in the first half of
the nineteenth century, illuminating aspects of the connections between religion, politics, and society. Rebecca K. McCoy’s (Lebanon Valley College) paper
entitled “Restoring the Church: Protestants and Catholics in Lower Languedoc,
1801–1830,” illustrated the many difficulties Protestants in the Midi faced in
trying to re-establish their churches. The Protestants’ minority status, their lack
of churches and funds, and their history of exclusion from the community
placed them in a disadvantageous position. They found that the state did little
to ensure actively that liberty was more than an absence of persecution. Patricia Dougherty’s (Dominican University of California) paper, entitled “The Catholic Press and Political Revolutions, 1830 and 1848,” compared the number,
ownership, news coverage, and opinions of the Parisian Catholic newspapers
in each of these periods. Her evidence showed an increase both in the number
of periodicals and of clerical involvement in the Catholic press as well as a diversity of opinion among these periodicals on each revolution and regime. She
concluded that this demonstrates an increased understanding by the clergy and
bishops of the importance of making their opinions on events known to a
broader public as well as a diversity of opinions among Catholics over such issues as the propriety of an alliance between politics and religion. Daniel J.
Koehler’s (University of Chicago) paper, “Protestant Revivalism and Spiritual
Dissent: Pastor Blumhardt at Moettlingen,” described a phenomenon of faithhealing and pilgrimage that does not easily fit into the structure of the Evangelical Church in the Southwest Germany of the 1840’s. Instead, Koehler
believes it supports a claim about the Protestant laity’s hunger for a deeper,
more transformative experience of worship than what was pervasive in the

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THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

mid-nineteenth-century Church. Blumhardt believed his activities provided an
alternative to the liberal notion of Christianity and a reprimand for church
adherence to the “spiritual status quo.” Following a comment from James C.
Deming (Princeton Theological Seminary), audience members engaged the presenters in a lively discussion, leading everyone present to new questions and
insights.
A second panel on Sunday morning, chaired by James Fisher (Fordham University), dealt with “The Power of the Cure: Catholic Miracle Stories in NineteenthCentury America, 1824–1866.” Nancy Lusignan Schulz (Salem State College)
presented a paper entitled “Foreign Affairs: Anti-Catholicism, the Monroe Doctrine, and the Mattingly Miracle of 1824.” Professor Schulz placed the miraculous
1824 cure of Ann Mattingly, a prominent Washingtonian, in the context of
Catholic-Protestant debates over the legitimacy of miracles and the enduring suspicion of European-style religiosity. Patrick Hayes (Marymount College of Fordham University) spoke on “Jesuit Dominance of Miracle Narratives in 1860’s
America.” He suggested that religious orders in the nineteenth century were attracted to miracle narratives in part as a way of enhancing their own cultural and
spiritual authority. In his commentary John T. McGreevy (University of Notre
Dame) invited further research on these important topics and suggested that
both projects might benefit from a broader transnational perspective emerging
from many recent works on the meanings of miracles in the nineteenth century.
A very lively discussion ensued involving a large portion of the audience.
One of the final three panels on late Sunday morning, January 8, dealing with
“Catholic Women and Their Nation: Gender and Religious Identities in the
Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century United States,” was co-sponsored by the
American Historical Association. It is sad to report that Peter R. D’Agostino
(University of Illinois, Chicago), one of the participants originally on the program, died tragically a few months before the conference. The panel was
chaired by Paula Kane (University of Pittsburgh). Diane Batts Morrow (University of Georgia) spoke on “Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality in the Early Experience of the Oblate Sisters of Providence.” Following a second paper by Jeanne
Petit (Hope College) on “Organized Catholic Womanhood: Suffrage, Citizenship and the National Council of Catholic Women,” Anne Martinez (University
of Illinois) provided a comment.
A second panel at the closing session was entitled “The Past for the Present:
Models of Reform in Church History.” The panel was inspired by the investigations of medieval ideas of reform by Gerhart Ladner and his student, Louis
Pascoe, S.J. Phillip H. Stump (Lynchburg College) served as both chairman and
commentator because Father Pascoe, originally the chairman, was unable to
attend the meeting. One of Dr. Pascoe’s students, Christopher Bellitto (Kean
University), presented “The Early Church as Model Church: Nicolas de Clamanges and the ecclesia primitiva.” Dr. Bellitto found that Clamanges did not
envision an integral return to the ecclesia primitiva, but rather used the model
of the primitive church to propose a renovatio in melius. In the second paper

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of the panel, “A Reappraisal of John Hus in the Light of His Medieval Predecessors,” C. Colt Anderson (University of Saint Mary of the Lake, Illinois) argued
that Hus’s writings on the church and reform had strong precedents in works
of orthodox reformers, including Pope St. Gregory I, St. Peter Damian, and St.
Bernard of Clairvaux. Finally, in his paper “Jean Gerson: Reform and the Biblical Past,” D. Zach Flanagin (Saint Mary’s College, California) examined Jean
Gerson’s condemnation of the tyrannicide theses of Jean Petit at the Council of
Constance, which he saw as based on a false exegesis of Scripture. All three
papers illustrated the similar yet distinct roles that the past played for each of
the reformers as a guide for their efforts in their own day. Approximately fifteen persons were in the audience, and raised questions about late medieval
reform ideas and their connection with the Councils of Trent and Vatican II.
The final panel on the program dealt with “Heroines and Villains in Catholic
Philadelphia.” Margaret Mary Reher (Cabrini College) served as both chair and
commentator. Walker Gollar (Xavier University, Ohio) reported on “The ‘Malicious Conspiracy’ against Father William Hogan (1790–1848),” a controversial
figure in Philadelphia history who led a schismatic movement against episcopal
authority in the 1820’s. Thomas Rzeznik (University of Notre Dame) presented
some of the results of his doctoral dissertation in a paper entitled “The Millionaire Nun and Her Uncle: The Effects of Episcopalian and Catholic Authority
Structures on the Philanthropic Careers of Catholic Philadelphia.” Rzeznik’s
paper cast Protestant Anthony Drexel and his Catholic niece Katharine, as archetypes of two patterns of giving within two distinct religious traditions. Although it was the last session of the program, the panel was well-attended, and
the papers generated a lively discussion. In her comment Professor Reher noted
that for all its controversial characters, Philadelphia is the only Catholic diocese
in the United States that can boast of two canonized saints, a fitting point on
which to conclude this report.
THOMAS KSELMAN
University of Notre Dame
Report of the Committee on Nominations
In this election 254 ballots were cast. The results are as follows:
For First Vice-President (and President in the following year):
JOSEPH P. CHINNICI, O.F.M., Franciscan School of Theology and The
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California. . . . . . . . . . . . .209 votes
MEL PIEHL, Valparaiso University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 votes
For Second Vice-President:
DAVID BURR, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
Blacksburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89 votes
KATHLEEN NEILS CONZEN, University of Chicago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117 votes
For the Executive Council (three-year term: 2006, 2007, 2008):
Section I:

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LISA BITEL, University of Southern California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 votes
DANIEL E. BORNSTEIN, Texas A&M University. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107 votes

Section II:
BETH A. GRIECH-POLELLE, Bowling Green State University . . . . . . . . . . . .73 votes
SILVIA CASTRO SHANNON, Saint Anselm College, New Hampshire. . . . . .120 votes

For the Committee on Nominations (three-year term: 2006, 2007, 2008):
MARGARET MCGUINNESS, Cabrini College, Radnor, Pennsylvania . . . . . .106 votes
ANN TAVES, University of California at Santa Barbara . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98 votes
MARY CHRISTINE ATHANS, B.V.M, Chairman

The St. Paul Seminary
University of St. Thomas, Minnesota
JAY P. CORRIN

Boston University
WIETSE DE BOER

Miami University (Ohio)

Report of the Committee on the John Gilmary Shea Prize
The John Gilmary Shea Prize for 2005 is awarded to the Reverend Dr. Stephen Schloesser, S.J., the current occupant of the LoSchiavo Chair in Catholic
Social Thought in the Joan and Ralph Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought in the University of San Francisco and an associate professor of
history in Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, for his book Jazz Age
Catholicism: Mystic Modernism in Postwar Paris, 1919–1939, which was
published by the University of Toronto Press in 2005. The committee of judges
read thirty books published between July 1, 2004, and June 30, 2005, and ranging in time from the early Church to the present.
Jazz Age Catholicism considers the important subject of the Church’s engagement with the modern world. The Church had engaged the world before
(e.g., Pope Pius IX’s “Syllabus of Errors,” Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum). In
this particular engagement, the stakes were high. World War I called into question whether the “civilized world” was truly that. With the advantage of hindsight, the danger is clear: absent a coherent ideology and a faith in society’s
workings, people could turn to totalitarian ideologies that promised security.
One engaging feature of Jazz Age Catholicism is that it demonstrates that an
intellectual life can be a strenuous one.
Jazz Age Catholicism is structured primarily around a study of the work of
Jacques and Raïssa Maritain. Their chief contribution was to develop a method
by which the Church engaged the modern world. The method they outlined
amounted to a theory of history in which the Church conveyed the eternal
forms that operated on the material world in any given place and time, including the technology, events, arts, and thoughts of the mid-twentieth century.

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The theories the Maritains outlined were exemplified in the creative works of
the artist Georges Rouault, the novelist Georges Bernanos, and the composer
Charles Tournemire. This structure makes for an accessible narrative.
The centerpiece of Schloesser’s research was his close reading of his subjects’ unpublished and published writings to retrace their intellectual developments. He placed this intellectual development in the context of its time, with
wider reading in the publications of the time. He then placed his study in the
context of other scholars’ work, which required still wider reading in twentiethcentury history and in religious studies. The result is that Jazz Age Catholicism
is a useful book for historians of France, of intellectual life, and of the twentieth
century, and also for those who study theology and those seeking a case study
of how good minds tackle the great questions.
The prize is named in memory of the famous historian of American Catholicism John Gilmary Shea (1824–1892) and is partially funded by a bequest of the
late Reverend Dr. John Whitney Evans of the College of Saint Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota. It is given each year to the American or Canadian author who,
in the opinion of the committee, has made the most original and significant
contribution to the historiography of the Catholic Church in the form of a book
published during the previous twelve-month period ending June 30.
The Committee on the John Gilmary Shea Prize is composed of Professor
Mary Elizabeth Brown of Marymount Manhattan College, chairman, for American history, Professor Maureen C. Miller of the University of California at Berkeley for medieval history, and Reverend Dr. Charles J. T. Talar of the University
of Saint Thomas, Saint Mary’s Seminary, Houston, for modern European history.
MARY ELIZABETH BROWN, Chairman
Marymount Manhattan College
Report of the Committee on the Howard R. Marraro Prize
On behalf of the joint Committee on the Marraro Prizes, the other members of
which are David D. Roberts, chairman, of the University of Georgia for the Society for Italian Historical Studies, and Charles L. Stinger of the State University of
New York at Buffalo for the American Historical Association, I am pleased to present the American Catholic Historical Association’s thirty-first Howard R. Marraro
Prize to the Reverend Augustine Thompson, O.P., for his book Cities of God: The
Religion of the Italian Communes, 1125–1325, published by the Pennsylvania
State University Press in 2004. Father Thompson is an associate professor of religious studies and history in the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Remarkable for its scope and ambition, this book illuminates the crucial role
of Christianity as a lived religion in shaping the structure and development of
the self-governing Italian urban republics during their most formative period.
Exploiting new archival evidence and a vast body of specialized scholarship,
Professor Thompson reveals how Christian religious practices mapped the sa-

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cred geography of urban spaces, defined a civic identity, and afforded a shared
devotional patrimony that gave substance to the search for community.
The magnitude of Dr. Thompson’s contribution stands out in sharp relief
when viewed alongside the historiographical tradition that it challenges. Intent
upon identifying the origins of the “modern” secular state in the institutions of
thirteenth-century Italian communes, generations of scholars have analyzed
those institutions as developing either apart from ecclesiastical structures or in
opposition to them. For example, in an influential survey of Society and Politics in Medieval Italy (1973), J. K. Hyde wrote that the Italian communes were
“essentially secular contrivances whose particularism flourished in spite of a
universal religion and the claims of a universal empire.”
Professor Thompson, by contrast, radically reconceives the role of religion in
the city-states: rather than being some abstract universal against which communal government defined itself, Christianity commingled with the civic within
a single communal organism. Thompson takes us through the liturgical calendar, showing the integration of religious and civic meanings in rituals ranging
from baptism to the care of the bodies and souls of the deceased. For example,
by the thirteenth century, “immersion in the font of the city baptistery made
the baptized a citizen of the commune.” Thompson bolsters his argument with
primary-source evidence and embellishes it with vivid details that make this
book as enjoyable as it is important.
KENNETH GOUWENS
University of Connecticut
Report of the Committee on the John Tracy Ellis Dissertation Award
The committee is delighted to award the John Tracy Ellis Dissertation Award
to Scott Marr, a graduate student at Boston University working on interconfessional relations during the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century wars on religion.
Marr is studying Protestant-Catholic tensions (and co-operation) in the French
town of Saumur, in the province of Anjou. A center of Huguenot and Protestant
intellectual life, the town also possessed a vibrant Catholic presence, marked
by an expanding number of religious orders. Marr proposes to study the ups
and downs of confessional life in this period, both private and public, as families and town authorities struggled with the implications of religious diversity.
He suggests that religious co-existence, along with violence, needs explanation
in this new context. The committee found Mr. Marr’s conceptualization of
the project—the proposal and his meticulous assessment of the sources—
outstanding and chose his from a number of stellar applications.
MARGARET LAVINIA ANDERSON
University of California at Berkeley
KENNETH PENNINGTON
JOHN T. MCGREEVY, Chairman
The Catholic University of America
University of Notre Dame

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255

Report of the Secretary and Treasurer
This eighty-sixth annual meeting of our Association is only the fifth that it has
ever held in Philadelphia and only the second since World War II. The last
meeting that we held here was in Christmas week of 1963. As I remarked in my
report forty-two years ago, the Catholics of Philadelphia are renowned for their
interest in the history of the Church, as is evidenced by the longevity of the
American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, which will celebrate its
122nd birthday in July; in 1963 we conducted our business meeting in its historic headquarters and enjoyed its hospitality at the reception that followed.
Philadelphia is also the diocese in which one of the founders of our own Association, Monsignor Peter Guilday (1884–1947), was born (at Chester) and
was incardinated as a priest.
The program of this meeting consists of fifteen sessions instead of the usual
twelve. Consequently, for the first time two sessions have been scheduled on
Thursday afternoon. After several years without any joint session with the American Historical Association, we now have two, one of which has been designated as a Presidential Session by the president of that Association, James J.
Sheehan; there is also a joint session with the American Society of Church History. We acclaim our Committee on Program, of which our president, Professor Kselman, is chairman, for making this meeting so attractive. I also wish to
thank once again the convention manager of the American Historical Association, Miss Sharon K. Tune, for providing space for all our sessions (except the
presidential session) in the headquarters hotel, the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. I am grateful too to Sister Carlotta Bartone, S.H.C.J., of the Metropolitan
Tribunal of Philadelphia for making the initial arrangements for our presidential luncheon in the prestigious Union League of Philadelphia.
One of the changes that have occurred in recent decades is a shrinking of the
size of the Association. In my first report, submitted in December of 1961, I
exulted in the total of 1,333 members, the highest number ever recorded. Last
year I could count only 934. Since then we have enrolled only twenty-two
new members—twelve ordinary and ten students. In 2004 we added forty—
thirty-three ordinary and seven students. Four former members have resumed
their active status; last year there was only one renewal. Thus we have twentysix on the credit side. On the debit side we have been apprised of seven deaths,
have received eight resignations, and have counted fifty-five lapses, making a
total of seventy. By comparison we may note that last year thirty-seven persons
let their membership expire; eight resigned, and five died. Subtracting the
twenty-six gained from the seventy lost, we are left with a net loss of forty-four,
and subtracting that from 952, we arrive at a current total membership of only
890. Tables 1 and 2 show the distribution of the members.

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Table 1
Geographical Distribution of Members
Individuals:
Life Ordinary
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of
Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota

Organizations:
Retired

Students

Life

Ordinary

5
1

4

3
1

2
1
2
2
2
2
1

2

2
1
6
2

3
2
55
2
20
3
30
10
6
1
3
31
24
4
4
5
6
1
30
45
12
18
3
19
2
2
2
7
27
1
89
11

2
5
1
2

1

1
2

2

8
3
1
1

1

1

1

1
2

1

1
1

5
6
2

1
2

3

1
2

1

1

1

1

1

1
2
2
11
1

1
2

2

1

THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Ohio
3
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
2
Rhode Island
1
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
1
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
3
Washington
1
West Virginia
2
Wisconsin
3
Wyoming
Puerto Rico
Canada
2
Mexico
1
Peru
Belgium
Germany
Great Britain
Ireland
Italy
1
Northern Ireland
Poland
Slovenia
Switzerland
1
Vatican City
Nigeria
1
India
Kazakstan
China
1
Japan
Philippines
Australia
Totals
57
Total of individuals
Total of organizations
Grand total

30
5
3
35
12
5
7
25
4
3
18
8
1
21
1
9
1
1
3
3
4
1
1
1
1

1

3

1
14
1

2

1
1
1

1

1

1

1
1
2

3

1

5

1
2

3
1
1
4
1
5
700
864
26
890

88

19

15

11

257

258

THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Table 2
Distribution of Members by Status
Cardinals, Archbishops, and Bishops
Priests
Protestant Clergymen
Deacons
Sisters
Brothers
Lay women
Lay men
Total

27
241
6
2
31
9
148
400
864

This decline is not due entirely to lack of effort. In November I wrote to all
those who had failed to pay their annual dues since January in spite of two reminders after the original notice, and I enclosed a copy of the program of this
meeting, but not many responded. The chairman of the Committee on Program, Professor Kselman, also tried to enforce the requirement that all participants in the sessions, except those representing another society in a joint
session, be members of the Association. Unfortunately, the Committee on Recruitment has again this year been completely dormant. Obviously, this continual hemorrhaging needs to be stanched, and younger scholars must be
brought in.
The seven members who were in good standing when they died this year
were some of our oldest. We mourn the following:
The Most Reverend Joseph P. Delaney, Bishop of Fort Worth, a member since
1984
The Reverend Bennett D. Hill, O.S.B., professor emeritus of Georgetown University, a member since 1976, a member of the Committee on Nominations
in 1987, 1988, and 1989, and second vice-president in 1995
The Reverend Peter E. Hogan, S.S.J., director of the Josephite Archives in Baltimore, a member since 1946 (died actually in 2004)
The Reverend William Wolkovich-Valkavičius of Norwood, Massachusetts, a
member since 1977
Mr. Aloysius R. Clarke of Washington, D.C., a member since 1991
Dr. Anna-Maria Moggio of Centenary College in Hackettstown, New Jersey, a
member since 1963
Dr. John T. Phelan, M.D., of Williamsville, New York, a member since 1985
In addition to these departed members let us recall also the memory of several
former members of long standing though not active at the time of their death:
Professor Catherine A. Cline, of the Catholic University of America, a member
from 1963 to 2003, a member of the Committee on Program for the Associ-

THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

259

ation’s fiftieth annual meeting in 1969, and a member of the Committee on
Nominations in 1977, 1978, and 1979
Professor Joseph H. Dahmus, of Pennsylvania State University, a member from
1945 to 1993 and a member of the Executive Council in 1959, 1960, and
1961
Right Reverend Titular Mitred Provost Astrik L. Gabriel, O.Praem., of the University of Notre Dame, a member from 1948 to 2003 and president in 1973
Professor Maurice R. O’Connell, of Fordham University, a member from 1955
to 2002, a member of the Executive Council in 1974, 1975, and 1976, and
second vice-president in 1988
Professor Raymond H. Schmandt, of Saint Joseph’s University, a member from
1952 to 1999 and second vice-president in 1990
May their souls and the souls of all the departed members of the Association
through the mercy of God rest in peace.
The Association’s spring meeting took place at the University of Dayton on
April 22 and 23. The chairman of the Committee on Program, Dr. Una M. Cadegan, has published a full report in the October issue of the Review. We owe
hearty thanks to her and the other members of the committee for organizing a
spring meeting in Dayton for the second time. As was announced in the July
issue, the next spring meeting will be held at the College of the Holy Cross in
Worcester, Massachusetts on April 7–8, also for the second time, the first having been in 1977. We are grateful to Professor Virginia C. Raguin for assuming
the burden of planning the meeting.
It is gratifying to note that both winners of our book prizes are members of
the Association.
As treasurer I can report partly good and partly unfavorable conclusions at the
end of our fiscal year. The increases in the annual fees for ordinary and retired
members that the Executive Council decreed last year are only now having their
full effects, because the dues statements for those who pay before the January
issue of the Catholic Historical Review is distributed (the majority of our members) had already been mailed a month before the Executive Council acted.
Then the decline in membership reduced the revenue from dues, on which we
are mainly dependent. As I mentioned last year, the Catholic University Press
has been constrained by rising costs to raise the price of each copy of the Review that we buy for our members to nine dollars. Meanwhile most of the other
expenses have remained constant, notably the fee of the certified public accountant who prepares our return to the Internal Revenue Service ($1,200) and
the charge for printing our program in the program book of the American Historical Association ($1,375), while the half of the office secretary’s salary that
the Association pays has grown by $1,126. We continue to receive virtually free
telephone and fax service from the Catholic University of America and to pay no
rent for the office space shared with the Review and no charge for the Internet
connection or the technical services provided by the University.

260

THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Our special funds are in a healthy condition. The Harry C. Koenig Fund now
has a gain of nearly $3,000 available as a subvention to assist a press in publishing a book-length biography of a member of the Catholic Church who has lived
in any period of history and in any part of the world. The prize should be
awarded every other year, but no acceptable application has yet been submitted to the committee of judges. The Committee on Investments, of which the
treasurer is ex officio chairman, continues to furnish sound financial advice. I
renew my thanks to Professors Reza Saidi and Jamshed Y. Uppal, both of the
Department of Business and Economics in the Catholic University of America,
for generously giving up their time for the benefit of the Association.
The value of our investments has again increased over the past year. The net
equity of our portfolio held in street name by Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown on
November 30, 2004, was $830,948.29; on November 30, 2005, it was $867,333.52.
This represents a modest gain of $36,385.23, or 4.4 percent, and nearly restores the loss of almost 22 percent suffered three years ago. In addition to the
stocks and equity and money funds comprising the portfolio, we continue to
hold several investments directly, the current value of which is as follows:
Wachovia Bank Certificate of Deposit (October 12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,197.99
T. Rowe Price GNMA Fund: 4,494.603 shares @ $9.41 per share
(November 30) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,294.21
Vanguard GNMA Portfolio: 7,258.819 shares @ $10.31 per share
(September 30). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,838.42
Vanguard GNMA Portfolio: 466.511 shares @ $10.31 per share
(September 30). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,809.73
Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund: 847.767 shares @ $6.20 per share
(September 30). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,256.16
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130,396.51
To these should be added the net value of the portfolio held by Deutsche
Bank Alex. Brown (November 30) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867,333.52
Hence, the Association’s total invested assets were valued at. . . . . 997,730.03
The comparable figure reported a year ago was . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 958,120.95
The increase of $39,609.08, or more than 4 percent, suggests the extent to
which the stock market has rebounded in 2005. Nevertheless, we still wistfully
recall that five years ago the Association’s total invested assets were valued at
$1,064,789.15. We continue to reinvest the income from the first two GNMA
funds listed above.
As editor of the Catholic Historical Review until September 1 and since then
an associate editor, I wish to add a brief report on the volume (XCI) for 2005. I
completed work on the October issue, which, containing 332 pages, is more
than twice as long as normal and is the longest single issue ever published. The
whole volume contains 922 pages with Arabic numerals and 46 with Roman

THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

261

numerals (including a sixteen-page general index), making a total of 968 pages.
This is the longest volume ever published. Thanks to the benefactors who have
contributed $11,772* and to the Anne M. Wolf Fund, from which we have
withdrawn $2,044, we have been able to add 314 pages to the 608 allowed by
our budget.
This year we have received thirty articles, eight fewer than in 2004. The following table shows the distribution by fields and the disposition of the articles:
Area

Accepted

General
Ancient
Medieval
Early Modern
European
Late Modern
European
American
Latin
American
Chinese
Totals

Conditionally
accepted

Rejected

Pending

Total

2

1
2
6

1
2
8

2

3

5

2
1

8
3

2
1

4
1

7

1
1
7

15

1
1

1
2
30

*Ms. Charlotte Ames, Mr. Robert J. Armbruster, Ms. Ann W. Astell, Rev. Robert C.
Ayers, Rev. Dr. Paul F. Bailey, Ms. Carla Bang, Rev. Peter Batts, O.P., Prof. Frederic J.
Baumgartner, Dr. Christopher M. Bellitto, Prof. Harry L. Bennett, Dr. Martin A. Bergin, Jr.,
Rev. Thomas G. Benz, S.J., Prof. Thomas E. Bird, Dr. Melinda K. Blade, Prof. Michael Blastic, O.F.M.Conv., Dr. Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Rev. Dr. Thomas Bokenkotter, Prof.
Henry W. Bowden, Prof. Thomas A. Brady, Jr., Dr. Franklin W. Burch, Dr. David H. Burton,
Prof. Anne M. Butler, Prof. Joseph F. Byrnes, Prof. Caroline W. Bynum, Prof. William J.
Callahan, Rev. Robert Carbonneau, C.P., Rev. Msgr. Patrick J. Carney, Rev. Daniel E.
Carter, Mr. Joseph C. Castora, Rev. Martinus Cawley, O.C.S.O., Rev. Raymond Conard,
Prof. Frank Coppa, Rev. Richard F. Costigan, S.J., Prof. Jay Corrin, Bro. Emmett Corry,
O.S.F., Prof. George Dameron, Rev. Dr. Richard L. DeMolen, Dr. Mary DeTar, Prof. Vincent P. De Santis, Dr. John J. Dillon, Rev. James Dollard, Dr. Roy P. Domenico, Rev. Msgr.
Thomas Duffy, Dr. Dennis J. Dunn, Most Rev. Walter J. Edyvean, Dr. Keith J. Egan, Rev.
Edward J. Enright, O.S.A., Mr. Nicholas Falso, Rev. James K. Farge, C.S.B., Mr. Louis Ferrero, Rev. James Flint, O.S.B., Dr. Charles A. Frazee, Mr. Ryan P. Freeburn, Prof. John B.
Freed, Rev. Gerald J. Funke, Sr. G. Ann Miriam Gallagher, Rev. Dr. James F. Garneau, Dr.
Sheridan Gilley, Rev. Paul E. Gins, O.S.M., Dr. Philip A. Grant, Jr., Rev. Peter N. Graziano,
Prof. Paul F. Grendler, Prof. John Griffin, Prof. Richard Gyug, Most Rev. Daniel A. Hart,
D.D., Prof. Michael J. Hayden, Sr. Mary Hayes, S.N.D., Dr. Thomas Head, Jr., Rev. Msgr.
John V. Horgan-Kung, Dr. Sandra Horvath-Peterson, Dr. David R. C. Hudson, Prof. Robert F.
Hueston, Rev. Msgr. Richard A. Hughes, Dr. Jane C. Hutchison, Rev. Leon M. Hutton, Dr.

262

THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

This table illustrates our need of articles in all fields but especially in ancient,
American, Canadian, and Latin American history.
Having produced forty-three volumes of the Review, I turned over the editorship to my younger colleague Professor Nelson H. Minnich, who was previously associate editor. In effect, we have exchanged positions. In the past four
months with the help of a graduate assistant, Mr. Mark Frisius, he has vigorously attacked the stacks of books for which reviewers needed to be engaged.
I know that I have left the journal in most competent hands, and I will continue
to work for it in my reduced role.
In concluding this my forty-fifth annual report as secretary and twenty-third
as treasurer, I wish to thank the members of the Association past and present
for the privilege of serving them for more than half of its existence. Personally
I have immensely benefited from the opportunity this position has allowed me
of making the acquaintance and acquiring the friendship of many members
outside my own areas of professional specialization. I have enjoyed collaborat-

Richard J. Janet, Prof. Christopher J. Kauffman, William Cardinal Keeler, Dr. John F. Kenney, Mr. Bogdan Kolar, Rev. Rene Kollar, O.S.B., Rev. Msgr. Raymond J. Kupke, Dr. Henry
J. Lang, Rev. Vincent Lapomarda, S.J., Dr. Charles F. Lasher, Mrs. Joan Lenardon, Rev.
Dennis M. Linehan, S.J., Most Rev. Oscar H. Lipscomb, Mr. Richard A. Loiselle, Rev. John
F. Lyons, Rev. Michael P. Lyons, Rev. Ambrose Macaulay, Dr. Ellen A. Macek, Dr. Joseph
F. Mahoney, Dr. Elizabeth Makowski, Dr. Lawrence McAndrews, Rev. Floyd McCoy, Rev.
Thomas C. McGonigle, O.P., Mr. John H. McGuckin, Jr., Rev. Joseph M. McLafferty, Dr.
Mary M. McLaughlin, Rev. Robert McNamara, Dr. Martin R. Menke, Sr. Bridget Merriman,
Rev. Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C., Dr. Edward J. Misch, Prof. John C. Moore, Dr. Isabel A.
Moreira, Prof. Thomas E. Morrissey, Dr. Victoria M. Morse, Dr. James M. Muldoon, Ms.
Caroline Newcombe, Rev. Dr. Leo A. Nicoll, S.J., Prof. Thomas F. X. Noble, Dr. William L.
North, Prof. Doyce B. Nunis, Jr., Prof. Francis Oakley, Prof. Charles H. O’Brien, Prof.
Glenn W. Olsen, Dr. John R. Page, Prof. Fred S. Paxton, Prof. Kenneth Pennington, Rev.
Dr. John Piper, Jr., Rev. Thaddeus Posey, O.F.M. Cap., Prof. James M. Powell, Dr. Robert E.
Quigley, Dr. John F. Quinn, Rev. Francis Reed, Dr. Charles J. Reid, Jr., Prof. Virginia Reinburg, Prof. Alan Reinerman, Mr. John F. Robinson, Prof. John F. Roche, Dr. David M.
Rooney, Mr. John Peter Rooney, Prof. Anne C. Rose, Prof. Jane Rosenthal, Prof. Francis J.
Ryan, Dr. James D. Ryan, Prof. James F. Ryan, Prof. José M. Sánchez, Rev. Msgr. Robert J.
Sarno, Dr. Daniel L. Schlafly, Rev. Dr. David G. Schultenover, S.J., Rev. Dr. Robert Scully,
S.J., Rev. Msgr. Francis Seymour, Rev. John J. Silke, Mr. Gregory Albert Smith, Prof. Andrew Sorokowski, Mr. George T. Spera, Dr. Peter F. Steinfels, Dr. Neil Storch, Right Rev.
Matthew Stark, O.S.B., Dr. Stephen J. Sweeney, Rev. Arthur I. Tarborelli, Rev. Prof.
Charles J. T. Talar, Mr. Daniel F. Tanzone, Prof. Samuel J. Thomas, Rev. Dr. Thomas W.
Tifft, Prof. James D. Tracy, Rev. Msgr. Robert Trisco, Rev. Dr. Edward R. Udovic, C.M.,
Rev. Jeffrey von Arx, S.J., Dr. Karen T. Wagner, Prof. Morimichi Watanabe, Rev. Msgr.
Edward Wetterer, Rev. Martin N. Winters, Rev. Prof. John W. Witek, S.J., Dr. Scott Wright,
and Rev. Dr. Martin A. Zielinski.

THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

263

ing with the past presidents and in particular this year with Professor Kselman.
I am grateful to God for the good health that has permitted me to attend all the
annual meetings since December of 1959, when I was appointed assistant secretary under Monsignor Ellis, who two years later ceded the full responsibility
to me. I gladly acknowledge the invaluable assistance I have received from my
successive secretaries, especially the late Miss Anne M. Wolf, the living Ms.
Maryann Urbanski, and my current secretary, Mrs. Rita Bogley. Without their
faithful and reliable help in the executive and editorial office I could hardly
have borne the burden. Now I beg the members to give my successor as secretary and treasurer, Dr. Timothy Meagher, the same support as they have given
me, and I, of course, will assist him in any way in which I can and he desires.
May the Association flourish and grow with this new infusion of energy and
fulfill ever more effectively the ends for which it was founded in 1919 and the
further ends that it has adopted over the years.
ROBERT TRISCO
Financial Statement
Fund Statement (as of December 15, 2005):
Cash:
Balance as of December 15, 2004 . . . . . 32,551.15
Increase (Decrease): See Exhibit A . . . . (16,956.91)
Sale of stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5,974.84
Balance as of December 15, 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,569.08
Investments: see Exhibit B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400,269.44
Total Fund Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421,838.52
Statement of Revenue and Expenses (Exhibit A)
(for the period December 15, 2004, through December 15, 2005)
Revenue:
Membership fees
(annual) . . . . . . . . . . .
37,795.00
Annual meetings:
2004/2005 . . . . . . . . . .
2,985.00
2005/2006 . . . . . . . . . .
76.00
3,061.00
Endowment fund . . . . . .
222.66
Dividends (cash) . . . . . .
373.84
41,452.50
Expenses:
Office Expenses:
Secretary . . . . . . . . . . .
Telephone . . . . . . . . . .
Supplies and printing . .
Postage . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Equipment . . . . . . . . . .

15,587.92
.83
1,401.50
1,347.84
144.00

18,482.09

264

THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Catholic Historical Review
subscriptions . . . . . . .
Annual meeting
(2004/2005) . . . . . . . .
John Gilmary Shea Prize
Award . . . . . . . . . . . . .
750.00
Luncheon . . . . . . . . . . .
38.00
Less endowment income (308.12)
Certified Public Accountant
Bank service charges . . .
Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . .
Operational surplus—Net gain (loss)

33,538.00
4,256.61

479.88
1,200.00
22.83
430.00

58,409.41
(16,956.91)

Investments (Exhibit B)
General Fund
Balance as of December 15, 2004
Income from investments (dividends and interest):
Abbot Laboratories . . . . .
1,736.00
Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown
Cash Fund . . . . . . . . . .
127.27
Scudder Investment Equity
500 Index Fund . . . . . .
3,905.24
General Electric
Company . . . . . . . . . . .
2,112.00
Johnson & Johnson . . . . .
2,042.68
T. Rowe Price
GNMA Fund, Inc. . . . . .
757.12
T. Rowe Price Index
Equity Fund . . . . . . . . .
1,622.15
Vanguard GNMA Portfolio 2,221.57
Vanguard High Yield
Corporate Portfolio . . .
373.84
14,897.87
Less dividends received
as revenue (Exhibit A)
(373.84)
Total income from investments
14,524.03
Stock purchased: T. Rowe Price
Emerging Europe and
Mediterranean Fund . . . .
48,474.86
Less stock sold
T. Rowe Price Science
& Technology . . . . . . . (48,466.86)
Hospira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (5,982.84)
(54,449.70)
Balance as of December 15, 2005
Special Fund I—Howard R. Marraro Prize
Balance as of December 15, 2004 . . . . . . . .

18,515.81

274,251.40

282,800.59

THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Investment income
T. Rowe Price GNMA Fund . . . . . . . . . . .
Prize and luncheon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Balance as of December 15, 2005
Special Fund II—Anne M. Wolf Fund
Balance as of December 15, 2004 . . . . . . . .
Investment income
T. Rowe Price GNMA Fund . . . . . . . . . . .
Subsidy for article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Balance as of December 15, 2005

844.32
(788.00)
18,572.13
6,805.12
310.31
(2,044.35)
5,071.08

Special Fund III—Expansion of the Catholic Historical Review
Balance as of December 15, 2004 . . . . . . . .
2,574.70
Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,772.00
Expense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (14,076.07)
Balance as of December 15, 2005
Special Fund IV—Endowment
Balance as of December 15, 2004 . . . . . . . .
Investment income
Vanguard GNMA Portfolio . . . . . . . . . . . .
Transferred to Exhibit A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Balance as of December 15, 2005

265

270.63

4,642.50
222.66
(222.66)
4,642.50

Special Fund V—John Tracy Ellis Memorial Fund
Balance as of December 15, 2004 . . . . . . . . 25,863.87
Investment income
Vanguard GNMA Portfolio . . . . . . . . . . . .
1,184.57
Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1,200.00)
Subscription to the Catholic Historical Review (36.00)
Balance as of December 15, 2005

25,812.44

Special Fund VI—Harry C. Koenig Fund
Balance as of December 15, 2004 . . . . . . . .
Investment income
PIMCO GNMA Fund—Class C . . . . . . . . .
Balance as of December 15, 2005

53,100.07

Special Fund VII—John Whitney Evans Fund
for the John Gilmary Shea Prize
Balance as of December 15, 2004 . . . . . . . .
Investment income
PIMCO GNMA Fund—Class A . . . . . . . . .
Applied to prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Balance as of December 15, 2005
Total investments

51,782.17
1,317.90

10,000.00
308.12
(308.12)
10,000.00
400,269.44

266

THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

New Members
Br. Robert L. Anello, M.S.A., Holy Apostles College and Seminary, 33 Prospect
Hill Road, Room 315, Cromwell, CT 06416
Mr. David A. Bernatowicz, 4934 East 107th Street, Garfield Heights, OH 441252208
Mr. Zhysek Brezina, 474 East Fourth Street, #1, South Boston, MA 02127
Mr. Michael Carlin, P.O. Box 11130, Washington, DC 20008-1130
Mrs. Julie Conroy, 1206 Amblewood Drive, Laurel, MD 20708
Dr. Jacqueline Gresko, Douglas College, Department of History, P.O. Box 2503,
Newwestminster, BC V3L 5B2, Canada
Professor Michael B. Gross, Department of History, East Carolina University,
Greenville, NC 27858
Ms. Mary J. Henold, Linwood House, Valparaiso University, 1602 Evans Avenue,
Valparaiso, IN 46383-4334
Dr. Richard L. Hernandez, 1208 Roosevelt Avenue, Redwood City, CA 940611457
Ms. Suzanne J. Hevelone, 442 Walnut Street, Newton, MA 02460
Dr. Joseph H. Jacobs, 4221 Winter Forest Circle, Beavercreek, OH 45432
Dr. Lawrence R. Jannuzzi, 3300 Laguna Street, No. 10, San Francisco, CA
94123
Lourdes College, Department of History, 6832 Convent Blvd., Sylvania, OH
43560-2898
Professor Edward Peters, Department of History, 208 College Hall, University
of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6379
Mrs. Sharon K. Perkins, 2455 Loris Drive, Dayton, OH 45449
Ms. Katherine Pulvirenti, 6274 Lake Avenue, Orchard Park, NY 14127
Mr. Michael Rosenfeld, Department of History, Pace University, 41 Park Row,
New York, NY 10038
Ms. Phyllis H. Scholp, 2210 Mill Trace Lane, Centerville, OH 46458
Professor Silvia Castro Shannon, Department of History, Saint Anselm College,
100 Saint Anselm Drive, Manchester, NH 03102-1310
Most Reverend William S. Skylstad, P.O. Box 1453, Spokane, WA 99210-1453
Ms. Elizabeth V. Whitaker, P.O. Box 2147, Easley, SC 29641
Ms. Susan E. White, 620 Michigan Avenue, NE, Seton #461, Washington, DC
20064

BOOK REVIEWS

General and Miscellaneous
Why Study the Past? The Quest for the Historical Church. By Rowan Williams.
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2005.
Pp. 129. $15.00 paperback.)
The frontispiece is a 1740 haywain passing the ruins of an ancient abbey, a
pleasing way of asserting that the Church has a history. This is not precisely a
book on why study the past, but on how the Church needs to think and rethink
its own history, and what it might get out of that endeavor; and how problems
in its historical perception might, indeed must, keep arising in new generations
and new circumstances; and what alarming difficulties come and what noble
opportunities. This is not a plea that universities ought to have professors of
church history. Critics and professors, though necessary to understanding,
cause trouble. They live in a welter of change, and excess of change does not
suit a body of persons persuaded that they are given eternal truth. This book
studies how churches cope, or should cope, with that trouble.
Christians know that they are the Church of the apostles. They would like—
for a long time they liked—to feel an unchanging apostolic Church through the
centuries. Then historians prove that this axiom wobbles. Rowan Williams
seeks to make sense of this through a very charitable outlook on the witness of
“heresies,” divergent movements within the Catholic Church. He sees something good in the moralism of Pelagius, or in the effort of Arius to find words
for the incarnation, or in the overdone zeal of Celtic penitentiaries; that such
“suppressed or disadvantaged voices” must be allowed to be themselves, “they
are at least as strange as any orthodox voices from the past.” In these pages we
do not hear the thunder of an Athanasius. “A constructive engagement with
forms of faith that are outside the supposed mainstream is one of the most important critical responses we can bring to a mature understanding of the Church.”
An attitude of mind that cannot engage in recognizing the past of the Church is
“likely to be closed off from what is different or challenging in the present.”
Here is an unusual doctrine of development such that even Newman would
have doubted. But it contains two excellent consequences. The first is a response to the charge that the Church is always a servant of the culture of the
day. Here the Church and its teaching and its ideals and its way of life are cre267

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ative in the culture of the day; it is contributing to the nature of modern society
and civilization. (By moral force? And also by protest?) Here this contribution is
held to be necessary to the intellectual and emotional well-being of modern
culture.
And the second consequence is more moving. At the heart lies the conviction that the real unity of Christians lies in worship; the eucharist of course, but
prayers, and a charmingly expressed emphasis on the ability to say psalms together in praise; with its historical dimension from King David to the mystics
and poets of modernity; and gratitude as the touch of God, with its outcome in
generosity and almsgiving. It began less with doctrines than with martyrs and
reverence for martyrs among the Christian communities. “Our awareness of
words that are still held in common, acts still performed, helps us to read what
they said within one context which we all share, the act of the Church as it
opens itself to the action of the Christ who is present in his Body.” One of the
evident signs of Christian continuity is making our own “the rhythms and vocabulary of another age.” So, though we find here a mind which accepts that
doctrine is necessary, that is not the key, nor even the basic feeling, when he
writes of church unity.
Throughout is a repeated powerful sense of gift, grace. “The Church’s integrity, orthodoxy or whatever, is a gift, not primarily an achievement.” Yet we do
not know what will be drawn out of us by the pressure of Christ’s reality, what
the final shape of a future orthodoxy might be. This makes a strong affirmation
of a God-guided development of the Church as it moves through the centuries.
And that, from this eminent Protestant archbishop, includes the Pope’s part in
the forming of creeds.
OWEN CHADWICK
University of Cambridge

Synod and Synodality, Theology, History, Canon Law and Ecumenism in
New Contact. Edited by Alberto Melloni and Silvia Scatena. [Christianity
and History: Series of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies in
Bologna, Vol. 1.] (Münster: LIT Verlag. 2005. Pp. iv, 720. €69,90 paperback.)
This volume contains thirty papers that were presented at an international
colloquium that was held at Bruges in 2003 on the topic: “Synod and Synodality
in the Churches.” Half of the papers are in English; the rest are in French (7),
Italian (7), and Spanish (1). An abstract of each paper is provided in English.
The papers are grouped under seven topic headings: “Theological Foundation,” “Historical Depth,” “19th-20th Century,” “Synodality at ‘Regional’ Level,”
“Panorama on Some Cases of Roman Catholic Synodality,” “Central Government and Communion,” and “Some Case Studies in Decision Making and Synodal Practice.” While the majority of the papers focus on the Catholic Church,

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other churches whose experience of synodality is treated are the Russian Orthodox, Anglican, Reformed, Baptist, and Methodist.
The colloquium is noteworthy for the number of different synodal structures
that are discussed. Those in the Catholic Church are the consistory, diocesan
synods, national synods, national pastoral councils, regional synods, episcopal
conferences, councils or federations of episcopal conferences, and the Synod
of Bishops. Those elsewhere are the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church
(1917–18), synodical government in Anglican and Protestant churches, the
proposed European Protestant Synod, and the World Council of Churches. The
international character of the colloquium is reflected in the number of countries or regions in which the practice of synodality in the churches is described:
Russia, England, Germany, Canada, India, Latin America, West Africa, Belgium,
Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. In most cases, the authors are members of
the churches and citizens of the countries about which they write.
Since it is impossible in a brief review to do justice to the rich contents of the
thirty contributions to this colloquium, I shall mention only two that I think
likely to be of particular interest to the readers of this journal.
Paolo Bernardini’s contribution is a survey of the major studies that have
been published concerning the African councils of the third century, beginning
with the first of the series of articles by J. A. Fischer (1979). He notes that the
authors of these studies have not only further analyzed the information to be
found in the letters of Cyprian, but have also mined the Sententiae LXXXVII
Episcoporum with good results. These studies have also shown that the process of decision-making in these councils reflects not only that of the Roman
senate, but also that commonly used in contemporary municipal councils.
Maria Teresa Fattori describes the transition that took place in the latter half
of the sixteenth century from the synodal form of papal government, that gave
a major role to the consistory, to the centralized government that was effected
by the pope’s use of the Congregation of the Inquisition as his instrument for
carrying out the reform of the Church. Despite the efforts of Gregory XIII to
reverse this trend, by the end of the century, the consistory no longer played a
significant role in papal government.
The editors are to be commended for making this informative collection of
studies available to the public. The abstracts in English will be appreciated by
those who might not have the time to read all the papers, especially those in
other languages. The authors have provided a generous amount of bibliographical information in their footnotes. The volume includes an index of names.
FRANCIS A. SULLIVAN, S.J.
Boston College

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The Place of Judas Iscariot in Christology. By Anthony Cane. (Aldershot, UK:
Ashgate Publishing Ltd. 2005. Pp. viii, 211. $94.95 cloth.)
This work is an exploration of how one’s evaluation of Judas has much
broader implications for Christology and the whole view of salvation. Cane’s
special contention is that one’s views on Judas must deal with the tension or
interplay between providence and tragedy in Judas’ life and actions: at their
extremes, either he was destined or even foreordained by God to betray Jesus
and suffer eternal damnation (all providence, no tragedy, and a very uncomplimentary view of God), or he freely but inevitably chose to do so (all tragedy, no
providence, and a way that seems to put him and his fate outside of God’s
providence, control, or saving influence). According to Cane, there can be no
resolution to this tension, but any truthful or helpful analysis must reckon with
or acknowledge it.
After an Introduction laying out the basic argument and its parts, the author
discusses Judas in the New Testament in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 unpacks the
fundamental tension of providence and tragedy by examining the works of Karl
Barth and Donald MacKinnon. The following four chapters then connect certain aspects of these two theologians with earlier thinkers to create two theological camps with a range of interim positions variously weighing providence
and tragedy in the matter of Judas. The writers so treated in these chapters
include Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine, Jerome, Aquinas, Rupert of Deutz,
Jonathan Edwards, John Donne, Luther, Dante, Borges, and Balthasar. Cane concludes with a brief discussion of how Christology must face, even if it cannot
resolve, this tension. The work also includes a bibliography and index, as well
as an appendix of notes made by Frances Young on unpublished lectures by
MacKinnon.
As readers may know, the subject of this work is of particular interest to me,
so I am a most congenial and enthusiastic supporter of the work and of its conclusions, which I think rightly alert readers to the rich and difficult dynamics in
what may be to most a misleadingly familiar and straightforward biblical tale. At
the same time, my work on this topic forces me to note that at several places
the author goes over material that is given a similar treatment in my Judas: Images of the Lost Disciple (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), and he does so
without acknowledgment. I am not making an accusation of an improper use
of sources, but simply noting that Cane has not adequately consulted and cited
secondary sources in general; he similarly fails to cite, or only very inadequately
cites, the other well-known works on Judas—e.g., Klassen, Maccoby, Halas,
etc. Throughout, one would get the impression that Cane’s is the first book on
the subject, when, of course, it is not, even if it takes a new and illuminating
approach to the topic. This lack of proper consideration of and dialogue with
other works is an unfortunate oversight in a work that is otherwise thorough,
and thoroughly fascinating.
If the author is to be mildly chided for a lack of thoroughness in consulting
and citing secondary sources, his analysis of primary texts is instinctive, lyrical,

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and subtle. The basic insights of this work are not only sound; they are vital,
challenging, and should be pondered by all Christians, not just specialists.
Thankfully, the writing of the book is mostly accessible to non-specialists, and
I would encourage all to take up and read this important and fascinating treatment of Judas.
KIM PAFFENROTH
Iona College
Ancient and Medieval
Late Roman Spain and its Cities. By Michael Kulikowski. (Baltimore: The
Johns Hopkins University Press. 2004. Pp. xxii, 489. $55.00.)
Kulikowski’s interesting new study brings together two themes that have
occupied the attention of historians of late antiquity and the Iberian peninsula
over the past quarter-century: the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the
west, and the appearance, development, and change of urban settlements. His
earlier chapters present a coherent account of the growth and flourishing of
the cities of the three Augustan provinces of Tarraconensis, Baetica, and Lusitania, seen most notably in the capital cities of the provinces, Tarragona, Córdoba, and Mérida, but by no means confined to those three. He traces the
remarkable explosion of public building in many parts of the peninsula which
followed the grant of the Latin right (ius Latii ) to Spain in the Flavian period
and the evidence for the activity of the local notables who constituted the ruling curiae of the cities, a number of whom also pursued political and military
careers in Rome and the wider empire. The life of these communities is displayed with acumen and nuance, taking due regard for regional variation,
though some evidence which would have further helped his picture is neglected
(for instance, the fragment of the Vergilius orator an poeta?, attributed to
Florus, which gives an insight into the cultural life of Tarragona in the early
second century). He argues, surely rightly, that there is no evidence for the
widespread destruction and decline of the third century which used to be asserted, especially by Spanish historians, but he is perhaps too inclined to insist
on the novelty of this re-interpretation (see, for example, J. Arce in Hispania
Antiqua, 8 [1978], 257–269). His evidence shows, however, that, although the
construction of large-scale public works was no longer undertaken, a substantial and economically active population was still present in most cities.
In chapters 4 to 6, Kulikowski uses this picture of a Spain of many stillflourishing cities as the background for the reforms of the provinces executed
by the emperor Diocletian. He suggests that the extension of the new diocesis
Hispaniarum, made up of five rather than the previous three peninsular provinces, to incorporate Mauretania Tingitana on the southern side of the Straits of
Gibraltar, was designed to provide the African frontier with a hinterland which
could provide supplies and military reinforcement when needed. Whether or
not so developed a strategy was intended by Diocletian, it is clear that there

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had been a level of interdependence between Roman forces in southern Spain
and Mauretania since the late second century, and the grouping of Tingitana
with the Hispanic provinces (as seen in a number of inscriptions: ILS 1353,
1354, and 1354a). The changes internal to the peninsula led to consequential
alterations to the cities, and Kulikowski makes a good case for an influx of
wealth to Mérida, the capital of the new diocesis, and for the draining of the
civic energy to be seen in Córdoba being the result of the construction of the
palatial building at Cercadilla, perhaps constructed for the emperor Maximian
but surely used, as Kulikowski suggests, for the administration of the province
of Baetica. He also provides a good account of the large-scale rural villas which
were built in various parts of Spain in the fourth century, insisting, surely
rightly, that these did not represent a wholesale flight from the cities but rather
the desire of the rich and the super-rich to live in the countryside, while exploiting more fully its agricultural resources. He points out that the cities, while
no longer functioning in precisely the way they had before (hence the decay of
some public buildings, in particular the theaters), nonetheless remained active
centers of population which articulated the administration of the areas in
which they were situated.
It has been traditional to see the invasion of Spain by the war-bands of Alans,
Suevi, and Vandals in 409 as the effective end of Roman control of the peninsula. Kulikowski believes that it remained part of the Roman Empire until much
later, arguing that while there were any imperial Roman officials active in the
area that empire was present. This may indeed have been the way in which
some contemporaries saw it, but after 409 almost all such officials are the leaders of military expeditions attempting to salvage some part of Roman control
outside an enclave round Tarragona; and the main source for the period, Hydatius, bishop of the town of Aquae Flaviae (modern Chaves), only rarely in his
chronicle of events down to the year 468 refers to his fellow Spaniards as Romani, a term he uses for those who come to Spain from the former imperial
capital. The cities do continue to function, as Kulikowski shows, even after the
final establishment of the Visigothic kingdom in the sixth century, though by
now in a very different way from under the Roman Empire, and the author argues persuasively that it is only at this point that the cityscape changes radically
from the classical model; but that surely is a sign of the deep roots that had
been laid by the centuries of Roman control of the peninsula, long after that
control had effectively ceased to exist.
Although there is much to argue about in this book, the great strength of
Kulikowski’s presentation of late Roman Spain lies in his bringing together of
archaeological data, much of them new, with the literary historical accounts,
which too often have provided a Procustean bed into which archaeological
evidence has been forced. In a fascinating chapter, Kulikowski examines the
material which shows evidence of the activity of the Christian Church in the
fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, and demonstrates that, despite the undoubted
importance of bishops in the cities of late Roman Spain, the physical signs of
the presence of Christianity, both grave-sites and ecclesial complexes, are al-

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most all to be found outside the boundaries of the Roman cities until the very
end of the period. In this, as on many other matters, Kulikowski’s approach
raises new questions. His book is a valuable and fascinating contribution for
this alone, and one which shows us how the history of this period should be
written.
JOHN RICHARDSON
University of Edinburgh

Gregory the Great. By John Moorhead. [The Early Church Fathers 14.] (London
and New York: Rutledge, Taylor and Francis Group. 2005. Pp. 177.)
This is the fourteenth volume in an important introductory series designed
to make available in translation key selections from the writings of the major
Fathers of the Early Church. The series already includes excellent editions by
distinguished scholars such as Boniface Ramsey, O.P. (on Ambrose), Anthony
Meredith, S.J. (on Gregory of Nyssa), and Wendy Mayer and Pauline Allen (on
John Chrysostom), who have offered thoughtful and substantial introductions
to the Fathers’ lives and works along with their translations.
The strength of this edition lies in Moorhead’s mellifluous translations, unrivaled in their lyricism and immediacy. He shuns technical terminology about
the soul (e.g., compunctio is “remorse”; discretio is “discernment,” etc.), instead offering familiar translations that make the text warm and accessible.
Moorhead also translates dense passages with a light touch. Gregory uses various parallelisms and equations in his writing—inversions, oppositions, reversals, tanto-quanto correlatives, etc.—that give his prose a mathematical quality
bordering on the obsessive. Moorhead succeeds in communicating the intricate structure of such passages gracefully, without losing the reader in a maze
of mirrors and sing-song rhythms. Moorhead gives us a Gregory who is humane, sensitive, and simpatico.
Given Moorhead’s keen sense of language, it is not surprising that he sees
Gregory primarily as the preacher and exegete. His first section, “The Bible,”
is the most technical and recherché, containing long (and at times complicated) passages on principles of biblical interpretation taken from Gregory’s
homilies on Ezekiel. In “Sermons to the People,” the next section, Moorhead
chooses Homiliae xl in Euangelia 2.24 and 2.40 to illustrate that the Bible
serves as a means of teaching doctrine, in these cases, the resurrection. Both
sermons show the preacher “pitching his message to the audience” (p. 69; cf.
pp. 15, 29).
Moorhead credits Gregory with being a keen psychologist; and the next
chapter, “Human Types,” begins with Moralia 7.28.34–35, on sin, followed by
Pastoral Care 3.2–4.1, where preachers offer various rebukes, determined by
whether the sinner is young or old, poor or rich, happy or sad, servant or mas-

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ter, arrogant or timid, male or female. This passage stands by itself, requiring no
special understanding of Gregory to be comprehensible. In being immediately
accessible, it may be the most useful selection in the book. In his final section,
“Morals on Job,” Moorhead translates some very interesting passages from the
end of the Moralia, which show Gregory’s “understanding of the human condition, the ways he understood the Bible, and the moralizing bent of his thinking” (p. 129).
Although Moorhead recognizes Gregory’s active side as ruler and administrator, he does not broach Gregory’s letters, explaining that the difference between Gregory’s personal letters and the form letters of his notaries is difficult
to discern. Moorhead also omits Gregory’s Dialogues, perhaps because the
most famous book of the Dialogues (on St. Benedict) is readily available in
translation. These are understandable choices, but it is unfortunate that Moorhead does not follow other editors in the series and provide introductions to
his various selections. (Instead, he supplies a few prefatory sentences.) In other
editions, these introductions are invaluable, guiding the reader to appreciate
more fully the significance of the selections. With Gregory, such introductions
might draw the reader’s attention to important imagery and ideas (such as
God’s disciplinary beatings [ flagella dei], or Rachel and Leah as symbols of
contemplative and active lives). One might trace connections (such as how the
Church, like Christ, triumphs through suffering), as well as explain the significance of characteristic themes (such as Gregory’s insistence that the powerful
be inwardly humble, or his conviction that penance must be supererogatory).
In letting the passages speak for themselves, Moorhead misses the opportunity
to illuminate Gregory’s thought.
While Moorhead’s superb translations are a fine contribution to the series, to
gain footing in Gregorian studies, readers will be best served by including additional resources. Given its comprehensiveness, Robert Gillet’s encyclopedia
article is remarkably succinct and would be an excellent starting point (“Grégoire le Grand,” Dictionnaire de spiritualité, VI [1967], 872–910). Moorhead
also includes a good bibliography that readers might consult profitably.
CAROLE STRAW
Mount Holyoke College

Lordship, Reform, and the Development of Civil Society in Medieval Italy:
The Bishopric of Orvieto, 1100–1250. By David Foote. [Publications in
Medieval Studies.] (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press.
2004. Pp. xiv, 254. $14.95 paperback.)
In a well-researched and richly-detailed study of the commune of Orvieto in
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, David Foote traces the role of the bishopric in the development of civil society and the establishment of communal
government. Rather than viewing the formation of communes as a strictly secu-

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lar process, the author demonstrates well the central role played by bishops
and the cathedral church in Orvieto, as well as the interpenetration of religious
and political interests.
In the first part of the book, the author traces the emergence of the bishopric
as a powerful political office in the eleventh century, at the center of a coalition
of urban elites who filled the power vacuum left by absentee kings. Bishoprics
at this time functioned as substitutes for comital authority, and their dioceses
were the only remaining institution that preserved the unity of city and countryside. As a result, the diocese of Orvieto served both as a tool of conquest for
the city as well as an ideological justification for it. In addition, the papacy in
the twelfth century participated actively in the politics of Orvieto and its contado. In 1157, Pope Hadrian IV and the citizens of Orvieto made a pact of mutual
legitimization for communal and papal state-building, with Orvieto recognizing
papal claims in central Italy and the pope allowing Orvieto to establish a selfgoverning city-state under papal overlordship. According to the author, this
papal-Orvietan alliance provided the framework for several decades of Orvietan expansion into the countryside. Thus, in this early stage of communal development in Orvieto, communal, episcopal, and papal interests all coincided.
The schism between pope and emperor during the second half of the twelfth
century led to the emergence of local factionalism in Orvieto, pitting the bishopric and commune of Orvieto against the powerful count Ildebrando Novello,
who allied with the bishop of Sovana. As a result, the bishop was forced to seek
alliances with powerful rural lords, which plunged the cathedral church into
an economic crisis since it required the bishop to pledge episcopal property to
these lords in exchange for their military support. At the same time, popular
support for the bishopric began to wane due to the growing impression that
bishops spent more time on political activities than on the spiritual needs of
the laity. In addition, a dispute between the commune and Pope Innocent III
over territory in Orvieto’s contado led to the loss of popular support for the
papacy. As a result, the harmony between the city’s political and religious interests characteristic of the earlier period now disappeared and bishops needed to
find a way to reduce the tension between their ambitions and those of the
laity.
According to Foote, bishops solved the crisis through the development of a
more efficient episcopal administration and an alliance with the popolani, who
emerged in the thirteenth century as a powerful force in communal politics.
Bishops began to look to legal professionals to craft bureaucratic solutions to
the economic crisis of the episcopate, using new record-keeping techniques
designed to guard the integrity of episcopal property and stop the diversion of
episcopal wealth to noble families. This new episcopal administration, in turn,
served as a model for the popolani, who used similar techniques to hinder the
growing gravitation of communal property toward noble families. Thus, notaries provided a means for the commune’s political and religious cultures to readjust to one another in the early thirteenth century. As a result, bishops did

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not become marginalized at this stage of communal development due to the
increasingly secular nature of communal government. Rather, bishops and citizens together renegotiated the relationship between political and religious interests.
Here I have had space only to trace the most important themes and arguments of Foote’s book. However, the author provides a wealth of information
about many aspects of life in medieval Orvieto as well as other important developments that encompassed communal Italy as a whole. Foote also successfully
challenges some of the traditional historiography on communal Italy. Not only
does he put back in its rightful place the central role of bishops and church
leaders in the formation of communes, but he also provides a complex and nuanced vision of church reform. More than just an attempt to rid the church of
worldly corruption and return it to its evangelical mission, the author shows
how the process of reform in Orvieto represented an adjustment between the
multifaceted and, at times, conflicting interests of ecclesiastical institutions,
secular leaders, and evangelical ideals. David Foote’s book is an important addition to the history of communal Italy in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
VALERIE RAMSEYER
Wellesley College

Wege zur Pfründe. Die Besetzung der Magdeburger Domkanonikate
zwischen ordenlicher Kollatur und päpstlicher Provision 1295–1464.
By Thomas Willich. [Bibliothek des Deutschen Historischen Instituts in
Rom, Band 102.] (Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag. 2005. Pp. xii, 683.
€98.00.)
In recent decades the old interest in the personal composition of the cathedral chapters has again acquired impetus in German research. Well known are
the monographs on foundations in the series Germania Sacra, which combine
constitutional and social history with a catalogue of persons. Newer initiatives,
on the other hand, inquire into the regional and broader personal networks and
into the mechanisms of the awarding of benefices. Willich’s work is based on
the vitae of 262 canons in Magdeburg who can be identified between 1295 and
1464 (listed on pages 541–549); the vitae can be reconstructed only with difficulty because of the lack of central sources (such as matriculations of canons,
official records of chapters, statute books, and anniversary obits). The author
can build on the two volumes at Magdeburg that Gottfried Wentz and Berent
Schwineköper composed for Germania Sacra. He exploited the Vatican
sources beyond the Repertorium Germanicum, which extends to about 1475.
He has taken into consideration the foundation elite, that is, the approximately
twenty canonici capitulares and the nine domicelli pueriles with lesser prebends, who were candidates for capitular positions. The canonici electi, on the
other hand, had no prebends at their disposal but moved to minor benefices in

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a manner staggered according to the dates of their elections. The cathedral
dignitaries (provost and dean) and various provostries in Magdeburg, Bibra,
Engern, and other places were especially desired. The failure of canons to reside in their proper places and their unwillingness to receive the higher orders
were much-lamented problems. To improve the liturgy and pastoral care at the
cathedral several canonries for priests and preachers were established. Relationship with the canons who already held benefices was indispensable for
those waiting to be promoted.
To illustrate the success rate of papal provisions and to show the significance
of the interconnection of the canons among themselves Willich chooses the
method of diachronic comparisons in three periods, viz., 1295–1361–1403–
1464. In this way he demonstrates that the number of papal provisions increased sharply around 1350; a third of the holders of papal expectatives were
successful. Around 1300 the members of the local higher nobility enjoyed priority in gaining admission to the chapters. When the son of the Landgrave of
Hesse, Otto, became bishop of Magdeburg in 1325, clergy from the Hessian
clientele entered the chapter; now princely patronage was decisive for admission. In the second half of the fourteenth century the higher nobility’s share
shrank in comparison with the growing share of the lower nobility and the
bourgeoisie. The burghers’ share rose in the third period (1403–1464) by 37%
(previously it had been 6.5% and 26.5% respectively). This tendency toward
mixing was conditioned by the increasing share of the canons who had been
provided by the pope. Among them many jurists got a chance. The statute of
exclusivity of 1458 served not so much the interests of the higher nobility as
those of the lower nobility against the educated bourgeois. The importance of
attending a university (prescribed from 1440 on) increased steadily from the
middle of the fourteenth century; in the third period it reached 71%. Theologians with degrees, however, were the exception. As far as the clientele relationships are concerned, the meager presence of imperial protégés stands out;
only Emperor Charles IV, of Bohemia, was successful in this regard. Little interconnection existed with the Saxon Wettiner; more successful were the Hohenzoller as margraves of neighboring Brandenburg. It was only from the Great
Schism of 1378 on (until the beginning of the pontificate of Eugene IV ) that
curialists or papal collectors in the Empire got a chance in Magdeburg.
As a conclusion it can be established that in the fourteenth century the importance of relationship shifted to patronage, origin from the same country,
and student friendship. This mixing was also a result of the lack of a hegemonic
princely court and of the weakness of the Imperial power.
ANDREAS REHBERG
German Historical Institute in Rome

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Les baptêmes princiers. Le cérémonial dans les cours de Savoie et Bourgogne
(XVe–XVIe s). By Thalia Brero. [Cahiers Lausannois d’Histoire Médiévale,
Volume 36.] (Lausanne: Université de Lausanne, Section d’Histoire, Faculté des Lettres. 2005. Pp. 468; 8 colored plates. CHF 42.00; €28.00 paperback.)
The courts of Savoy and especially Burgundy set precedents of great influence in late medieval and early modern Europe. Hence, scholars from various
countries have focused on different aspects of the administration, ceremony,
and culture of those territories. Ceremonies, however, of princely baptisms
have not yet been examined systematically. Thalia Brero fills this lack with her
very informative and well structured monograph.
The research is mainly based on the two earliest documented baptisms at the
court of Savoy, i.e., those of the first and third sons of Charles II (1486–1553),
Duke of Savoy, and Beatrix of Portugal (1504–1538). The first-born, Hadrian,
called “Adrien” in French and “Adrianeo” by his biographer, the exiled Lombard eyewitness Antonin dal Pozzo, was baptized in 1522 at Ivrée. The third
son, Emmanuel-Philibert, mentioned in a narrative source of the duke’s herald
“Bonnes Nouvelles” ( Jean de Tournai) edited by Brero in the appendix, had the
same right of a splendid ceremony performed in 1528 at Chambéry. Finally the
princely baptisms are compared with corresponding occasions at other courts,
especially Burgundy, but also France and England.
The book—besides the introduction and conclusion—is divided in eight unnumbered chapters. Furthermore it contains two edited documents, an appendix with special documents, a bibliography, and an index of persons and
places.
In the first chapter (“Contexte historique”) Brero gives some general background information about the political situation, the duke’s marriage with the
Portuguese princess, and the development of his court concerning original
structure, relationship to his wife’s court, and reorganization. In the following,
the author presents the sources (“Les textes”), especially the accounts of the
baptisms, but also reports, letters, and extracts from account books, regarding
first the history of Savoy, and finally, taking into consideration Burgundy, England, and France. In the third chapter she turns the reader’s attention to the
special accounts of baptism in Savoy (“Les récits de baptême à la cour de
Savoie”) presenting in detail texts and authors.
Having laid out all this background information, Brero in the remaining chapters explains the historical sequence of events corresponding to the sources:
the birth (“La naissance des petits princes”), the pageantry on the way from the
palace to the church (“Du palais à l’église: l’apparat déployé pour les baptêmes
princiers”), members and order of the procession (“La procession”), the baptism ceremony itself (“La cérémonie du baptême”), and the following festivities
including banquets and tournaments (“Les festivités”).

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The examination of the texts can be followed up easily by the editions of
Antonio dal Pozzo’s “Adrianeo” and of Bonne Nouvelles’ “Récit du baptême
d’Emmanuel-Philibert de Savoie.” Very useful are also the annexed documents
(“Documents annexes”). The complicated precedence in the procession of the
baptismal ceremonies is documented for several princes: Adrien de Savoie
(1522), Emmanuel-Philibert de Savoie (1528), Charles-Emmanuel de Savoie
(1567), and François de France (1518). The various persons can be identified
by a genealogical table of the house of Savoy (“Tableau généalogique de Charles
II”) and by an extensive general biographical repertory (“Répertoire biographique”) of all persons marked with a star in the main text.
Brero concludes that there was quite a great continuity of ceremony, obviously meant to express the will of dynastical perpetuation. While the processions did not change very much, as they demonstrated to the people the social
hierarchy of the court, pageantry was much more a question of fashion. The
Franco-Burgundy court ceremony became a model for other European courts.
The ecclesiastical liturgy, however, remained more or less the same as for any
Christian. The remaining problems are the function of the baptism accounts,
which seem to have been used to document precedents, and the lack of a comparison with other occasional court ceremonies.
Except for very small, inevitable defects (e.g. Eubel’s “Hierarchia catholica”
(not “Hierarchica”) was published in Münster, not in “Regensberg,” which is
the company (p. 438), Brero’s book is a minutely elaborated study, which stimulates new questions and opens innovative approaches in adjacent fields.
JÖRG BÖLLING
University of Münster, Germany
Early Modern European
A Thomas More Source Book. Edited by Gerard B. Wegemer and Stephen W.
Smith. (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press. 2004.
Pp. xxxii, 395. $34.95 paperback.)
The purpose of this source book is announced at the beginning of the “Introduction”: “to help ‘re-establish’” the reputation More had in England and Europe during his own lifetime “by providing a selection of texts designed to
reveal important facets of his thought on a broad range of topics.” As the “Introduction” proceeds, it becomes clear that the more specific purpose is to
offer selections from texts that support Erasmus’s claim that “there was an integrity in More’s thought and actions.” In addition, the source book aspires to
serve as a companion to the study of More’s best known works, The History of
Richard III and Utopia.
These aims point to both the strength and weakness of the collection. The
strength is that it usefully gathers together most of the texts and extracts that
illustrate the Christian-humanist side of More’s thinking, together with a view

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of “conscience” and the obligations it imposes (More’s last days are particularly
well covered). In this respect, the book achieves its aims. The weakness is that
the intent—which is eulogistic, within very circumscribed terms—requires a
selection that distorts through omission. Erasmus’s flattering portrait of More
from 1519 is included, but there is nothing by his detractors of the 1520s or
1530s who charged him with intellectual inconsistency, and of using excessive
force against “heretics.” While there are extracts from More’s writings on love
and friendship, education, and governance, there are no selections that suggest
his struggles with his sexuality, his penchant for obscenity (e.g., in the Latin
epigrammes or in the Responsio ad Lutherum), or the depressive perturbation
to which he was intermittently prone (e.g., in his meditation on The Four Last
Things). More seriously, the polemical controversies are under-represented;
most of the selections from this period of More’s life are from the devotional
works, or from devotional passages in the earliest, and mildest, of the controversial works, the Dialogue Concerning Heresies. The absence of selections
from polemics like The Confutation of Tyndale’s Answer means that there is
very little to illustrate More’s thinking on the doctrinal issues in a dispute with
his opponents (e.g., the nature of the Church). These omissions make it doubly
unfortunate that there is an unnecessary duplication of substantial sections
from William Roper’s Life of Sir Thomas More, Knight, which is excerpted
again in the section titled “Writings on Government.” While some might find it
useful to have the whole of the Elizabethan play, Sir Thomas More, included,
most readers, I suspect, would prefer to have extracts from the omitted texts
by More himself.
Judged in terms of its stated purpose, therefore, this source book achieves
only partial success. The book will appeal to those seeking an impression of
More the saint and man of conscience; however, the range of topics is not
broad enough, nor the selections sufficiently comprehensive to give a picture
of the whole man, and without that, the extent to which it can serve as a companion to Richard III and Utopia is also limited. Nevertheless, I have no doubt,
in spite of these caveats, that both students and scholars will find this volume a
useful resource.
ALISTAIR FOX
University of Otago

The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology. Edited by David Bagchi and David C. Steinmetz. (New York: Cambridge University Press. 2005.
Pp. x, 289. $70.00 clothbound; $24.99 paperback.)
Between an Introduction and a Conclusion written by the two editors, the
volume contains fifteen chapters, each by a different author. The Introduction
explains that the book is destined both to theologians and to non-specialists
who wish to know more about the Reformation. Scholars, however, will not

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find it very useful since it has no footnotes, though it has a select bibliography
and an index. In fact, the title is rather misleading if the accent is placed on the
word “Reformation.”
The first four chapters give brief overviews of “late medieval theology”
(chap. 1), “Lollardy” (chap. 2), “Hussite theology . . .” (chap. 3), and “the theology of Erasmus” (chap. 4). These topics can certainly fit, though loosely, as
background material to the Reformation. “Late medieval theology” provides a
fair overview of Thomism, Scotism, Occamism, and Augustinianism. It does not
clearly stress, however, that Martin Luther reacted directly against Gabriel
Biel’s interpretation of Occamism rather than against Occam himself. The other
chapters do not attempt to find a direct influence of the Lollards and of John
Huss on the Reformers.
The order followed through the book is “roughly chronological” (p. 4). Most
of the chapters on the sixteenth century explain the theology, not of the Reformation as a global happening, but of specific Reformers, namely, Luther (chap. 5),
Melanchthon (chap. 6), Zwingli (chap. 8), Bucer (chap. 9), Calvin (chap. 10),
and Cranmer (chap. 12). Although other chapters broaden the horizon as they
explain “Confessional Lutheran theology” (chap. 7), “later Calvinism” (chap.
11), the English reformers (chap. 13), the Scottish Reformation (chap. 14), and
Anabaptist theology (chap. 15), the overall focus remains on individual Reformers and their theology in its reforming dimension. Thus Zwingli is rightly depicted as a radical reformer, which he was, but not a word is said about his
devotion to Mary, his recommendation of the prayer, “Hail, Mary,” or his
preaching on the Immaculate Conception. The chapters on Bucer, Calvin, and
later Calvinism are fair and will be helpful to non-specialists.
In regard to Anglicanism, it is a pity that Thomas Cranmer is the chief author
covered. He was indeed an excellent liturgist, but his theology was not original,
mostly borrowed from Bucer and Zwingli. And in any case the Church of England took its distinctive shape under Queen Elizabeth and Archbishop Parker,
not under Henry VIII and Archbishop Cranmer. The theologian John Jewel
would have been a better choice to explain the Anglican ecclesial sensibility,
and Richard Hooker to show how Anglican theology differed from the ideas of
the Continental Reformation. The chapter on the Scottish reformation (chap. 14)
naturally puts the accent on John Knox, but it also presents other personages
who are not so well known. The “introduction to Anabaptist theology” (chap.
15) happily sorts out the many diverse trends that can fit under the label “Anabaptist.”
The last two chapters present “Catholic theologians before Trent” (chap. 16)
and “the Council of Trent” (chap. 17). The chapter on the Catholic theologians,
though short, is well balanced. The chapter on Trent, however, is a general disaster. The author writes: “To describe the dual nature of God’s self-revelation
the council used the words partim-partim, ‘partly-partly.’ Explicit Catholic
teaching is found partly in Scripture and partly in the church’s tradition” (p.
238). The author is clearly not aware of the extensive studies of the fourth ses-

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sion of the council of Trent that were carried out in the decade preceding
Vatican Council II. They clearly showed that the words, partim-partim, featured in a proposed draft, were discarded by the council and replaced by the
neutral word, et, “and,” which does not imply a partition of revelation in two
sources, even if many theologians of the Counter-Reformation interpreted it in
that sense. This discussion had a direct influence on Vatican Council II and the
constitution Dei Verbum. Moreover, the Council of Trent at the fourth session
did not speak of “tradition” in the singular, as reported here (p. 238), but always of “traditions” in the plural; and it considered binding only those which
derived from the apostles. In regard to Justification, the author tells more about
Lutheran doctrine than about the long decree of the sixth session of Trent. In
regard to “the Church and its ministry” he speaks about the doctrines of Lutherans, Calvinists, and Anglicans rather than about the council. The Anglican views
are misleadingly couched in the much later terms of esse and bene esse. And,
for an unexplained reason, what the council said about the Latin Vulgate takes
much less space than Calvin’s reaction to it.
The Council of Trent gets the shortest bibliography in the whole book. Besides
the decrees and the acts of the council, only two other “primary sources” are
cited. And they are not sources at all, but the openly hostile writings of John Calvin (for the first period of the council) and of the Lutheran Martin Chemnitz. This
choice reflects a peculiar conception of where to look for unbiased information!
In its presentation of the volume, Cambridge University Press assures the
reader that this volume is “accessible and authoritative.” It is accessible, but
certainly not authoritative.
GEORGE H. TAVARD
Assumption Center
Brighton, Massachusetts

Bound Choice, Election, and Wittenberg Method: From Martin Luther to the
Formula of Concord. By Robert Kolb. [Lutheran Quarterly Books.] (Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2005. Pp. xiv,
381. $35.00 paperback.)
Robert Kolb has been one of the most productive Reformation scholars during the past three decades, especially in the English-speaking world. While he
has written on a variety of subjects, his particular research interests and most
important scholarly contributions have focused on Martin Luther’s immediate
students and heirs. His intensive study of a volatile period in Lutheran history,
namely, the decades from 1550 to 1580; his broad acquaintance with the primary sources; and his balanced perspective on the two competing and often
conflicting Lutheran theological communities, the so-called Gnesio-Lutherans
and the Philippists, are clearly evident in this admirable study of intellectual
history or, more precisely, historical theology.

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Kolb focuses on the crucial issues of the human will and predestination as he
explores the reception of Luther’s and Philip Melanchthon’s theology among
their students. He begins his work with an analysis of the two Reformers’ assertions regarding bound choice, particularly in Luther’s De servo arbitrio and
Melanchthon’s Loci communes. His analysis notes that while these influential
figures in the creation of the evangelical, or Lutheran, theological heritage
shared much in common, they also differed, particularly since Luther was primarily a preacher and Melanchthon a teacher. Both colleagues sought to affirm
God’s total responsibility to save and the total human responsibility to trust
God’s promises and obey God’s will. Both theologians also recognized the paradoxical relationship of these two realities and sought to retain the paradox.
However, Melanchthon wanted to avoid the notion of absolute necessity and
was more concerned about the psychological dimensions of humanity. Hence,
the Reformers often approached the themes of bound choice and predestination with differing perspectives. The heart of this study, and its most important
contribution, is Kolb’s careful analysis of the Wittenberg circle of Luther’s and
Melanchthon’s students and the theological debates in which they engaged
during the third quarter of the sixteenth century, particularly the synergistic
controversy. As he identifies the antagonists in these conflicts, places their debates into their historical contexts, explores the content of the theologians’
arguments, and clarifies particular presuppositions and perspectives, the theological, ecclesiastical, and pastoral priorities of such thinkers as Viktorin Strigel,
Nikolaus Gallus, Cyriakus Spangenberg, Jakob Andreae, and Martin Chemnitz
come into clear focus.
Kolb accomplishes a great deal in this volume. His analysis of Luther’s and
Melanchthon’s insights regarding bound choice and predestination is concise,
yet incisive. His balanced description of the theological feud between the
Gnesio-Lutherans and the Philippists is instructive. His thorough, empathic,
and nuanced analysis of the second-generation Lutheran theologians and their
writings serves to bring them further out of the shadow of historical anonymity. Although the work is primarily an exploration of historical theology, Kolb
does not ignore the historical context and places the theological debates into
their ecclesiastical and political settings. His attention to the reception of Luther’s and Melanchthon’s theological perspectives indicates that the impact of
their ideas was pervasive, even though their heirs did not cite their teachers
extensively, not because of disrespect but because they, like the Reformers
themselves, considered their own theology to be scripturally based and normed.
Kolb is also to be commended for his consistent use of inclusive language when
referring to human beings, although his God-language is quite traditional.
The hermeneutical key employed by Kolb, namely, that the whole Wittenberg circle of theologians attempted to retain the paradox of God’s total responsibility and human total responsibility in the divine-human relationship, is
surely defensible. However, Kolb is reluctant to admit that Luther, Melanchthon, and their students were not always consistent in maintaining the paradox
and, thus, periodically espoused a double-predestinarian or synergistic posi-

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tion. They did so precisely because they sought to preserve God’s integrity and
human integrity by insisting on God’s total responsibility in matters of salvation
and on total human responsibility in matters of trust and obedience. Kolb’s reluctance obviously impacts the precise nuances of his interpretation. However,
while it skews them slightly, it does not negate them. This volume is a valuable
scholarly work. It explores a fertile, though neglected, field of Reformation
studies and significantly enhances our understanding of the German Lutheran
ecclesiastical and theological world during the sixteenth century.
KURT K. HENDEL
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

The Reformation of the Keys: Confession, Conscience, and Authority in
Sixteenth-Century Germany. By Ronald K. Rittgers. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 2004. Pp. xii, 318. $49.95.)
This is a revised Harvard Ph.D. dissertation, produced under the direction of
Steven Ozment, by Ronald Rittgers, who is presently an assistant professor of
the History of Christianity at Yale. It is, regrettably, a deeply flawed work in
several major respects.
First, Rittgers is disturbingly confused about “the power of the keys” and
blithely accepts Luther’s casual equation thereof with the power to forgive sin.
Since Luther’s central attack was on the Church’s penitential system, it suited
his theological and rhetorical purposes to conflate these issues; but by 1530 he
evidently felt obliged to respond to his many critics by penning a treatise
on “The Keys” in which he flatly denied that the power of binding and
loosing, conferred first on Peter (Matt. 16:19) and then on the other apostles
(Matt. 18:18), can have meant anything more than the power to forgive sins
given to them after the Resurrection ( John 20:23). Now modern biblical scholars agree that “bind” and “loose” are technical rabbinical terms meaning “forbid” and “permit,” but Luther dismissed all that as pure Roman fabrication.
Unfortunately, that position makes much of the previous thousand years in the
history of the Church, especially in the West, largely incomprehensible. Matt.
16:19 is arguably the single most difficult text in medieval political thought, for
Jesus is indisputably on record as saying, “Whatsoever you bind on earth shall
be bound also in heaven . . . ,” which suggests no clear lines of demarcation, if
any at all, between spiritual and temporal authority. When Augustine famously
wrote, “Roma locuta, causa finita,” it was not writ in the heavens what the
limits of juridical competence of the bishop of Rome were. As ecclesiastical
and especially papal jurisdiction came to be worked out in the protracted struggles of the High Middle Ages, and as the theory of the papal plenitude of power
pari passu came to be fully elaborated, “by reason of sin” (ratione peccati)
was but one of several major sources of that authority. Although many questions were raised about its extent and practical limits were sometimes imposed

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upon it (as, for example, in the Statute of Praemunire in England), no outright
rejections of papal or ecclesiastical jurisdiction as such were asserted in the
West before the onset of the Protestant Reformations. Thus, for example, such
matters as marriage and probate came commonly to fall under its purview, notaries everywhere did their work “by imperial and papal authority,” and popes
drew on the universal jurisdiction they claimed to launch crusades and, later,
to carve up the world between the Spanish and Portuguese. Many criticized
abuses in this system, and a few thinkers and preachers assaulted its very premises; but the powers that were in Europe rarely if ever joined in these attacks
before the 1520’s. But of all of this Rittgers is evidently completely unaware,
even though he cites Brian Tierney’s still essential Crisis of Church State,
1050–1300 (1964) in his bibliography. Rittgers’ unwitting confessional blindspot thus constitutes a major impediment to his historical understanding of
what might well be considered the keystone of the medieval Church, and it
would therefore seem to follow that his teaching of the history of Christianity
must inevitably be highly problematical. (It should be pointed out that Rittgers
is hardly alone in this respect. Indeed, most of the modern scholars he cites
accept Luther’s neat legerdemain, just as most Protestants believe incorrectly
that justification by faith alone is asserted in Paul’s epistle to the Romans, when
in fact Luther added the word “alone” in seeming contradiction of what Paul
says at 2:6 (“For [God] will render to every man according to his works . . .”).
Still, for an historian of Christianity to suffer from this chasm in his understanding is frankly appalling.
Naturally, this distortion warps Rittgers’ presentation in the first chapter of
the relationship between “church” and “state” in Nuremberg before the Reformation. Assuming that at the very most the clergy had only the power to forgive sin, he anachronistically assumes that the medieval Church had usurped
the authority which naturally belonged to the state and that the introduction of
Reformation righted what had been a major injustice, not to say perversion, of
what was supposed to have been the case. The popes and the bishops of Bamberg are often spoken of in slighting terms (e.g., “the members of the [City]
Council had little time for overreaching priests who sought to undermine their
rule” [p. 21]). This sounds as though Rittgers accepts readily and perhaps naively Reformation propaganda about the late medieval Church.
When we turn to the subject of the book proper, the theme is not the sweeping one implied in the subtitle, but rather the struggle, stretching over nearly
thirty years to 1553, over the form of the survival of penance in Reformation
Nuremberg: private, obligatory confession as advocated by its leading Reformer, Andreas Osiander (1498–1552), or the general confession and absolution favored by many others, including the city fathers. Not surprisingly, the
patricians won out. The basic story is well told here, but there are again major
problems and unanswered questions. First, a conspicuous lacuna is any reference at all to Gunter Zimmermann’s Prediger der Freiheit: Andreas Osiander
und der Nürnberger Rat (1522–1548), which appeared in 1999, a year after
completion of the dissertation but in plenty of time for inclusion and integra-

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tion into this book. Cited in the bibliography, but nowhere in the notes, is a
1951 article by Gerhard Pfeiffer on the introduction of general confession in
the city and its territories. One is therefore left to wonder precisely what Rittgers’ contribution is supposed to be, and his discussion thereof is rather confusing (e.g., p. 3).
Nor is the choice of Nuremberg adequately explained, even though it could
have been. Rittgers suggests, but does not convincingly demonstrate, that on
the issue of confession Nuremberg either led the way or was even unique
among Lutheran cities and principalities (see especially pp. 215 and 277 n. 3).
In fact, Rittgers offers very few comparisons with other cities, most notably
Strasbourg, and curiously takes little advantage of the substantial scholarly literature on the Reformation in the cities. What appears more than anything else
to have inspired his decision to study Nuremberg is a 1967 article in Past and
Present by Gerald Strauss entitled “Protestant Dogma and City Government:
The Case of Nuremberg,” in which Strauss argued for the appeal of a novel
theology stressing human depravity to patricians determined to control human
wickedness in their midst. Rittgers takes great exception to this view, preferring instead to see the city council as “a caring but strict father” (p. 18) and
sometimes to load his arguments in this direction. There is more than a touch
of naïveté here in refusing to acknowledge the ruthlessness with which those
who arrived at the top got there and stayed there; nor, on the other hand, does
Rittgers seem to appreciate the sense of genuine danger and fear which German imperial cities understandably felt in the first decades of the Reformation.
Just as Rittgers accepts uncritically Reformation propaganda about the late medieval Church, so too he lets himself be overly influenced by the kind image
which the shrewd, rich merchants of Nuremberg wished to project.
Finally, there are several conspicuous verbal slips (e.g., “infused” for “informed” and “contingency” for “contingent” [pp. 56, 89])—only a few to be
sure, but uncomfortably revealing and indicative of the much larger kinds of
problems discussed here.
LAWRENCE G. DUGGAN
University of Delaware

Proibito capire: La Chiesa e il volgare nella prima età moderna. By Gigliola
Fragnito. [Saggi, 640.] (Bologna: Società Editrice il Mulino. 2005. Pp. 325.
€23,00 paperback.)
In this tough-minded book, Gigliola Fragnito revisits the subject addressed in
her well-known monograph La Bibbia al rogo (1997): the post-Tridentine
Church’s successful campaign to ban the Bible in the Italian vernacular. During
the intervening eight years, the landscape of sources available for studying this
and many other facets of the Counter-Reformation has altered dramatically. The
opening in early 1998 of the Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of

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the Faith has enabled scholars to explore what remains of the Congregation of
the Holy Office’s holdings, as well as the relatively complete archives of the
Congregation of the Index and the Inquisition of Siena. They have produced an
avalanche of publications that promise to transform our understanding of the
framing of policy in Rome and efforts to implement it across the Italian peninsula and beyond—a topic highly relevant to assessments of the Church’s impact on Italian society over the long term. Naturally, most of this work is in
Italian. Its transformative potential will be realized only if more historians master that “minority” language and at least some Italian historians’ publications
are issued in translation.
While conducting research for her 1997 book, Fragnito was given extraordinary access to a few documents of the Congregation of the Index (established
in 1572). In this one, she has been able to use the full range of extant materials
produced by that body and its elder sister, the Congregation of the Holy Office
(founded in 1542), two groups of which are especially important. Minutes of
the congregations’ meetings reveal what problems the cardinal-members dealt
with and how they resolved them. The minutes also yield abundant evidence
buttressing a contention enunciated before 1998 by Fragnito and Massimo
Firpo: that from the mid-sixteenth century on, the Congregation of the Holy
Office managed to impose its intransigent agenda not only on the Congregation
of the Index but also on successive popes. Correspondence between members
of the two congregations and inquisitors and bishops throughout Italy illuminates the extent—enormous in some instances, more limited in others—to
which the center was able to implement its vision of “orthodoxy,” shaped
mainly by the Inquisition, on the periphery. In addition, it provides some taste
of ordinary lay Christians’ reactions to the Church’s initiative.
Proibito capire is not merely a revised version of La Bibbia al rogo. Fragnito
documents much more fully the prohibition (fully in place by 1605) of vernacular Holy Scripture in every conceivable form: editions of the entire text,
one or the other Testament, a single chapter, groups of Psalms; versified versions; lectionaries containing the pericopes for every day of the liturgical year
(except editions containing the Dominican Remigio Nannini’s commentary).
She considers many other genres of vernacular religious publication condemned by the Roman authorities to confiscation and burning. These include
historical and dramatic treatments of Biblical material, lives of Christ and the
Virgin Mary, such classics of spirituality as The Imitation of Christ, litanies,
collections of prayers, and works of controversy designed to confute both Protestant and Jewish “errors.”
This censorial campaign, Fragnito persuasively argues, resulted from a conscious decision taken in Rome to deprive Italians in all social classes of direct
access to the primary sources of their faith in the vernacular, and thereby to
render them completely dependent on clerical intermediaries (many of them ill
prepared to preach and teach). Its immediate and long-term cultural and political consequences were drastic. For centuries, practically the only vernacular

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religious text that lay people and nuns were allowed to read, study in school,
and commit to memory was the catechism. By no coincidence, when political
unification came about in 1871, only 10% of those living in the new Kingdom
of Italy possessed an essential requisite for citizenship: ability to read the national language.
ANNE JACOBSON SCHUTTE
University of Virginia

Francisca de los Apóstoles. The Inquisition of Francisca: A Sixteenth-Century
Visionary on Trial. Edited and translated by Gillian T. W. Ahlgren. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2005. Pp. xxviii, 195. $18.00 paperback.)
Beata. “A woman in religious dress, who, outside of a community, and in a
private home, professes celibacy, and lives honestly and quietly [‘con recogimiento’], occupying herself in prayer and charitable works.”*
Beatas, the Spanish equivalent of the beguines of northern Europe, represent one of the most interesting spiritual phenomena of early modern Spain.
Living solely or in groups, beatas hailed from diverse backgrounds, both noble
and plebeian. Some were young women, who, lacking the wherewithal to
enter a convent, struck out on their own. Others were wealthy widows like
María of Austria, who, following the death of her husband, Emperor Ferdinand
II, moved into a Madrid convent, dressed as a nun, and devoted herself to
prayer and good works. The majority of beatas were wholly orthodox in their
religious beliefs, living quiet, seemingly uneventful lives. Others were visionaries whose notoriety brought gifts and endowments to beatarios (communities
of beatas) seeking to become a full-fledged convent. Still other beatas, starting
early in the sixteenth century, embraced new spiritual movements that emphasized inner piety and mental prayer. Beatas consequently figured prominently
among the alumbradas, or enlightened ones, prosecuted vigorously by the
Spanish Inquisition during the 1520’s and 1530’s.
Among the more activist beatas was Francisca de Avila, also known as Francisca de los Apóstoles, a resident of Toledo who, starting around 1570, experienced certain visions that brought her to the attention of various clergymen
connected to Bartolomé de Carranza, the Toledan archbishop whose own attempts at spiritual reform had led to his arrest on charges of heresy by the Inquisition in 1547 and subsequent imprisonment and trial in Rome. The exact
nature of Francisca’s connection with Carranza remains unknown, but the
archbishop figured centrally in her visions as a kind of savior figure who would,
upon his release from prison, rescue the Toledan church from depravity and
*Sebastián de Covarrubias, Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española (Madrid, 1611,
fasc. ed.; Madrid: Ediciones Turner, 1979), p. 202.

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corruption. Francisca’s followers understood these visions as divinely inspired,
but their anticlerical, somewhat Erasmian tone led others to label her an alumbrada, and ultimately to her arrest by the Holy Office in 1575.
Although Francisca is not exactly an unknown figure in the spiritual history
of sixteenth-century Spain, this book offers the first in-depth study of her activities and beliefs, together with translations of some of her letters as well as
the proceedings of her inquisitorial trial. The author’s introduction, focused
primarily on gender concerns, also provides useful information about other
beatas who attracted inquisitorial attention, together with a discussion of some
of the thorny theological issues that Francisca’s visions raised. On the other
hand, the author provides only minimal information about Francisca’s social
and spiritual milieu in Toledo. Little is said about Carranza’s ideas and the way
in which they may have influenced not only Francisca’s visions but the new,
reformed convent that Francisca, together with her sister, sought to establish.
Also left unexplored is the exact nature of her connections to clergy who
helped keep the archbishop’s reforming spirit alive, not to mention the network of other individuals who nurtured and, for a time at least, protected her
from inquisitorial arrest. In an appendix, the author identifies Pedro González
de Mendoza as one of Francisca’s chief “protectors,” but curiously fails to mention that this cathedral canon and hospital administrator was an important carrancista well known for his support of Teresa de Avila as well as the mystic
Juan de la Cruz. Such omissions are regrettable, and contribute to a somewhat
superficial understanding of Francisca as a historical actor. Otherwise, the volume makes an important contribution to the growing body of literature currently available on beatas in both Spain and the wider Hispanic world.
RICHARD L. KAGAN
The Johns Hopkins University

Late Modern European
A Church Divided: German Protestants Confront the Nazi Past. By Matthew
D. Hockenos. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 2004. Pp. xix, 286.
$29.95.)
As a Tübingen student in the 1960’s I was impressed by the gruelling reexamination of Germany’s National Socialist past that I encountered there
which compared so favorably with the ensnarement of my own British culture
in imperialist clichés. This well-researched and accessibly written book documents the part which debates within German Protestantism played in fostering
this painful rethinking. Such debates have to be seen, of course, in the context
of much wider discussions among German intellectuals, politicians, and the
Catholic Church.
The churches were in a favorable position to launch this postwar debate,
enjoying a degree of trust both from the Allies and their own demoralized peo-

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ple, though Hockenos is well aware that for most Germans sheer survival was
the first priority. These were the hunger years; personal humiliations and family tragedy generally blocked out any willingness to engage in the big questions
about guilt and responsibility. However, within the Confessing Church, which
had resisted the religious policies of the Nazi Party, such debates had already
been adumbrated by fierce internal controversy during the Third Reich.
Hockenos portrays well the tension between the theologically conservative
Lutherans of Bavaria, Swabia, and Hannover and the more radical Niemoeller/
Barth groupings, which in the postwar situation evolved into bitter disagreement about the nature and role of the Church and of Christian freedom. Was
the Christian imperative of repentance to be understood as a spiritual and
inner-churchly affair, or did it have concrete, political implications? Did the
Church itself have to repent, and if so, to whom, and should it be radically reconstituted in less hierarchical and Erastian forms?
The limitations to the remarkable Stuttgart Confession of Guilt in 1945 are
recognized as well as its achievements in gathering these two conflicting
groups together in a public acknowledgment to the ecumenical community.
The much clearer language of the Darmstadt Confession of 1948 about the
Jewish Question, however, proved quite unacceptable to the traditional
Lutherans.
The book raises difficult methodological questions as well as providing the
English-speaking world with detailed and fascinating evidence of these attempts to come to terms with the past. Today we view the unbelievably complex politics and pressures of these years from a considerable distance. The
closer one comes to the sources the more cautious one is about swinging moral
judgments. Yet Hockenos writes about the “mistakes” of these leaders in a curiously normative manner. There is little or no ironic detachment. Delusions
about exceptionalism, after all, are not a monopoly of Germans. The author’s
distress at the failure of the Church to react in any effective way to the Final
Solution is very evident. But it leads to a serious misreading of the emergence
of the Confessing Church which in fact had everything to do with opposition
to the Nazi Aryan claims, as incompatible with the Gospel.
The merits of this sobering book are considerable. Its provocative analysis is,
I believe, sound. But significant theological nuances are missed, and the role of
abrasive personalities in confusing issues could be explored. Bonhoeffer’s role
in the postwar Church is ignored. It would have been helpful, too, if crucial
concepts such as anti-Semitism or anti-Judaism had been unpacked. It leaves us
with the question how the historian can “do justice” to such vast moral, ecclesiological, and theological issues while recognizing that the participants in the
struggle walked within their own very human limitations, and lacked our advantage of hind-sight.
PETER MATHESON
University of Otago

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Erich Przywara, S.J.: His Theology and His World. By Thomas F. O’Meara, O.P.
(Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press. 2002. Pp. xi, 254.
$35.00.)
Erich Przywara, S.J. (1889–1972), was a prominent spokesman for Catholicism in German intellectual and religious circles between the two World Wars.
As thinker and visionary of God’s “greater glory,” he demonstrated the dynamic
relevance of Catholicism for the modern world. As writer, he demonstrated in
his book reviews and critiques of contemporary philosophies their basic insights and relevance to the Christian’s search for God. His retrievals of patristic
and medieval theologies demonstrated the greater horizon of this God for Catholic life. Students of twentieth-century German theology have been aware of
Przywara’s creative development of the Neo-Scholastic notion of analogia
entis (the analogy of being). However, until O’Meara’s book, his wide-ranging
interests and his place in German Catholic life have remained largely unknown,
in part because little of his voluminous work (sixty books, over six hundred
articles) has been translated. Thus this excellent work fills a gap for both theologians and historians.
The historical context of Przywara’s meteoric rise to prominence is German
Catholicism emerging from Bismarck’s Kulturkampf, which had excluded
Catholics from public life. Ordained in 1920, Przywara began his lifelong work
on the staff of the Jesuit periodical Stimmen der Zeit starting in 1922. This work
was combined with speaking engagements. O’Meara fills in the historical and
cultural context for lectures Przywara gave at a German Symposium for Academics at Ulm in 1923. His discernment of the “hidden presence of God within
the world” (Gottgeheimnis der Welt) is an early sketch of a basic “Catholic”
structure which he identifies as “analogy of being”: the “balance-in-tension” of
nature and grace—a sacramental view of the world as vehicle for God’s presence.
Przywara’s conversations were wide-ranging. O’Meara (chapter 4: “A Theologian’s Contemporaries”) records Karl Barth’s invitation of Przywara in 1929—
the beginning of an extended ecumenical dialogue about “the Protestant
principle” and the “Catholic principle.” Other correspondents were Edith Stein
and poet Gertrud von Le Fort. Through book reviews, articles, and books he
also grappled with important contemporaries such as Paul Tillich, the Jewish
thinker Leo Baeck, and Martin Heidegger.
Przywara’s major works also show the relevance for the contemporary
Church of three Catholic sources: Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Newman.
O’Meara’s own works on Neo-Scholasticism provide new insights and greater
breadth to Przywara’s work on Thomism. Przywara’s Thomism—tempered by
his interest in Augustine and Newman—retrieves an “authentic” Thomism: not
a static reaction to Modernism, but a dynamic thought capable of discerning
the hidden presence of God and providing a structure to understand modern
philosophies.

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The wider significance of Przywara’s overall work becomes apparent in
O’Meara’s book. He demonstrates how Przywara was and is a resource for a
Catholicism grounded in a sound philosophy of religion (chapter 3). Finally (in
chapter 5: “The Christian in the Church”) he looks critically at Przywara’s central “balance-in-tension” principle—which he continued to use in his declining
years after World War II, and which—after Vatican II—was bypassed by new
approaches in contemporary theologies.
Overall, this is an important work—the first in English that informs us about
the historical setting of Przywara and critiques not only Przywara’s main philosophical and theological works, but also his secondary works and secondary
interests that demonstrate Przywara’s broad scope that includes poetry, music,
spiritualities, and popular cultural movements. Finally—for those interested in
further information—this is a valuable compendium of other studies of Przywara in German, Flemish, and English.
JAMES V. ZEITZ
Our Lady of the Lake University
San Antonio, Texas

The Vatican-Israel Accords: Political, Legal and Theological Contexts. Edited
by Marshall J. Breger. (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame
Press. 2004. Pp. xvii, 392. $55.00.)
Marshall Breger is professor of law at Columbus School of Law, The Catholic
University of America. This excellent collection of essays will be a “must read”
for anyone interested in the Middle East, international politics and law, or
Catholic-Jewish relations. It examines the historic 1993 accord between the
Holy See and the State of Israel from a variety of scholarly points of view. The
authors include participants in the negotiations that led to the agreement, making it the definitive interpreter of the accord and its historical and religious
implications.
Lorenzo Cremonesi outlines the stages of diplomatic negotiations that led to
the accord. David-Maria A. Jaeger, O.F.M., a drafter of the text, and Leonard
Hammer analyze how it changed the legal relationship of the Catholic Church
and Israel. Silvio Ferrari places this accord in the context of other conventions
between Church and States since the Second Vatican Council in general, while
Rafael Palomino compares it specifically with the Church-State agreements in
Spain.
Roland Minnerath discusses how the Catholic Church understands Concordats “from a Doctrinal and Pragmatic Perspective.” David Rosen comments on
the relations between the Vatican and Israel since the signing of the accord.
Moshe Hirsh analyzes the issue of proselytism under the accord and interna-

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293

tional law. Geoffry Watson discusses its implications for a range of issues associated with pilgrimages to the Holy Land.
Giorgio Filibeck and Ruth Lapidoth explain the understandings of freedom of
religion in Catholic teaching and under Israeli law, respectively. Silvio Ferrari
analyzes the Vatican’s policies and practices with regard to the Middle East during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. Drew Christiansen presents the situation of Palestinian Christians. Jack Bemporad overviews Catholic-Jewish relations
since the Holocaust.
Appendices provide the texts of the agreement itself, along with its implementing “Legal Personality Agreement” and the “Basic Agreement” between
the Holy See and the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Richard Mathes provides personal recollections of the informal discussions that took place between representatives of the Church and the State of Israel at the Pontifical
Institute of Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center.
EUGENE J. FISHER
Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Washington, D.C.
American
The Protestant Interest: New England after Puritanism. By Thomas S. Kidd.
(New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 2004. Pp. xii, 212.
$40.00.)
First among this slim volume’s virtues is its contrary ambition. The middle
period (1690–1740) of North America’s colonial history has never received the
attention it deserves. This shortcoming is particularly noticeable in the otherwise extensive scholarship on New England. Between the Salem witchcraze
and the Great Awakening yawns a valley of low regard. Thomas Kidd is not its
only inhabitant, of course, but his contribution is rare enough to be very welcome. Kidd’s thesis is straightforward: Puritanism could not help but change
after the effrontery of the late Stuarts and the much-hoped-for but still intrusive
Williamite settlement; yet this change was neither dramatic nor transforming.
The Congregational order and its intellectual culture maintained their integrity
by uniting their hopes with those of a transatlantic “Protestant Interest,” which
had coalesced to meet the Roman Catholic menace. Within New England, this
Interest encouraged an evangelical ideology that was most vividly expressed in
the revivals of the late 1730’s and early 1740’s.
One sign of competence is an understanding of the fundamentals—truths
too often avoided for the sake of avoiding the obvious. For example, one cannot dwell too much on the anti-Catholicism of the colonial Yankee, and Kidd’s
work certainly does not err on the side of reticence. Furthermore, Kidd knows
that to understand New England, one must wrestle with the notion of a “dis-

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senting establishment.” The Protestant Interest rises to this task repeatedly,
though this reader wishes the book had done even more to connect New England’s establishmentarian instincts to the Union of England and Presbyterian
Scotland.
Kidd’s period saw the integration of New England into Britain’s empire, and
The Protestant Interest dutifully cites the neoimperial histories of David Armitage, Ian Steele, and Bernard Bailyn. But underneath the now familiar armor of
“Atlantic” historiography beats a parochial heart. Kidd’s evangelical Yankees
are “cosmopolitan” only because they converse with other evangelicals elsewhere. The author misses a chance to compare George Whitefield’s celebrity
in America to that of Admiral Vernon in Britain (as described by Kathleen Wilson) because he is not interested in seeing the visitations of the Holy Ghost and
the (almost exactly contemporaneous) celebrations of English bullishness
abroad as analogous popular phenomena.
Kidd’s portrait of Yankee evangelicals should keep his book in shops and on
college syllabi for many years to come. Readers should not, however, expect a
general history of early eighteenth-century New England or even a comprehensive treatment of religion in New England during the same period. Kidd tries to
strike a balance between Anglicans and Congregationalists—he cannot and
does not ignore the era’s irenic impulses—but his focus on the latter pushes
the former to the margins and toward ideological extremity. High Tories and
churchmen seem to outnumber their moderate fellows. The latitudinarian
strain in Anglo-American thought (which Norman Fiering brought to our attention over twenty years ago) barely rates a mention.
On the other hand, anyone interested in the New Lights will need to take up
The Protestant Interest, though it should be approached in the company of
Mark Peterson’s The Price of Redemption (1997). Both texts bravely make
the case for a continuous genealogy linking the Puritans to the evangelicals of the
Great Awakening and beyond. The topical format of Kidd’s book flattens the
chronological narrative, but from sentence to sentence it is an easy and pleasurable read.
TIMOTHY A. MILFORD
St. John’s University, New York

Samuel Mazzuchelli: American Dominican, Journeyman, Preacher, Pastor,
Teacher. By Mary Nona McGreal, O.P. (Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria
Press. Order from Sinsinawa Mound Bookshop, 585 County Road Z, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin 53824-9701. 2005. Pp. viii, 339. $16.00 paperback.)
Samuel Mazzuchelli, O.P. (1806–1864), was a pioneer missionary priest active during the years from 1830 until 1864 in the area now comprised of the
states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa. By his imagination, energy,

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generosity, talents, and self-effacing constancy in the service of religion, culture, and public life, he had a profound and enduring effect on life in the upper
Mississippi valley during the years when the American frontier was crossing the
river and moving westward.
He was born in Milan, joined the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) when 17,
and studied at Santa Sabina in Rome until in 1828, then a subdeacon, he sought
and received assignment to the newly founded Dominican province centered
in Kentucky.
Upon ordination to the priesthood when 23 years of age by the first bishop
of Cincinnati, Edward Fenwick, O.P., he was sent to the upper peninsula of the
Michigan territory. During five years, while headquartered on Mackinac Island,
he worked effectively among the many fur traders there and among the Indians
mainly in what became the state of Wisconsin.
From then on he spent the rest of his life preoccupied with the emergent
settling and civilizing of the upper Mississippi valley. He traveled widely, not
only organizing new parishes but often designing and helping to build churches,
often in stone. Dubuque in Iowa was created the first diocese on the Mississippi above St. Louis in 1837; but from 1835 until the delayed arrival of Bishop
Mathias Loras in 1839, Mazzuchelli was the only priest working in the area.
With encouragement from his Dominican superiors, Mazzuchelli, in his later
years, focused much of his attention on founding St. Thomas (Aquinas) College
on the Sinsinawa mound in southwestern Wisconsin, combined with a new
province for friars of the Order. His Dominican superiors suppressed the province shortly after and were in process of closing the college when Mazzuchelli
died in 1864. The province was refounded at Chicago in 1939 as the Midwestern province of the Dominicans, and the studium generale was from 1951 to
1981 located in Dubuque, just across the Mississippi river from Sinsinawa. But
the congregation of Dominican sisters he organized in nearby Benton, Wisconsin, later moved to Sinsinawa and has remained.
The thoroughness of the research from which this biography is written is
directly due to the long-term preparation by Mary Nona McGreal and many coworkers of the exceedingly detailed protocol for submission to the Vatican
congregation in Rome that recommends candidates for canonization to the
pope. Father Samuel Mazzuchelli has lately been promoted from the status of
“Servant of God” to “Venerable” after an appropriately exacting examination,
historical, theological, and legal, to establish beyond reasonable doubt his orthodoxy and heroic virtue. After divine confirmation by a certifiable miracle, he
may be promoted to “Blessed.”
Two bits of useful evidence, both connected with the building of the first St.
Raphael’s Cathedral in Dubuque come to mind that seem to have been underused or overlooked. The first (cf. pp. 156 and 158, notes 8 and 44) is a letter of
July 1833 in the St. Louis archdiocesan archives, written to Bishop Rosati by
Charles van Quickenborne, S.J., and the second is the enthusiastic testimony to

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Mazzuchelli’s character, recalled in old age by Eliphalet Price, a Protestant,
who had contracted to supply the dressed limestone for construction: “We
never transacted business with a more honorable, pleasant, and gentlemanly
person” (Iowa Historical Record, XI, 225–231).
WILLIAM E. WILKIE
Loras College
Dubuque, Iowa

Domesticating Foreign Struggles: The Italian Risorgimento and Antebellum
American Identity. By Paola Gemme. (Athens: The University of Georgia
Press. 2005. Pp. xii, 204. $39.95.)
Until 1861, when King Victor Emmanuel II proclaimed the Kingdom of Italy,
Italy was divided into six major states and several minor ones, most of them
under Hapsburg or Bourbon rule. Not until Pope Pius IX lost his temporal authority over Rome in 1870 was the peninsula finally united under one government, a constitutional monarchy. This process, known as the Risorgimento or
resurgence, began in 1814 and paralleled a similarly important period in the
United States, the tumultuous years before the Civil War. Paola Gemme shows
how Americans embraced the Risorgimento for its opposition to papal and
foreign rule and identified with its quest for a unified constitutional republic. In
so doing, Gemme argues, Americans reinvented Italian reality to suit their domestic needs, creating fictions of national identity that addressed their own
political, racial, and religious conflicts and reinforced their self-constructed
image as the world’s exclusive center of republicanism and civic virtue. In
contrast to scholars who find America turning inward to discover itself, Gemme
finds that international events were essential to the discourse and construction
of national identity.
Gemme musters powerful support from literary, economic, historical, journalistic, and government documents, and her fluency in Italian deepens her
understanding of Italian culture. Writers as diverse as the journalist Margaret
Fuller, the popular historian Joel Tyler Headley, the Roman Catholic convert
Orestes Brownson, the former slave Frederick Douglass, the editors of the liberal journal Democratic Review, and the cultural nationalists in the Young
America movement demonstrate American enthusiasm and ignorance as they
appropriated Mazzini, Garibaldi, Cavour, and other Risorgimento patriots. By
identifying Italians as slaves, for example, abolitionists strengthened their arguments for liberating African-Americans at home. Meanwhile, official United States
policy supported the Risorgimento for economic, not political, reasons, as Italy’s struggle fed American commercialism, xenophobia, and anti-Catholicism.
Even sympathizers like Henry Tuckerman believed Italians lacked the energy,
self-reliance, military skill, and political seriousness to govern themselves, thus
proving American moral and economic superiority. When the Roman Republic

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of 1849 fell to French troops, such skepticism seemed even more justified, as
evident in the stereotypes of Italian character that Gemme discerns in Fuller’s
dispatches and letters. These prejudices were harder to maintain after 1859
when Garibaldi rapidly conquered Naples, but Americans then racialized the
Italian other by praising northerners Garibaldi and Cavour over the darker and
supposedly inferior Sicilians and Neapolitans. In other words, Americans reinterpreted the Italian experience to corroborate their own sectional and racial
discourses and to justify racial politics if not slavery itself. The Risorgimento
also fueled American anti-Catholicism, which soared during the antebellum period. If Italian reformers opposed papal rule, surely Protestant Americans were
correct to oppose Catholic political power and beliefs. American Catholics
countered that Pius IX, who rejected his early reforms, remained a true liberal
compared to anarchic, atheistic socialists like Mazzini. Good Catholics could be
good republicans no matter what the Know-Nothing Party contended.
Gemme’s original, strongly argued, and clearly written study is a model of
the transnational turn in American cultural studies. Her belief that Americans
valued Risorgimento nationalism not for itself but as a reflection and validation
of American values offers a clear example of what scholars mean by “cultural
imperialism” and deepens that approach with thorough, focused research. The
thirteen illustrations of maps, cartoons, portraits, statues, and paintings sample
the rich political iconography that popularized the Risorgimento in America
and provide a genuinely intercultural perspective on its subject. This is stimulating, readable, well informed scholarship that opens new paths to understanding America’s global reach and how Catholicism and the Italian revolutions
helped shape America’s national identity.
DENNIS BERTHOLD
Texas A&M University

The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins. By Mark
and Louise Zwick. (New York: Paulist Press. 2005. Pp. ix, 358. $29.95.)
This well-crafted work lives up to the promise of its title. Both authors write
from an advantageous position, for as co-founders of the Houston Catholic Worker
and the Houston Catholic Worker newspaper, they write from within the movement as well as from their research. Zwick and Zwick build upon previous studies
and offer a fresh perspective rather than a great deal of new information.
Peter Maurin is given fine treatment throughout the book. The authors acknowledge Maurin’s influence on Dorothy Day, particularly in terms of his
grounding in Catholic tradition, including its social teaching, and the contribution of the French personalists Jacques Maritain and Emmanuel Mounier. Nor is
Dorothy Day’s role minimized. Her advocacy for others is aptly underscored,
whether by providing food, shelter, and clothing, retreats for the laity, intellectual stimulation, a life close to the land, or as witness for peace.

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The Zwicks’ first chapter provides a fine entrée for the book. Written clearly,
it provides short yet substantial introductions to Day and Maurin as well as to
the Catholic Worker movement. Readers unfamiliar with the material profit
from having a good introduction and, through it, an invitation to read further.
Most likely, experienced readers will enjoy a review of the materials.
Three chapters—five, six, and fifteen—are particularly good. Chapter five,
on the Russian philosopher Nicholas Berdyaev, recounts his critique of the
bourgeois spirit, which threatened to undermine Christian principles of belief
and action. Rather, Berdyaev’s understanding of true freedom was faith-based
on the paschal mystery of Christ. The Russian’s influence upon Day and Maurin
was considerable, though no single philosopher or social movement alone
guided them. Chapter six summarizes the several connections between Christian personalist philosophy and the early Catholic worker movement. The authors rightly credit Emmanuel Mounier as the dominant force in the Christian
personalist movement during his lifetime. Introduced to Mounier by Maurin,
Dorothy Day applied the former’s emphasis on human dignity and responsibility in this world while on pilgrimage toward the next. Chapter fifteen, the third
of these remarkable chapters, emphasizes Day’s role in retrieving and defending the pacifist tradition. In a well organized chapter, the Zwicks substantiate
their claims with elegant ease. They observe that, especially from 1933 on, Day
persistently lived and taught “the active nonviolence of love” (p. 253). An absolute pacifist, she spoke out against violence in any form, from obliteration
bombing in World War II to the use of napalm in Vietnam.
Conversely, the chapter on Jacques and Raïssa Maritain suffers from a lack of
focus. However, it is redeemed by a magnificent last chapter on the Catholic
Worker’s legacy in a troubled world. The authors rightly note the movement’s
gospel radicalism and the integration of spiritual and social life that it offers.
They also demonstrate well that Day and Maurin have modeled an unflagging
commitment to transform the world, one step at a time.
SR. BRIGID O’SHEA MERRIMAN, O.S.F.
Lourdes College
Sylvania, Ohio

Harry, Tom, and Father Rice: Accusation and Betrayal in America’s Cold
War. By John Hoerr. (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. 2005. Pp.
xiv, 311. $29.95.)
Hoerr interweaves stories of three participants in the CIO’s purge of leftist
unions in the middle of the twentieth century: his uncle Harry Davenport, briefly
a congressman from Pittsburgh; Thomas Quinn, a rising star of the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America at the time of the purge; and the
Reverend Charles Owen Rice, the “labor priest” of Pittsburgh. The value to historians of these discussions is decidedly mixed; so let us begin with the best.

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Hoerr interviewed Quinn and his family members extensively to compile a
compelling portrait of one of the victims of the red-baiting era. An alumnus of
a Catholic orphanage, Quinn had little use for organized religion, but became a
solid labor leader known for his ability to find common ground with the other
side. He was moving into the leadership of the left-dominated UE when the Red
Scare broke out, and was “almost destroyed” (p. 221) by the hearings of the
House Unamerican Affairs Committee and resulting criminal charges (later
overruled by the Supreme Court). Hoerr concludes that Quinn was not a Communist (although UE leader James Matles was), engaged in no illegal activity or
sabotage, but was persecuted mainly for associating with Communists who
espoused political goals similar to his own (p. 218). By his sons’ account, Quinn
usually was quite tolerant of those with whom he disagreed, except for Father
Rice, whose name would draw forth a string of profanities and charges that he
had ruined a good union and many lives with his red-baiting (p. 227 ).
Rice seems not to have taken note of Tom Quinn in his writings, except for
one piece in which he referred to him as “a Communist bully-boy” for initiating
fisticuffs at a union meeting (p. 165). Hoerr’s treatment of Rice (whose memory was fading by the time Hoerr interviewed him) generally relies on previously published works and adds little to our knowledge. An exception is a
passage where Hoerr gives his own eyewitness account of Rice cooling the
passions of demonstrators after the assassination of Martin Luther King and
possibly preventing a bloody police action (p. 252). Based upon Rice’s own
later (mixed) regrets about his red-baiting phase, Hoerr concludes, “much of
the accusatory activity and accompanying suffering should not have occurred”
(p. 249). Quinn once vowed that he would outlive his enemies, and doubtless
made good on that vow in many cases, living to February, 2005. But not Rice,
who survived to November 13 of that year.
The least useful strand of the book concerns Uncle Harry. Davenport, espousing a highly liberal agenda and with the close support of Tom Quinn and
other UE members, managed to win a seat from the Twenty-ninth Congressional District of Pittsburgh in 1948, to be defeated for re-election in 1950. But
while he was in office, Quinn and other UE members came to Washington to
testify before HUAC, only to have Davenport turn his back on them. After 1950,
Davenport never again won office or held a regular job, and seems to have
subsisted, in shirt and tie, on flophouses, alcohol, and the generosity of others.
Treading his dreary path might have been worthwhile if it had shed some light
on why he betrayed his friends or walked away from his family. The nephew,
despite spending much time in bars with his subject, was too embarrassed to
ask. Readers may find this part of an otherwise well-crafted and illuminating
book a bit tedious.
PATRICK J. MCGEEVER
Indiana University (Emeritus)

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Canadian
De Religione: Telling the Seventeenth-Century Jesuit Story in Huron to the
Iroquois. Edited and Translated by John L. Steckley. (Norman: University
of Oklahoma Press. 2004. Pp. x, 213. $34.95.)
John Steckley, Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Toronto, has for many years
immersed himself in the documents that recount the once-spoken language of
the Hurons, which he labels Wendat. De Religione is his translation of what is
the longest extant text in this language, one that he suggests was written in the
late seventeenth century by Philippe Pierson (1642–1688), a Jesuit missionary
posted at the time in New France. Although the purpose of the text is unknown, it is Steckley’s guess that perhaps “new missionaries wrote it out as
part of their lessons in learning Iroquoian languages and that sections were
used as homilies or sermons for one-on-one religious instruction” (p. 3). Furthermore, he notes, its message was specifically directed at the five Iroquois
nations whose people, Steckley maintains, could understand Huron.
Steckley places Pierson’s text in historical and linguistic contexts by offering
sketches of the Jesuit missions and the Father’s efforts to learn and control the
native languages spoken in New France, along with a short account of the
nearly always contentious Iroquois-French experience. There is also a brief discussion on the Iroquois “Great Law” which Steckley believes is key to understanding these people, no matter that the essentials of this epic are unknown
for the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. More germane, it would seem, is
Steckley’s analysis of how Jesuits chose Huron/ Wendat words to represent or
express Christian concepts, for example, the Trinity, the notion of sin, holiness, soul, and spirit, all indispensable in Roman Catholic religious discourse.
De Religione is an arresting if dense text filled with linguistic and philosophic complexities. Its initial creation in Pierson’s mind and then transformation into Huron/Wendat had to have been a taxing exercise, even for a
well-educated and devoted Jesuit. There is no telling how it was received by
native people, assuming that there had been an opportunity for it to be heard.
At once part religious lesson and part ecclesiastical and mission history, De
Religione confronts a series of themes including, for example, the nature of
God, the division of body and soul, heaven and hell, the devil, and death and
resurrection.
There are a few questions in regard to Steckley’s approach to the translation
that require mention. First is Steckley’s rather presumptuous declaration that
his translation, “as much as possible,” provides a “‘Huron read’—to be understood in the way a Huron might have understood it—rather than to convey the
Jesuits’ intent” (p. 19). The notion that a non-native (or native) translator might
affect a Huron perspective in translating any such text from the seventeenth
century is dubious in the extreme. In addition is Steckley’s assertion that the

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Huron/ Wendat words of De Religione, when voiced, would have been understood by speakers of the five Iroquois languages. This would mean that Huron/
Wendat, and then the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk languages, were mutually intelligible in the late seventeenth century, a condition
that is generally unsupported in the literature. Finally, there is the matter of
transparency. Given the somewhat arcane status of the Huron language, it
would have been helpful had Steckley more fully explained how he moved
from period Huron-French dictionaries to his Huron-English translation, and
what part the Latin text found alongside that in Huron in the original might
have played in its preparation.
WILLIAM A. STARNA
State University of New York at Oneonta
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Latin American
La Inquisición de Lima. Signos de su decadencia, 1726–1750. By René Millar
Carvacho (Santiago de Chile: Dibam/Lom/Centro de Investigaciones
Diego Barros Arana. 2004. Pp. 183.)
A lifetime student of the Peruvian Inquisition, René Millar has written two
previous detailed studies of this institution’s bureaucracy, finances, relations
with local authorities, and judgments on the issues of faith. He has chosen the
eighteenth century as his period, arguing that throughout this century the Inquisition underwent a protracted process of decadence that rendered it nearly
obsolete by the 1800’s. In this, his latest book, he takes a different route. Instead of the sweeping studies of the past he focuses on the micro-histories of
two different cases that, in his opinion, corroborate the existence of serious
difficulties in the administration of the Holy Office and the inappropriate use of
its power. These were two key reasons calling for intensive scrutiny from the
Supreme Council in Spain which weakened its effectiveness as a tribunal of the
faith. With the adoption of a micro-history technique, abundant in details, Millar proposes to enrich our understanding of the reasons for the institutional
“decadence” as well as to paint a “thick” portrait of Lima society in the first half
of the century.
The first story focuses on the process and eventual execution of the last case
of Crypto-Judaism in the Viceroyalty of Peru. The surveillance and punishment
of Crypto-Jews in Spain extended through the 1750’s. Vestiges of Jewish observance were still found in the peninsula in a rather watered-down fashion confined to the celebration of some key rites and observance of a few holy days, all
disguised under the public acceptance of Catholicism. María Anna de Castro,
born in Toledo in 1678, belonged to a family of reconciled judaizers. Toledo
was a city with a considerable number of New Christians and processes of
“reconciliation” were still carried out in the 1680’s. As a married woman of

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dubious morality, María Anna traveled to Peru, where she became a notorious
and popular socialite. Her encounter with the Inquisition resulted from a bigamy suit in 1726, but it was the suspected ties of her family to the “faith of
Moses” that brought her down, despite her continuous denials of practicing it.
The Holy Office found her guilty in 1736, and dismissing important technicalities owed to those willing to reconcile, conveyed her to the royal justice for
execution in the 1736 auto-da-fe.
Millar claims that the 1736 auto was an effort to demonstrate to Lima society
that the Holy Office was still powerful and effective in times when these attributes were under question. The execution of María Anna provoked a strong
reaction of ill-will, adding to the discontent created by other decisions equally
questionable to the eyes of other members of the Church. These concerns
prompted an official investigation carried out between 1744 and 1750. The
second case study discusses the results of that investigation, which exposed
the roots of the Holy Office’s problems: the institution was plagued by personal
power struggles. At that time, the main actors in a bitter confrontation were the
wealthy and corrupt native-born Cristóbal Sánchez Calderón and the Spanishborn accountant, Manuel Ilarday. Ethnic rivalry was not the only source of illwill, although it counted. More important was the issue of the administration
of the Inquisition’s moneys. Sánchez Calderón, who was notorious for caring
more for his personal properties than the Inquisition’s business, still accused
Ilarday of negligence and failure to raise enough money to cover expenses or
pay for the arrears on the liens on the Inquisition’s properties. The visitors
were appalled at the state of affairs and the failure to follow procedural rules in
the death sentences. Despite suggestions for financial reform, the visit was a
failure insofar as the situation worsened after their departure due to lack of
implementation and execution.
Millar sees these two cases as connected insofar as they represent the two
most important weaknesses of the Holy Office: bad administration and poor
execution of its own rules of justice. He portrays an edifice weighed down by
its own incompetence and incapable of reforming itself. Readers seeking precise and detailed information conveyed in impeccable style will be rewarded
by Millar’s work, but they will have to tie the threads of the two stories themselves. The author assumes that they will. Millar’s ability as a historian has been
well established in his previous works. Here he is buttressing a theory already
enunciated, by taking his readers on an in-depth visit of the city of Lima and the
many layered lives of some of its inhabitants. It is precisely the humanity of
these people that explains why the Inquisition was an institution so liable to
make mistakes: its victims were fragile members of a volatile society still searching for its own demons, and its administrators were men more concerned with
their own affairs than with upholding the rules that had empowered them.
ASUNCIÓN LAVRIN
Arizona State University

BRIEF NOTICES

Conwell, Joseph F., S.J. (Translation, Introduction, and Commentary by). A Brief
and Exact Account: The Recollections of Simão Rodrigues on the Origin
and Progress of the Society of Jesus. [Jesuit Primary Sources in English
Translations, Series I, No. 20.] (St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources.
2004. Pp. xvii, 104. $15.95 paperback.)
Among the early companions of St. Ignatius of Loyola, all great characters,
two stand out as particularly difficult: Bobadilla, who described the first draft of
Ignatius’ Constitutions as a “prolix labyrinth,” and the Portuguese Simão Rodrigues, who almost wrecked the nascent Portuguese province—at least if some
accounts are to be believed. The value of the present volume is that it allows
one to read a document written by Rodrigues himself. Moreover the translatoreditor provides a sympathetic running commentary that highlights important
aspects of the text.
There are difficulties: in the first place this “brief account” of the founding of
the Society of Jesus stops short in the year 1540, when papal approval was first
granted to the new order, and does not cover the crucial years when Rodrigues
returned to Portugal, was appointed the first provincial superior there, and was
largely responsible for its extraordinary and rapid growth—only to see his
work cut short, himself exiled, and the allegiance of his province divided. The
reverberations of this conflict would stretch across the Atlantic into Brazil,
where missioners would be split into supporters and critics of Rodrigues.
But a second source of difficulty lies in the work before us: the author may
call it “brief ” and “exact,” but in writing this account he adopts various
personae—the evangelist, extending the Acts of the Apostles into the sixteenth
century, the romance writer, inspired by chivalry and adventurous deeds and
dangers, the consummate court rhetorician, instinctively seeking to persuade.
The Simão who was enraptured by the teaching of Ignatius, and who won his
firm support despite strong negative evidence, has to be glimpsed behind these
various masks. Fortunately, this is possible, and he can be seen in his courage,
his self-denial, even in his credulity. Historically his account of the first vows
at Montmartre is of crucial importance. Today various historians (like several
contributors to The Mercurian Project: Forming Jesuit Culture 1657–1580,
ed. Thomas M. McCoog, S.J., 2004) are calling in question the negative verdict
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on Rodrigues pronounced by earlier colleagues; that a reappraisal is needed
cannot be doubted, and it is to be hoped that this publication will aid the
process. JOSEPH A. MUNITIZ, S.J. (University of Birmingham)

Diocese of Immigrants: The Brooklyn Catholic Experience, 1853–2003.
(Strasbourg: Éditions du Signe. 2004. Pp. 240. $35.00.)
When the Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883, it connected the first and
third largest cities in the United States. Today, more residents of New York City
live on the Brooklyn side of the bridge than on the Manhattan side, but Manhattan still tends to overshadow its neighbor to the east. The same is true of the
archdiocese of New York and the diocese of Brooklyn. When the secretary of
education of the archdiocese boasted some years ago about the number of
students in parochial schools in New York City, he omitted to mention that the
majority of them were in the schools of the diocese of Brooklyn.
Diocese of Immigrants, written to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the
diocese, should help to correct such unfortunate misconceptions. Although the
smallest American diocese in area, Brooklyn remains one of the half-dozen largest in population even after the loss of its two suburban counties to the diocese
of Rockville Centre in 1957. The authors, Joseph W. Coen, Patrick J. McNamara,
and Peter I. Vaccari, trace its rich history from its establishment in 1853 to the
present day in a lavishly illustrated book that should have a wide appeal.
In a blend of institutional and social history, they follow the traditional pattern of devoting a chapter to each bishop, but they also give ample attention to
the ethnic diversity that has long been characteristic of a diocese where Mass
is celebrated every Sunday in twenty different languages, including Ebo, Igbo,
Twi, and Urdu. They provide a kaleidoscopic panorama of virtually every aspect of Catholic life in the diocese including religious communities, parish
societies, devotional practices, education, health care, social services, and
ecumenism. The Catholic press merits particular notice in a diocese where
Patrick Scanlan made The Tablet nationally known if not universally admired.
To their credit the authors do not shy away from discussing the clerical sexual
abuse crisis that exploded in 2002.
Brooklyn was once known as the City of Churches. Diocese of Immigrants
reminds us how many of them are Catholic churches, often built on a grand
scale that is not likely to be duplicated today. Perhaps it was in Brooklyn that
native-son George Mundelein first acquired his taste for always going first class.
There is a color photograph of the exterior of every one of the 217 parish
churches, but a map of the neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens would have
been helpful. Even veteran residents of the other three boroughs of New York
City often need to ask directions when they cross the East River. THOMAS J.
SHELLEY (Fordham University)

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305

Goodman, Anthony. Margery Kempe and Her World. (Harlow, Essex: Pearson
Education Limited. 2005. Pp. xx, 274. $32.99 paperback.)
Those approaching Anthony Goodman’s new work on Margery Kempe may
be somewhat alarmed by the Series Editor’s preface: “remarkable spiritual insights”; “her struggles to negotiate her way through the patriarchal expectations”; “apparent personality disorder” (p. ix). Same old Margery. In fact
Margery Kempe and Her World is not the same old Margery. It is far more
creative, interesting, and sensible, and makes a valuable contribution to an increasingly overcrowded field.
Goodman focuses on the relationship between the social context and The
Book to provide an “understanding of the possible ways in which knowledge
of these contexts can augment our understanding of The Book, and the extent
to which The Book can be used to illuminate them” (p. 13). Moving back and
forth from context to text, with a thorough mastery of both, Goodman succeeds both in offering new and plausible interpretations of Kempe’s intriguing
work and in allowing The Book to make sense of late medieval English social
and religious life.
The suggestion that a book is an excellent introductory text too often seems
somehow insulting, conjuring up images of sophomore essays and pedestrian
textbooks. This is an excellent introductory text. Students who read it will
learn a great deal about important aspects of life in late medieval England. They
will be exposed to important theoretical approaches to history and to different
modern interpretations of Margery Kempe. But it is also a creative and scholarly work, which has worthwhile things to say to experts in the field. The interplay between text and context is a particularly fruitful one under Goodman’s
skillful handling, and while the nature of the work is such that there is no single, easily summarized thesis, the author succeeds in suggesting a number of
valuable insights. Even those readers not persuaded about a particular theory
are liable to find their own thinking challenged and their understanding enriched.
Margery Kempe and Her World manages to be entertainingly written without being insulting. Goodman brings to the subject a lifetime of learning, which
he applies with clarity, sensitivity and common sense. Throughout the work he
engages theoretical approaches and uses their insights without surrendering to
them, and manages to draw on the considerable body of Kempe literature without ever becoming bogged down.
The author’s preface begins with equine imagery, suggesting a tired old carthorse being put through his paces one last time. If so, this book represents not
just a gallop, but a victory lap. RAYMOND A. POWELL (Boerne, Texas)

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Isacsson, Alfred. The Travels, Arrest, and Trial of John H. Surratt. (Middletown, New York: Vestigium Press. 2003. Pp. vi, 40. Paperback.)
As a one-time associate of John Wilkes Booth and the son of Mary Surratt,
John H. Surratt’s involvement in the various plots against Lincoln made him a
person of interest to government investigators and historians. Originally delivered as an address to the Surratt Society, Isacsson’s brief work follows the journeys of Surratt from the moment he first learned of Lincoln’s assassination, until
November, 1868, when the government’s legal proceedings against him were
dropped. Isacsson shows that Surratt was aided in his escape from federal authorities by certain Roman Catholic clerics in Canada and Europe. However, in
asserting that there was a “clerical connection” involved in aiding Surratt, a
former seminarian, Isacsson seems to be trying to prove too much from the
admittedly meager documentary trail he had to work with. It would seem that
the few priests who helped Surratt did so out of belief in his innocence rather
than out of some unproven involvement in the Confederate cause. Indeed,
after the hanging of Surratt’s mother in the summer of 1865, he probably could
have found sympathizers wherever newspapers were read. An interesting
essay, Isaccson’s work would be of greater interest to the general reader if he
had filled in some of the details of the story which evidently were well known
to his original audience at the Surratt Society. RORY T. CONLEY (Archdiocese of
Washington)

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Conferences
On January 26, 2006, in the Convento Domenicano di Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome a book was presented entitled I luoghi di San Pio V and edited
by Virginio Giacomo Bono. This event was part of a series of conferences held
at Santa Croce di Bosco Marengo, Alessandria, Pavia, Mondovì, and Rome in
2004 to commemorate the five-hundredth anniversary of the birth on January
17, 1504, of Saint Pius V (pope 1566–72) that will terminate with a convegno
di studi: “Le carte del diritto e della fede—Fonti archivistiche legislative
nel periodo delle riforme di Pio V, Pontefice domenicano” to be held in Alessandria in June 2006. For more information, please consult www.sanpio-quintocentenario.it or tel. 39-0131.304229-274.
On February 15–18, 2006, the Terzo convegno internazionale su “I Domenicani e l’Inquisizione: I domenicani e l’Inquisizione romana” was held at the
Istituto Storico Domenicano in Rome. Some thirty papers covering Dominican
inquisitorial activities from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries were presented by leading scholars from Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Canada, and the United States. For more information, please contact Giovanni
Maria Vian at gmvian@tiscali.it.
On March 3, 2006, at its annual meeting in Austin the Texas Catholic Historical Society presented two papers devoted to the work of St. Katharine
Drexel: “St. Katharine Drexel and St. Patrick’s Mission to the Comanche People: A Study of Saintly Administration” by Stephanie Morris and Richard Fossey,
and “A Catholic Negro Child Living in the Segregated South of the 50s and 60s:
A Postmodern Retrospective of Saint Katharine Drexel’s Mission in New Orleans, Louisiana” by Collette Bloom.
On April 7–8 the Sewanee Medieval Colloquium will be held at The University of the South with the theme “Power in the Middle Ages.” Among the panels
are “Power and Religious (In)tolerance,” “Power in Medieval Thought and Theology,” “Power, the Holy, and the Unholy,” and “Conceptions of Power in the
Early Middle Ages.” For further information, please e-mail: sridyard@sewanee.
edu or tel. (931) 598-1531.
On April 20–26, 2006, in Spoleto, Italy, the Cinquantaquattresima Settimana
di Studi on “Olio e vino nell’alto medioevo” will be sponsored by the Centro
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italiano di studi sull’alto medioevo. Among the papers to be presented are: “Il
vino e l’olio nella legislazione ecclesiastica” by Giorgio Picasso, “‘Buoni da pensare’: Rappresentazioni e simboli del vino e dell’olio nei primi secoli del cristianesimo (II–IV sec.)” by Giovanni Filoramo, “Vino e olio nella tradizione
monastica” by Gabriele Archetti, “Les usages pratiques et symboliques du vin et
de l’huile dans la liturgie occidentale au Moyen Age” by Eric Palazzo, “Olio e
vino nelle tradizioni liturgiche ‘bizantine’” by Stefano Parenti, “Le sacre unzioni
regie” by Glauco Maria Cantarella, “Olea sanctorum: reliquie e miracoli fra
tardoantico e alto medioevo” by Luigi Canetti, and “Huile et vin dans les récits
hagiographiques” by Christian Hannick. For more information on the conference, see www.cisam.org or e-mail cisam@cisam.org or tel. 39-0743 225630.
On April 21–22, 2006, the Center for Early Modern History and the Center
for Austrian Studies at the University of Minnesota will co-sponsor a conference
entitled “Religion and Authority in Central Europe from the Middle Ages to the
Enlightenment.” For further information, please consult www.cas.umn.edu or
e-mail casahy@umn.edu.
On May 4–6, 2006, the XXXV Incontro di Studiosi dell’Antichità Cristiana
will be held at the Augustinianum Istituto Patristico in Rome, Italy. The theme
of the conference is “La cultura scientifico-naturalistica nei Padri della Chiesa
(secc. I–V).” Proposals for papers were due on December 15, 2005. For more
information, e-mail Eugenio Hasler of the organizing committee at ehasler@aug.
org.
On May 27 to June 3, 2006, the seventy-fifth Congress of the Humanities and
Social Sciences will be held at York University in Toronto, Ontario. Among the
learned societies offering sessions are the Canadian Society of Church History,
the Canadian Society of Patristic Studies, the Canadian Society of Medievalists,
and the Canadian Catholic Historical Association—English Section. For further
information on the congress, please contact congress@fedcan.ca, for information on the CCHA, please see www.umanitoba.ca/colleges/st_pauls/ccha.
In May 2006 at the forty-first International Congress on Medieval Studies at
Kalamazoo, Michigan, the American Cusanus Society will sponsor three panels
and a lecture on Nicholas of Cusa that will examine his philosophical and theological thought and explore his ideas on authority, reform, heresy, art, and
music. On October 13–15, 2006, the Society will sponsor a conference at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary on the theme “Conforming to Christ in Learned Ignorance: Doing Penance and Knowing God at the Dawn of the Reformation.”
On November 9–11, 2006, an international conference entitled “Religious
Routes and Pilgrimages in Europe and the Mediterranean: Jewish, Christian,
and Islamic Perspectives” jointly organized by the Euro-Mediterranean Programme on Intercultural Dialogue, Human Rights, and Future Generations and
by the Faculty of Theology of the University of Malta will be held in Valletta,
Malta. Papers should address such themes as pilgrimages and devotions to sacred shrines in Europe and the Mediterranean, the genesis and development of

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early pilgrimages and shrines (the Christian and Jewish religions from the first
to seventh centuries), the newly established major shrines and pilgrimages of
the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions of the seventh to fifteenth centuries, and further developments after the fifteenth century and the impact of
sects and new theological concepts of pilgrimages. Proposals are due by August 4, 2006. For further information, please contact the Reverend Professor
Dr. Emmanuel Agius at emmanuel.agius@um.edu.mt or Ms. Maria Bugeja, the
administrative assistant, at mbuge01@um.edu.mt or iei@um.edu.mt.
Workshops
On March 4, 2006, the Texas Catholic Historical Society sponsored a workshop in San Antonio on “Teaching Texas Catholic History” with presentations
by Gilberto M. Hinojosa on “Spanish Missions in Texas,” by Patrick Foley on
“To Texas They Came: the Irish, French, and Polish Legacy in the Building of a
Catholic Land,” and by Steve Landregan on “Catholic Texans: Passing on Our
Traditions to the Next Century.” For further information, please contact Professor Thomas W. Jodziewicz at tjodz@udallas.edu. Along similar lines, the Oregon
Catholic Historical Society is currently assembling documentary materials that
will help with the teaching in schools of the history of the Catholic Church
in Oregon. For more information, please contact its secretary, the Reverend
James T. Connelly, C.S.C., Department of History, University of Portland, Portland,
Oregon 97203.
From June 12–16, 2006, the Institut d’histoire de la Réformation at the University of Geneva will sponsor a summer course on “Huguenot Historical Writing in the Sixteenth Century: Edification, Self-Justification, and Truth” under
the direction of Irena Backus, Philip Benedict, and Daniela Solfaroli Camillocci.
The deadline for application was February 28, 2006. For further information,
please see www.unigre.ch/ihr/inscription.html.
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., will sponsor an institute from July 10 to August 4, 2006, for advanced graduate students and junior
faculty on English paleography directed by its curator Dr. Heather Wolfe. The
deadline for application was March 1, 2006. For further information, please see
www.folger.edu/institute.
Exhibition
From April 1 to October 22, 2006, the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in
Cleveland, Ohio, will offer an exhibition entitled “Cradle of Christianity: Treasures from the Holy Land.” Materials drawn from the Israel Museum of Jerusalem include the Temple Scroll from the Dead Sea Scroll Collection, the burial
ossuary of Caiaphas the High Priest, a commemorative inscription bearing the
name of Pontius Pilate, the punctured heel bone of a crucified man, items from
excavated churches, and souvenirs from early Christian pilgrimages to the Holy

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Land. For further information, please see www.MaltzJewishMuseum.org or tel.
(216) 593-0575 or e-mail Ilana B. Simon at isimon@resnicowschroeder.com.
Libraries and Archives
The Vatican Museum will mark its fifth centenary with a number of events.
On March 16, 2006, the recently restored Pio Cristiano Museum will be reopened. On April 27 the newly cleaned frescos by Pinturicchio and his assistants in the Room of Mysteries of the Borgia Apartments will be presented. On
June 20 the Missionary Ethnological Museum will put on an exhibition of materials from its section on the Far East. A new section of the Roman necropolis on
the Via Triumphalis under the Santa Rosa parking lot in the Vatican that
includes thirty mausolea and seventy individual tombs will be open in the autumn. The anniversary celebration will conclude with an exhibition in November on “‘Laocoon’: At the Origins of the Vatican Museums” whose discovery in
1506 marks the beginnings of the museums.
The Archive of the Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fide will remain
closed from March 20 to about May 27, 2006, to facilitate the transport of materials to a new depository under the Palace.
The library of the American Academy in Rome will be closed to the public
from August 2006 to September 2007 in order to carry out a $5 million restoration and improvement project. It will bring the library up to Italian and European codes, create a new reading room and reference desk, refinish the
woodwork, and install new compact shelving. For further information, please
contact Elizabeth Kogen at e.g.kogen@aarome.org.
The Dr. Albert Shumate collection of Western Americana at St. Patrick’s Seminary Library in Menlo Park, California is being catalogued with assistance from
a grant given by the Louise M. Davies Foundation. For information on this collection, please see www.thecatalogu/stp/org.
Causes of Saints
On December 19, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the Congregation for
Sainthood Causes to publish the decrees acknowledging the martyrdom or
miracles of forty-three candidates for beatification. Of these, thirty-four were
martyrs of the Spanish Religious Persecution of 1936 that took place during the
Spanish Civil War. The Indian priest Augustin Thevarparampil (1891–1973) of
the Eparchy of Palai dedicated himself to working among the “untouchable”
caste. Eustaquio Van Lieshout (1890–1943) of the Congregation of the Sacred
Hearts of Jesus and Mary was a Dutch missionary priest to Brazil. Among those
declared persons of heroic virtue were Camilla Battista Varano (1458–1524), a
Franciscan professed nun, Carlo Basquè (1550–1615), the Bishop of Novara,
and Eustachius Kugler (1867–1946), a professed religious of the Hospitaller
Order of St. John of God.

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311

On February 23, 2006, the archdiocese of Lyon opened the process of beatification for Father Louis Joseph Marie Querbes (1793–1859), the founder in
1826 of the Clerics of St. Viator, who are dedicated to catechesis.
Publications
The Huntington Library Quarterly has devoted its combined first and second numbers for 2005 (Volume 68) to the study of “The Uses of History in Early
Modern England.” Among the eighteen articles published here are “Appropriating History: Catholic and Protestant Polemics and the National Past,” by Felicity
Heal (pp. 109–132); “Guides to Reading Foxe’s Book of Martyrs,” by John N.
King (pp. 133–150); “‘A Pestilent and Seditious Book’: Nicholas Sander’s Schismatis Anglicani and Catholic Histories of the Reformation,” by Christopher
Highley (pp. 151–171); “‘A special kindness for dead bishops’: The Church,
History, and Testimony in Seventeenth-Century Protestantism,” by John Spurr
(pp. 313–334); and “Contested Histories of the English Church: Gilbert Burnet
and Jeremy Collier,” by Andrew Starkie (pp. 335–351).
The issue of XVIIe Siècle for January–March, 2006 (Volume 58, Number 1),
consists of articles on the theme “L’Église et la peinture dans la France du XVIIe
siècle: les écrits d’ecclésiastiques, entre théologie et théorie de l’art.” Following an “Avant-propos” by Anne le Pas de Sécheval (pp. 3–5) is an article by the
same writer, “Réflexions sur des textes méconnus. Quels enjeux pour l’histoire
de l’art?” (pp. 7–21), and then “Images et contemplation dans le discours mystique du XVIIe siècle français,” by Frédéric Cousinié (pp. 23–47); “L’art sacré au
prisme de Fénelon,” by François Trémolières (pp. 49–69); “Un traité de peinture manuscrit reste inédit: la Seconde Nature du frère carme Sébastien de
Saint-Aignan,” by Christian Guémy (pp. 71–79); “Le décorum de l’image sacrée.
Une interprétation française?” by Emmanuelle Hénin (pp. 81–99); “Les écrits
de Molinier, Pader et Vendages de Malapeire et la peinture religieuse à Toulouse au XVIIe siècle,” by Stéphanie Trouvé (pp. 101–115); and “Les traités
d’ecclésiastiques sur la perspective en France au XVIIe siècle: un regard de
clercs sur la peinture?” by Marianne Cojannot-Le Blanc (pp. 117–130).
Eleven authors treat “Modernismo: Cappuccini tra Riformismo e Antimodernismo” in the first three numbers combined of 2005 (Volume 46) of Laurentianum, as follows: Giovanni Miccoli, “Sui punti forti della crisi modernista”
(pp. 3–25); Otto Weiss, “Der Modernismus in Deutschland: Ein Bestandsaufnahme” (pp. 27–65); Frederic Raurell, “Harnack nella crisi modernista italiana”
(pp. 67–207); Salvatore Vacca, “‘Nihil innovetur’: I cappuccini italiani tra modernismo e antimodernismo” (pp. 209–316); Filippo Santi Cucinotta, “‘Siamo
stati letteralmente assassinati’: L’anti-modernismo nell’epistolario di due cappuccini: Fedele da Santa Vittoria e Giustino da Patti” (pp. 317–347); Andreas
Henkelmann, “‘Zwischen zwei geistigen Welten’: Der Kapuziner Johannes
Chrysostomus Schulte (1880–1943)” (pp. 349–384); Vittorio Carrara, “Modernismo «pratico» e modernismo «filosofico». Il caso del Trentino (1904–1914)”

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(pp. 385–411); Renato Raffaelle Lupi, “Gaetano da Cerreto. ‘Un rosminiano
ortodosso’” (pp. 413–439); Rodolfo Zecchini, “Tra rosminianesimo e modernismo: il caso emblematico del barnabita Pietro Gazzola” (pp. 441–470); Annalisa Capuzzi, “‘Nota’ su Rosmini ed il movimento modernista. Una questione
reale?” (pp. 471–481); and Roberto Cuvato, “Modernismo e antimodernismo in
alcuni periodici francescani del tempo” (pp. 483–548).
An exceptionally long fascicle of the Bulletin de la Société de l’Histoire du
Protestantisme Français (Volume 151, October–November–December, 2005)
commemorates the centenary of the separation of Church and State in France.
Following an introductory essay by Patrick Harismendy, “Séparation et désétablissement: Les contours d’un objet historique” (pp. 549–565), the articles
are divided into three sections: I. “La Séparation des intellectuels et des directions d’Églises”: Rémi Fabre, “La Campagne de Raoul Allier dans Le Siècle, un
épisode de l’élaboration de la loi de séparation des Églises et de l’État” (pp.
567–582); Patrick Cabanel, “Un observateur protestant de la Séparation chez
les catholiques: Paul Sabatier” (pp. 583–596); Catherine Storne-Sengel, “Une
paroisse, une Église: Le temple parisien de Saint-Esprit et le fonctionnement
synodal évangélique lors de la Séparation” (pp. 597–614); André Encrevé, “Le
journal luthérien Le Temoignage face a la Séparation des Églises et de l’État
(1902–1905)” (pp. 615–631); Jean-Pierre Chantin, “Les groupes dissidents et la
Séparation” (pp. 633–648); II. “La Séparation des fidèles et des Églises”: Gabrielle Cadier-Rey, “Le vote des femmes dans les associations cultuelles” (pp. 651–
654); Séverine Pacteau de Luze, “Les Églises reformées de Gironde et de
Dordogne face à la Séparation des Églises et de l’État” (pp. 655–671); ClaudeFrance Hollard, “Les protestants du Vaucluse et la Séparation des Églises et de
l’État (1905–1914)” (pp. 673–687); Yves Hivert-Messeca, “Le consistoire de
Versailles et la Séparation” (pp. 689–699); Pierre Coulet, “En Ardèche,
catholiques et protestants face à la Séparation” (pp. 701–716); III. “Étranges
Séparations”: Bernard Lescaze, “La Séparation de l’Église et de l’État à Genève
en 1907” (pp. 719–732); Henri de Montety, “La Séparation vue de Hongrie”
(pp. 733–749); Jean-François Zorn, “Laïcisation et séparation des Églises et de
l’État dans la «plus grande France» coloniale” (pp. 751–784); Jean-Yves Carluer,
“1905–1906, ou l’impossible introduction du Réveil du Pays-de-Galles en
France” (pp. 785–799); and Jean Bauberot, “La Séparation de 1905: réflexions
sur quelques enjeux historiographiques” (pp. 801–815).
The articles in the issue of Hispania Sacra for January–June, 2005 (Volume
LVII, Number 115), are divided into four sections: (1) “Hispania Mozárabe”:
Luis A. García Moreno, “Literatura antimusulmana de tradición Bizantina entre
los Mozárabes” (pp. 7–46); Juan Antonio Jiménez Sánchez, “La legislación civil
y eclesiástica concerniente a las supersticiones y a las pervivencias idolátricas
en la Hispania de los siglos VI–VII” (pp. 47–78); (2) “Trasmundos Hispanos”:
María Tausiet, “Gritos des más allá. La defensa del purgatorio en la España de la
Contrarreforma” (pp. 81–108); Ana María Martínez de Sánchez, “«La resurrección de los muertos»: significado del espacio sepulchral” (pp. 109–140); (3)
“Fundaciones Hispanas”: Álvaro Espinoza de la Borda, “Los obispos y la historia

NOTES AND COMMENTS

313

de la iglesia en Arequipa” (pp. 143–210); José Cañizar Palacios, “La pervivencia
y presencia de lo antiguo en cofradías y hermandades” (pp. 211–226); Pablo
Martín Prieto, “La fundación del monasterio de Santa Clara de Alcocer (1252–
1260)” (pp. 227–242); María José Vilar, “La definitiva agregación de la diócesis
de Ceuta a la de Cádiz (1877–1879)” (pp. 243–262); (4) “Incautaciones de bienes eclesiásticos”: Ma Dolores García Gómez, “Incautaciones: aportaciones
documentales para un informe del patrimonio eclesiástico en el siglo XIX” (pp.
243–262); José Antonio Morillas Brandy, “Consecuencias del artículo 26 de la
Constitución: disolución de la Compañía de Jesús en Granada” (pp. 315–350);
Santiago Casas, “La publicación «Seminario»: un nexo de unión en la diáspora
del conflicto civil” (pp. 351–382). The other fascicle of that volume (Number
116, July–December, 2005) contains articles also grouped under four headings:
(1) “Iconografía y liturgía”: José Antonio Ramos Rubio, “La herencia del mundo
antiguo: Aportaciones a la iconografía de la Edad Media en la diócesis placentina” (pp. 407–428); Ángel Fernández Collado, “Razones de la reforma litúrgica
mozárabe del Cardenal Lorenzana” (pp. 429–438); (2) “Mundo Moderno”: Alfredo Martín García, “Los franciscanos seglares en la Corona de Castilla durante
el Antiguo Régimen” (pp. 441–466); Davide Maffi, “Confesionalismo y razón de
estado en la Edad Moderna. El caso de la Valtellina (1637–1639)” (pp. 467–
490); Félix Santolaria Sierra, “Una edición no conocida de la «doctrina cristiana» de san Juan de Ávila, incluida en la compilación de Gregorio de Pesquera:
«Doctrina cristiana y Espejo de bien vivir» (Valladolid, 1 de mayo de 1554)”
(pp. 491–558); Francisco J. Sanz De La Higuera, “Cebada, mulas, caballos, carruajes y habas. La catedral de Burgos en el setecientos” (pp. 559–588); Antonio
Carreras Panchón and Mercedes Granjel, “Regalismo y policía sanitaria. El episcopado y la creación de cementerios en el reinado de Carlos III” (pp. 589–624);
(3) “Ideología y propaganda”: Alexandre Coello De La Rosa, “Agencias políticas
y políticas de santidad en la beatificación del padre Juan de Alloza, sj (1597–
1666)” (pp. 627–650); Lorena R. Romero Dominguez, “El discurso católico sobre
la falsa ciencia. El eco de la revelación en el orden cognoscitivo a través de las
páginas de El Correo de Andalucía. Número literario” (pp. 651–682); Natalia
Rodríguez Suárez, “La catedral de Salamanca y la publicidad. Algunos problemas”
(pp. 683–706); (4) “Bibliotecas y bibliografía eclesiástica”: Antón M. Pazos, “El
párroco eficaz. Técnica parroquial y mentalidad eclesiástica en la bibliografía recomendada por el Boletín de Pamplona (1900–1930)” (pp. 709–744); and Rafael
M. Pérez García, “La biblioteca del convento de San Antonio de Padua de Lora del
Rio: libros de autor franciscano (1646)” (pp. 745–794).
Six articles in the issue of U.S. Catholic Historian for fall, 2005 (Volume 23,
Number 4), articulate the theme “Transitions and Transformations from the
1950s and Beyond”: Jeffrey M. Burns, “Prelude to Reform: The Church in San
Francisco before the Council” (pp. 1–15); Steven M. Avella, “Building the Latino/a Catholic Presence in Sacramento, California” (pp. 17–38); Amy Koehlinger, “‘Race relations needs the Nun’: Sources of Continuity and Change in
the Racial Apostolate of the 1960s” (pp. 39–59); Joseph P. Chinnici, O.F.M.,
“Changing Religious Practice and the End of Christendom in the United States,

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1965–1980” (pp. 61–82); David J. O’Brien, “The Renewal of American Catholicism: A Retrospective” (pp. 83–94); and James R. Barrett, “Vatican II
Comes to the West Side: An Experiment in Catholic Autobiography and the
Historiography of Race and Class” (pp. 95–119).
The Canadian Catholic Historical Association’s Historical Studies for 2005
(Volume 71) contains the following articles: Indre Cuplinskas, “Guns and Rosaries: The Use of Military Imagery in the French-Canadian Catholic Student
Newspaper JEC ” (pp. 7–28); Terence J. Fay, S.J., “From the Tropics to the
Freezer: Filipino Catholics Acclimatize to Canada, 1972–2002” (pp. 29–59);
John Fitzgerald, “Departures of the Forgotten Bishop: Thomas Francis Brennan
(1855–1916) of Dallas and St. John’s” (pp. 60–78); Sheila Ross, “Faithful Companions of Jesus in the Field of Education in Brandon, Manitoba, 1883–1895”
(pp. 79–93); and Myroslaw Tataryn, “Harvesting Heritage Seeds in Prairie Soil:
The Role of Ukrainskyi holos in the Formation of the Identity of the Ukrainian
Greek Orthodox Church of Canada” (pp. 94–109). The other half of the volume
consists of the Études d’histoire religieuse, published by the Société canadienne
d’histoire de l’Église catholique. The three articles are “Les comptes de Majorique Marchand, curé de Gentilly, 1890–1904,” by Jean Roy (pp. 7–32); “Un
florilège moralisateur et nationaliste: le canon des etudes littéraires selon les
manuels des communautés religieuses québécois (1900–1950),” by Monique
Lebrun (pp. 33–50), and “Un processus de conservation du patrimoine scolaire
bâti,” by Soraya Bassil, Yvon Crevier, and Jacques Lachapelle (pp. 51–64.)
Personals
In recognition of his many years of devoted service to the study, teaching,
and publication of works on the history of the Catholic Church, Monsignor
Robert Trisco was elevated to the rank of protonotary apostolic supranumerary
by Pope Benedict XVI. At a ceremony during the annual meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association in Philadelphia on January 7, 2006, Cardinal
William Keeler and Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan presented Msgr. Trisco with
the framed document of appointment. He was congratulated with a standing
ovation by all present.
Professor James D. Tracy of the History Department and founding director of
the Center for Early Modern History of the University of Minnesota is beginning
a phased-retirement from the department.
Obituary
Catherine Ann Cline, Professor Emerita of History at The Catholic University
of America, died after a long illness at the age of 78 on October 12, 2005. Born
in West Springfield, Massachusetts on July 27, 1927, she received her B.A. (1948)
from Smith College, her M.A. (1950) from Columbia University, and the Ph.D.

NOTES AND COMMENTS

315

(1957) degree, under the direction of Felix Gilbert, from Bryn Mawr College.
Prior to joining the Catholic University faculty, Professor Cline taught briefly at
Smith College and St. Mary’s College, South Bend, IN, and for thirteen years at
Notre Dame College of Staten Island (1954–1968).
Dr. Cline was appointed Associate Professor of History at The Catholic University of America in 1968, received tenure in 1971, and was promoted to the
rank of Ordinary Professor in 1973. The first woman to be so honored, she
served as Chair of the History Department from 1974 to 1977 and again from
1980 to 1983. Among the first women to hold the rank of full professor, she was
called upon for an extraordinary number of committee assignments, especially
on committees of appointments and promotions throughout the university.
Professor Cline was awarded a research fellowship by the American Philosophical Society, membership in the Faculty Seminar on African History at Columbia University, and on April 10, 1995, the Papal Benemerenti Medal by Pope
John Paul II. Upon retirement from the faculty in 1996, the Board of Trustees
voted to confer the title of Professor Emerita.
A specialist in modern British History, Dr. Cline throughout her career taught
successfully at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Student evaluations
spoke highly of the sound preparation of her courses, the organization of the
lectures, and the adroit direction of class participation. She was a member of
the American Historical Association, the Society for Labor History, the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, the Conference on British Studies, and
the American Catholic Historical Association (1963–2003). She served on the
nominating committees for the latter two societies and on the program committee for the fiftieth annual meeting of the ACHA.
Dr. Cline was a first-rate scholar whose distinguished publications in British
history were well received. She journeyed many times to Great Britain and the
continent to carry out research in the various national archives and libraries.
Her first book, Recruits to Labour: The British Labour Party, 1914–1931,
published in 1963, analyzes the “conversion” of sixty-eight mostly Liberals to
the Labor party during and after World War I. The attraction was not socialism
but rather a fresh program after the Liberal failures in both domestic and foreign policy. Her second book, E. D. Morel, 1873–1924, The Strategies of Protest, appearing in 1981, presented a critical biography of a British journalist and
reformer who was involved in the struggle against imperialism in Africa. Her
third research project, an analysis of British public opinion and the Treaty of
Versailles, resulted in essays published in the Journal of Modern History and
Albion.
A memorial Mass was celebrated in the university’s Caldwell Chapel on October 28, 2005, followed by a reception. Colleagues, relatives, and Washington
neighbors who attended were invited to share reflections on Cathy. She was
remembered for her impeccable scholarship and awesome integrity, and for
never hesitating to take a stand on controversial issues. Throughout periods of

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NOTES AND COMMENTS

transition, Cathy contributed unstintingly to her neighborhood association
with wise counsel and encouragement. Carole Fink, Distinguished Humanities
Professor at Ohio State University, one of her closest friends, wrote in the AHA
Perspectives: “A great lover of literatures, music, and the theater, Catherine
Cline was an elegant city-dweller and brilliant conversationalist with strong
convictions and wonderful wit. . . . And she was a woman of courage, sustained
during her long illness by her faith and serenity.”
JOHN E. LYNCH
The Catholic University of America (Emeritus)
Correction
In the Notes and Comment section of the October issue (ante XCI, No. 4,
page 893) the organizer of the Conference “Theater and the Visual Arts in the
Middle Ages and Renaissance: Aspects of Representation” to be held at the
State University of New York–Binghamton Campus was mistakenly identified
as “Sandra Sticca.” The organizer’s correct name is Dr. Sandro Sticca. The editors regret the typographical error.

PERIODICAL LITERATURE

General and Miscellaneous
Die Bedeutung der Geschichtstheologie für das Fach „Kirchengeschichte“ und
für die kirchliche Praxis. Reinhart Staats. Verkündigung und Forschung,
50 (1/2, 2005), 34–55.
Tendenzen Kirchlicher Zeitgeschichte. Siegfried Hermle. Verkündigung und
Forschung, 50 (1/2, 2005), 69–87.
The History of the Interpretation of the Rule of Saint Benedict. Lorenzo Sena,
O.S.B. American Benedictine Review, 56 (Dec., 2005), 394–417.
La figura del vescovo nella tradizione copta. Bartolomeo Pirone. Lateranum,
LXXI (2–3, 2005), 341–364.
I diversi volti dell’episcopato dal Medio evo all’età moderna. Mario Sensi. Lateranum, LXXI (2–3, 2005), 365–393.
The Catholic Parishes in the Barony of Cooley, Part I—From Earliest Times to
the End of the 17th Century. Harold O’Sullivan. Seanchas Ard Mhacha, 20
(2, 2005), 34–105.
The Ancient Office of Parish Clerk and the Parish Clerks Company of London.
Oswald Clark. Ecclesiastical Law Journal, 38 ( Jan., 2006), 307–322.
Ministros Provínciais da Província Franciscana dos Algarves (1532–1834). Henrique Pinto Rema. Itinerarium, L ( Jan.–Aug., 2004), 261–345.
Profesores del Colegio benedictino de San Vicente de Salamanca (1589–1835).
Ernest Zaragoza i Pascual. Salmanticensis, LII (May–Aug., 2005), 287–
341.
Klosterbücher in Deutschland 200 Jahre nach der Säkularisation (II). Leonhard
Lehmann. Collectanea Franciscana, 75 (3–4, 2005), 631–685.
El significado permanente del Concilio Vaticano II (1962–1965). Santiago Madrigal. Razón y fe, 252 (Dec., 2005), 317–338.
Un romantique à la recherche du passé: K. J. Conant à Cluny. Janet T. Marquardt. Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale, 48 (Oct.–Dec., 2005), 327–
340.
317

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PERIODICAL LITERATURE

Ancient
Gnostische und andere Bilderbücher in der Antike. Christoph Markschies.
Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum, 9 (1, 2005), 100–121.
Mapping the World: Justin, Tatian, Lucian and the Second Sophistic. Laura Nasrallah. Harvard Theological Review, 98 ( July, 2005), 283–314.
Some North African Turning Points in Christian Apologetics. W. H. C. Frend.
Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 57 ( Jan., 2006), 1–15.
Le Martyre BHG 2109 et les Passions BHL 2254-2265 de Donnino le céphalophore de Fidenza. Xavier Lequeux. Analecta Bollandiana, 122 (Dec.,
2004), 247–268.
Language and the Reevaluation of Class in the Narratives of Early Egyptian Monasticism. Brian Noell. American Benedictine Review, 56 (Dec., 2005),
378–391.
Que faire des premiers conciles? Benoît Bourgine. Revue théologique de Louvain, 36 (Oct.–Dec., 2005), 449–475.
Sui tribunali ecclesiastici nel IV e V secolo. Ulteriore considerazioni. Gianluca
Pilara. Studi Romani, LII ( July–Dec., 2004), 353–378.
Augustine and the Rhetoric of Roman Decline. Andrew R. Murphy. History of
Political Thought, XXVI (Winter, 2005), 586–606.
Aèce selon l’Histoire ecclésiastique de Philostorge. Jean-Marc Prieur. Revue
d’Histoire et de Philosophie Religieuses, 85 (Oct.–Dec., 2005), 529–582.
Miracles, Martyrs, and Arians: Gregory of Tours’ Sources for His Account of the
Vandal Kingdom. Andrew Cain. Vigiliae Christianae, LIX (4, 2005), 412–
437.
Canons d’Orient et royaume barbare. L’influence du droit canonique oriental
sur la législation du concile d’Épaone. Aram Mardirossian. Revue historique de droit français et étranger, 83 ( July–Sept., 2005), 355–384.
Das Ritual beim ersten Papst-Kaiser-Treffen in Konstantinopel. Massimiliano Vitiello. Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 98 (1, 2005), 81–96.
Giustiniano e i Papi del suo tempo. Tra teologia e politica. Vito Sibilio. Teresianum, LVI (2, 2005), 469–497.

νωσι καθ υπστασιν. Die ersten zehn Anathematismen des fünften ökumenischen Konzils (Konstantinopel 553) als Dokument neuchalkedonischer
Theologie (Teil 1). Florian Bruckmann. Annuarium Historiae Conciliorum, 36 (1, 2004), 1–166.
Fashioning a Divine Body: Coptic Christology and Ritualized Dress. Stephen J.
Davis. Harvard Theological Review, 98 ( July, 2005), 335–362.

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319

Medieval
The Contribution of Byzantine Lead Seals to the Study of the Cult of the Saints
(Sixth–Twelfth Century). John Cotsonis. Byzantion, LXXV (2005), 383–
497.
The Irish Penitentials. James McMahon, O.S.B. American Benedictine Review,
56 (Dec., 2005), 357–377.
L’insegnamento luminoso proveniente da Da Qin. Alcune considerazioni sul
cristianesimo siriaco nella Cina dei Tang (secc. VII–IX). Matteo NicoliniZani. Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 71 (2, 2005), 387–412.
Parochiæ barbaricæ? Quelques remarques sur la perception des diocèses septentrionaux de la Gaule pendant le haut Moyen Âge. Charles Mériaux.
Revue du Nord, 87 (Apr.–Sept., 2005), 293–303.
Historical Re-Collections: Rewriting the World Chronicle in Bede’s De temporum ratione. Andrew Rabin. Viator, 36 (2005), 23–39.
La campana di Canino al Museo Pio Cristiano. Cronologia, modalità tecnicoesecutive, provenienza, attribuzione. Appendice paleografica di Carlo Tedeschi. Simone Piazza. Studi Romani, LII ( July–Dec., 2004), 426–439.
The Wilton Chronicle as a Historical Source. Wiesje F. Nijenhuis. Revue Bénédictine, 115 (Dec., 2005). 370–399.
A New Prologue of Walafrid Strabo. Courtney M. Booker. Viator, 36 (2005),
83–105.
La condanna di un cadavere. Riflessioni sull’incredibile storia di papa Formoso.
Ludovico Gatto. Studi Romani, LII ( July–Dec., 2004), 379–406.
Deux nouveaux fragments de l’«Itinerarium Egeriae» du IXe–Xe siècle. Jesús Alturo. Revue Bénédictine, 115 (Dec., 2005), 241–250.
The Collectio Canonum Hibernensis and the Literature of the Anglo-Saxon
Benedictine Reform. Shannon Ambrose. Viator, 36 (2005), 107–118.
Just Like a Mother Bee: Reading and Writing Vitae metricae around the Year
1000. Anna Taylor. Viator, 36 (2005), 119–148.
Die Reichenau und die Ostkirche. Nicolas Egender. Erbe und Auftrag, 81
(Oct., 2005), 345–362.
Mittelalterliche Bilder und Texte der Klosterinsel Reichenau. Walter Berschin.
Erbe und Auftrag, 81 (Oct., 2005), 363–371.
Die Mönchsgemeinschaft der Reichenau unter Abt Bern (1008–1048). Joachim
Wollasch. Erbe und Auftrag, 81 (Dec., 2005), 457–471.
Les «esprits incrédules» dans l’apocryphe bogomile Interrogatio Iohannis.
David Zbíral. Heresis, No. 42–43 (2005), 33–40.

320

PERIODICAL LITERATURE

Mary or Michael? Saint-Switching, Gender, and Sanctity in a Medieval Miracle of
Childbirth. Katherine Allen Smith. Church History, 74 (Dec., 2005), 758–
783.
L’épiscopat du haut Moyen Âge du point de vue de la médiévistique allemande.
Steffen Patzold. Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale, 48 (Oct.–Dec., 2005),
341–358.
La Chiesa bizantina nell’età dei Comneni. Vito Sibilio. Sacra Doctrina, New
Series, 6 (Nov.–Dec., 2005), 61–80.
Of Locustae and Dangerous Men: Peter Damian, the Vallombrosans, and
Eleventh-century Reform. Kathleen G. Cushing. Church History, 74 (Dec.,
2005), 740–757.
Zu den Anfängen von Pfarre und Kloster Garsten. Siegfried Haider. Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, 113 (3–4,
2005), 293–329.
Il meraviglioso nella Prima Crociata. Vito Sibilio. Teresianum, LVI (1, 2005),
161–198.
The Mural Paintings of Berzé-la-Ville in the Context of the First Crusade and the
Reconquista. Elizabeth Lapina. Journal of Medieval History, 31 (Dec.,
2005), 309–326.
Humoralism and Adam’s Body: Twelfth-Century Debates and Petrus Alfonsi’s
Dialogus contra Judaeos. Irven M. Resnick. Viator, 36 (2005), 181–195.
As Excrement to Sacrament: The Dissimulated Pagan Idol of Ste-Marie d’Oloron.
Peter Scott Brown. Art Bulletin, LXXXVII (Dec., 2005), 571–588.
Heloise, Abelard and the Ordination of Abbesses. Gary Macy. Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 57 ( Jan., 2006), 16–32.
Bertrand de Saissac, un puissant seigneur, chef de file de l’aristocratie carcassonnaise, entre légende et histoire. Suzanne Nelli. Heresis, No. 42–43
(2005), 77–100.
L’Eucharistie à Cîteaux au milieu du XIIe siècle. Marie-Gérard Dubois. Revue de
Spiritualité Monastique, 67 (4, 2005), 266–286.
Y a-t-il eu des cathares en Angleterre? Andrew E. Larsen. Heresis, No. 42–43
(2005), 11–32.
Le origini valdesi nella riflessione accademica italiana del XIX secolo, da Felice
Tocco a Ernesto Buonaiuti. Francesca Tasca. Protestantesimo, 60 (2,
2005), 107–124.
Leonor of England, Plantagenet queen of King Alfonso VIII of Castile, and her
foundation of the Cistercian abbey of Las Huelgas. In imitation of Fontevraud? Rose Walker. Journal of Medieval History, 31 (Dec., 2005), 346–
368.

PERIODICAL LITERATURE

321

Good Women as nuns? A reinvestigation of the sources. Yvette Paiement Debergue. Heresis, No. 42–43 (2005), 55–76.
Du catharisme au catholicisme: les parfaits repentis en Languedoc fin XIIe–XIIIe
siècles. Flavien Uhlrich. Heresis, No. 42–43 (2005), 41–54.
Memory and Truth: The Strange Case of the Witness Enquiries of 1212 in the
Braga-Toledo Dispute. Maria João Violante Branco. Historical Research,
LXXIX (Feb., 2006), 1–20.
San Francesco e l’incontro con il sultano d’Egitto: rivisitazione storica per una
rilettura dei rapporti con l’Islam. Pacifico Sella, OFM. Antonianum, LXXX
( July–Sept., 2005), 485–498.
The Authenticity of Admonition 27 of Francis of Assisi. A Discussion with Carlo
Paolazzi and Beyond. Jan Hoeberichts. Collectanea Franciscana, 75 (3–4,
2005), 499–523.
Francis and Clare of Assisi: Differing Perspectives on Gender and Power.
Jacques Dalarun. Franciscan Studies, 63 (2005), 11–25.
Les reliques de Thomas Becket à Royaumont. Michel Huglo. Revue Bénédictine, 115 (Dec., 2005), 430–438.
Der Entstehungsort des Sachsenspiegels. Eike von Repgow, Altzelle, und die
anglonormannische Kanonistik. Peter Landau. Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters, 61 (1, 2005), 73–101.
The Narrative Tradition of the Medieval Franciscan Friars on the British Isles:
Introduction to the Sources. Annette Kehnel. Franciscan Studies, 63
(2005), 461–530.
Non alter Christus: Early Dominican Lives of Saint Francis. Donna Trembinski.
Franciscan Studies, 63 (2005), 69–105.
Gli studia generalia nell’Ordine dei Predicatori nel Duecento. Walter Senner,
O.P. Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, 98 ( Jan.–Dec., 2005), 151–
175.
San Francesco nei sermoni latini del domenicano Iacopo da Benevento. Stefano
Maffei. Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, 98 ( Jan.–Dec., 2005), 177–
209.
Thomas d’Aquin lecteur des conciles. Martin Morard. Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, 98 ( Jan.–Dec., 2005), 211–365.
Writing Identity as Remembered History: Person, Place and Time in Friar Salimbene’s Autobiographical Prose Map. Adnan A. Husain. Viator, 36 (2005),
265–292.

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Guillaume De la Mare. Note sur sa régence parisienne et sa prédication. Louis
Jacques Bataillon, O.P. Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, 98 ( Jan.–
Dec., 2005), 367–422.
Cult-Images and Religious Ethnology: The European Exploration of Medieval
Asia and the Discovery of New Iconic Religions. Michele Bacci. Viator, 36
(2005), 337–372.
Le supplice des vaudois aux Clées en 1280 d’après le témoignage d’une source
comptable savoyarde. Clémence Thévenaz Modestin and Georg Modestin.
Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Religions- und Kulturgeschichte, 99
(2005), 239–248.
Constitutiones generales Mediolanenses an. 1285. Cesare Cenci, O.F.M. Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, 98 ( Jan.–Dec., 2005), 509–570.
O Mosteiro de Lorvão: um breve olhar sobre o abadessado de D. Constança
Soares (1290–1317). Aires Gomes Fernandes. Itinerarium, L ( Jan.–Aug.,
2004), 65–224.
San Nicolás de Tolentino. VII Centenario. Devoción y Patronazgo en algunos
pueblos de España. Felix Carmona Moreno. La Ciudad de Dios, CCXVIII
(Sept.–Dec., 2005), 603–639.
The Episcopate during the Reign of Edward II and the Regency of Mortimer and
Isabella. Roy Martin Haines. Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 56 (Oct.,
2005), 657–709.
John XXII and the Spirituals: Is Angelo Clareno Telling the Truth? David Burr.
Franciscan Studies, 63 (2005), 271–287.
χορ: Dancing into the Sacred Space of Chora. An Inquiry into the Choir of
Dance from the Chora. Nicoletta Isar. Byzantion, LXXV (2005), 199–224.
Une traduction latine médiévale de la légende arménienne de Thècle et la translation du bras de la sainte de l’Arméno-Cilicie à Tarragone en 1321. Valentina Calzolari. Analecta Bollandiana, 123 (Dec., 2005), 349–367.
Defending Christian Fellowship: William of Ockham and the Crisis of the Medieval Church. Takashi Shogimen. History of Political Thought, XXVI (Winter, 2005), 607–624.
Les prêtres fondateurs à Dijon (milieu 14e s.–milieu 16e s.). Gaëlle Tarbochez.
Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique, 100 ( July–Dec., 2005), 705–753.
Perceptions of Crusading in the Mid-Fourteenth Century: The Evidence of
Three Texts. Norman Housley. Viator, 36 (2005), 415–433.
San Vicente Ferrer y los patriarcas Santo Domingo de Guzmán y San Francisco
de Asís. Alfonso Esponera Cerdán, O.P. Teología Espiritual, XLIX (May–
Aug., 2005), 109–147.

PERIODICAL LITERATURE

323

Franciscans Between Observance and Reformation: The Low Countries (ca.
1400–1600). Bert Roest. Franciscan Studies, 63 (2005), 409–442.
Heinrich von Bitterfeld als Reformer. Vor 600 Jahren gestorben. Manfred Gerwing. Theologie und Glaube, 95 (4, 2005), 409–422.
The Immaculate Conception and Ecclesiastical Politics from the Council of
Basel to the Council of Trent: The Dominicans and Their Foes. Thomas M.
Izbicki. Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte, 96 (2005), 145–170.
Der König und sein Konzil. Sigmund auf der Konstanzer Kirchenversammlung.
Macht und Einfluss des römischen Königs im Spiegel institutioneller Rahmenbedingungen und personeller Konstellationen. Ansgar Frenken. Annuarium Historiae Conciliorum, 36 (1, 2004), 177–242.
Koran und Konziliarismus. Anmerkungen zum Verhältnis von Heymericus de
Campo und Nikolaus von Kues. Florian Hamann. Vivarium, XLIII (2,
2005), 275–291.
Les fréquentations byzantines de Lodisio de Tabriz, Dominicain de Péra (†
1453): Géôrgios Scholarios, Iôannès Chrysolôras et Théodôros Kalékas.
Marie-Hélène Blanchet and Th. Ganchou. Byzantion, LXXV (2005), 70–
103.
Ackerbau und Seelsorge. Zum Zusammenleben von Seelsorgern mit ihren Gemeinden in spätmittelalterlichen Pfarreien. Sabine Arend. Schweizerische
Zeitschrift für Religions- und Kulturgeschichte, 99 (2005), 223–236.
Tragique expédition punitive contre Katherine, la sorcière de Béziers (1440).
Nicolas Ghersi. Heresis, No. 42–43 (2005), 101–120.
Fra Angelico ruminans. Visualisering van religieuze ervaring in een middeleeuws
convent. Hans Geybels. Collationes, 35 (4, 2005), 387–403.
Sixteenth Century
L’altra faccia dello pseudoprofeta Francesco Da Meleto, scrivano della SS. Annunziata di Firenze. Stefano Dall’Aglio. Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et
Renaissance, LXVII (2, 2005), 343–351.
Die Schweizergarde in den Jahren vor dem Sacco di Roma (1518–1527). Eine
Analyse der Briefe von Gardehauptmann Kaspar Röist an den Rat in Zürich.
Remo Ankli. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Religions- und Kulturgeschichte, 99 (2005), 251–264.
The Power of Perception: Venice, the Early Reformation, and the Diarii of
Marino Sanuto (1518–1533). David D’Andrea. Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte, 96 (2005), 6–32.

324

PERIODICAL LITERATURE

Changing One’s Mind: Transformation in Reformation History from a Germanist’s Perspective. Susan C. Karant-Nunn. Renaissance Quarterly, LVIII
(Winter, 2005), 1101–1127.
Die Reformation und die Reform des Reiches und der Kirche im 16. Jahrhundert. Karl-Heinz zur Mühlen. Verkündigung und Forschung, 50 (1/2,
2005), 56–68.
Invective and Discernment in Martin Luther, D. Erasmus, and Thomas More.
Constance Furey. Harvard Theological Review, 98 (Oct., 2005), 469–
488.
Fount of Mercy, City of Blood: Cultic Anti-Judaism and the Pulkau Passion Altarpiece. Mitchell B. Merback. Art Bulletin, LXXXVII (Dec., 2005), 589–642.
El Calendarium romanum del Capítulo general O.F.M. de Burgos de 1523.
Notas y edición. Francisco Víctor Sánchez Gil, O.F.M. Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, 98 ( Jan.–Dec., 2005), 717–767.
La résistance de l’abbesse Caritas Pirckheimer. François Terzer. Revue des Sciences Religieuses, 80 ( Jan., 2006), 21–41.
From Speyer to Magdeburg: The Development and Maturation of a Hybrid Theory of Resistance to Tyranny. David M. Whitford. Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte, 96 (2005), 57–80.
Fragmented Dominion, Fragmented Churches: The Institutionalization of the
Landfrieden in the Thurgau, 1531–1610. Randolph C. Head. Archiv für
Reformationsgeschichte, 96 (2005), 117–144.
Luther and the Woodcuts to the 1534 Bible. Carl C. Christensen. Lutheran
Quarterly, XIX (Winter, 2005), 392–413.
Un luterano fiammingo in un processo episcopale nella Lisbona del 1536. Andrea Buonaguidi. Protestantesimo, 60 (2, 2005), 125–132.
Basel and the Wittenberg Concord. Amy Nelson Burnett. Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte, 96 (2005), 33–56.
Confessionalism in Calvin’s Geneva. Robert M. Kingdon. Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte, 96 (2005), 109–116.
Private Confession and the Lutheranization of Sixteenth-Century Nördlingen.
Ronald K. Rittgers. Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXVI (Winter, 2005),
1063–1085.
Luis de Montoya y otros Agustinos amigos de los Jesuitas en Portugal. Eduardo
Javier Alonso Romo. La Ciudad de Dios, CCXVIII (Sept.–Dec., 2005),
751–769.
“Tightrope Walkers on the Border Between Religion and Magic.” A Study of the
Attitudes of Catholic Clerics North of the Linguistic Frontier within the
Southern Netherlands Towards Superstition and the Crime of Witchcraft

PERIODICAL LITERATURE

325

(1550–1650). Nienke Roelants and Dries Vanysacker. Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique, 100 ( July–Dec., 2005), 754–794.
La notion d’hérésie dans Le Passavant de Théodore de Bèze (1553). Véronique
Augiron. Heresis, No. 42–43 (2005), 121–137.
Faith and Forgiveness: Lessons in Statecraft for Queen Mary Tudor. Lorraine
Attreed and Alexandra Winkler. Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXVI (Winter, 2005), 971–989.
Anglicanism and Gallicanism: Between Rome and Geneva? Luc Racaut. Archiv
für Reformationsgeschichte, 96 (2005), 198–220.
The Michelade in Nîmes, 1567. Allan A. Tulchin. French Historical Studies, 29
(1, 2006), 1–36.
La mesa de Felipe II. J.-Ignacio Tellechea Idígoras. La Ciudad de Dios, CCXVIII
(Sept.–Dec., 2005), 771–791.
Die Thorner Generalsynode von 1595. Wojciech Sławiński. Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte, 96 (2005), 246–271.
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
“Our Particular Cloister”: Ursulines and Female Education in SeventeenthCentury Parma and Piacenza. Danielle Culpepper. Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXVI (Winter, 2005), 1017–1037.
Venise 1608–1610: Paix ou guerre, dans la correspondance de Paolo Sarpi.
Anne Denis. Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et Renaissance, LXVII (3, 2005),
625–640.
The Burning of Edward Wightman: Puritanism, Prelacy and the Politics of Heresy in Early Modern England. Ian Atherton and David Como. English Historical Review, CXX (Dec., 2005), 1215–1250.
La collezione di quadri del cardinale Scipione Cobelluzzi. Cavarozzi, Grammatica e Ribera in un inventario inedito del 1626 (con 4 tavv. f.t.). Fausto
Nicolai. Studi Romani, LII ( July–Dec., 2004), 440–462.
Los libros y manuscritos de los profesores de matemáticas del colegio imperial
de Madrid, 1627–1767. Agustín Udías, S.J. Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, LXXIV ( July–Dec., 2005), 369–448.
By the Book or with the Spirit: The Debate over Liturgical Prayer during the
English Revolution. Christopher Durston. Historical Research, LXXIX
(Feb., 2006), 50–73.
Edward Fisher and the Defence of Elizabethan Protestantism during the English
Revolution. Christopher Durston. Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 56
(Oct., 2005), 710–729.

326

PERIODICAL LITERATURE

De l’acceptation de la foi au refus des dogmes. Le doute des libertins au XVIIe
siècle. Hans Bots and Pierre Leroy. XVIIe Siècle, 57 (Oct.–Dec., 2005),
731–745.
Jesuitae fabri: The Society Constructs a Presence in a Transylvanian City,
1693–1773. Paul Shore. Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, LXXIV
( July–Dec., 2005), 299–328.
Faith and History on the Eve of Enlightenment: Ernst Salomon Cyprian, Gottfried Arnold, and the History of Heretics. C. Scott Dixon. Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 57 ( Jan., 2006), 33–54.
The SPCK in Defence of Protestant Minorities in Early Eighteenth-Century Europe. Sugiko Nishikawa. Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 56 (Oct., 2005),
730–748.
“Begin to grow rude and clamorous”: English Politics and the Battle over
Church Architecture, 1714–1760. R. Barry Levis. Journal of Church and
State, 47 (Autumn, 2005), 841–860.
L’illuminismo cattolico di Vico. La fonte agostiniana nel Diritto universale. Antonio Sabetta. Rassegna di teologia, XLVI ( July–Aug., 2005), 547–585.
Missionários apostólicos varatojanos na Missão de Miranda, em 1750–1751. António de Sousa Araújo. Itinerarium, L ( Jan.–Aug., 2004), 225–260.
The spectre of Puritanism: forgetting the seventeenth century in David Hume’s
History of England. John Seed. Social History, 30 (Nov., 2005), 444–
462.
Une Odyssée africaine au Siècle des Lumières: la mission providentielle de MM.
Deglicourt et Bertout au Sénégal (1778). André Zysberg. Mémoire Spiritaine, 22 (2, 2005), 45–73.
I redentoristi di Agrigento dal 1761 al 1793 (Parte II: 1768–1793). Giuseppe
Russo, C.SS.R. Spicilegium Historicum C.SS.R., LIII (2, 2005), 291–387.
P. Cayetano Ramo Parrilla de San Juan Bautista, XXI Prepósito General de la
Orden de las Escuelas Pías (1713–1795). Adolfo García-Durán. Archivum
Scholarum Piarum, XXIX (No. 58, 2005), 123–168.
D’un naufrage à un sauvetage: Jacques-Madeleine Bertout (1753–1832), Sixième supérieur général du séminaire du Saint-Esprit. Marie-Christine Varachaud. Mémoire Spiritaine, 22 (2, 2005), 8–44.
Les femmes et le catholicisme à Bordeaux sous la Révolution française (1789–
1799). Christelle Nadau. Annales du Midi, 117 (Oct.–Dec., 2005), 505–
525.
L’abbé Grégoire e l’Inquisizione di Spagna: la Lettre del 1798 e la reazione del
partito inquisitoriale. Vittorio Sciuti Russi. Rivista Storica Italiana, CVXII
(2, 2005), 494–529.

PERIODICAL LITERATURE

327

Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
Evangelicalism, Masculinity, and the Making of Imperial Missionaries in Late
Georgian Britain, 1795–1820. William C. Barnhart. The Historian, 67
(Winter, 2005), 712–732.
Indigenous Encounters with Christian Missionaries in China and West Africa,
1800–1920: A Comparative Study. David Lindenfeld. Journal of World
History, 16 (Sept., 2005), 327–369.
‘It is impossible for our Vestry to judge his case into perfection from here’:
Managing the Distance Dimensions of Poor Relief, 1800–40. Steve King.
Rural History, 16 (Oct., 2005), 161–189.
Repertorio delle magistrature periferiche dello Stato Pontificio (1815–1870).
Carla Lodolini Tupputi. Rassegna Storica del Risorgimento, XCII ( July–
Sept., 2005), 323–428.
Les franciscains en Terre Sainte au 19e s. De l’espace au territoire, entre opposition et adaptation. Giuseppe Buffon. Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique, 100
( July–Dec., 2005), 797–845.
Faith in materials: Christ giving the Keys to Saint Peter by Jean-AugusteDominque Ingres. Susan L. Siegfried. Art History, 28 (Nov., 2005), 657–
688.
Expéditions missionnaires en Afrique australe et orientale au dix-neuvième
siècle. François Bart, Annie Lenoble-Bart, and Alain Ricard. Mémoire Spiritaine, 22 (2, 2005), 75–95.
Un omaggio ad Antonio Rosmini rivisitando l’opera giovanile. «Saggio sull’unità
dell’educazione». Goffredo Cianfrocca. Archivum Scholarum Piarum,
XXIX (No. 58, 2005), 87–122.
Mgr Melchior de Marion Brésillac (1813–1859) et la mission du Dahomey.
Pierre Trichet. Mémoire Spiritaine, 21 (1, 2005), 55–83.
«Auf protestantischer Seite der Unglaube, auf römisch-katholischer Seite der
Aberglaube»: Irenische Perspektiven der «Allgemeinen Kirchen-Zeitung
für Deutschland und die Schweiz» (1833–1840). Klaus Fitschen. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Religions- und Kulturgeschichte, 99 (2005), 279–
295.
La llegada de las Hijas de la Caridad de San Vicente de Paúl a la Casa de Expósitos, Hospital de las Cinco Llagas y Hospicio Provincial de Sevilla, en el siglo
XIX. Ma del C. Giménez Muñoz. Isidorianum, XIV (2005), 189–211.
Mgr Alexandre Monnet (1812–1849) dans le concert abolitionniste océano-indien. Prosper Ève. Mémoire Spiritaine, 21 (1, 2005), 23–54.

328

PERIODICAL LITERATURE

La Civiltà Cattolica e P. Carlo Maria Curci in alcuni documenti napoletani.
Antonio Illibato. Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, LXXIV ( July–Dec.,
2005), 329–367.
Entre archéologie et romanité: Mgr Xavier Barbier de Montault (1830–1901).
Bruno Neveu. Bibliothèque de l’École des Chartes, 163 ( Jan.–June, 2005),
241–264.
Bishop Francisco Gaínza, OP, Obispo de Neuva Caceres (1862–1879). Rex Andrew C. Alarcon. Philippiniana Sacra, XL (Sept.–Dec., 2005), 611–633.
«Das Recht der eigenen Überzeugung auf dem Index» (1869). Nachhutgefecht
im unaufhaltsamen Fall des Münchner Philosophieprofessors Jakob Frohschammer. Elke Pahud de Mortanges. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für
Religions- und Kulturgeschichte, 99 (2005), 299–317.
A Redemptorist from the Goldfields: Henry Halson, C.SS.R. (1833–1900). Samuel J. Boland, C.SS.R. Spicilegium Historicum C.SS.R., LIII (2, 2005), 275–
290.
Expedientes de dispensa matrimonial en la diócesis de Salamanca (1871–1889).
Raúl Román Sánchez. Revista Española de Derecho Canónico, 61 ( July–
Dec., 2004), 601–646.
Priesterlose Gottesdienste während des Kulturkampfs im 19. Jahrhundert in
den Bistümern Basel und Paderborn. Franz Kohlschein. Liturgisches Jahrbuch, 55 (3, 2005), 156–179.
Une réconciliation entre Paris et la Compagnie de Jésus au Levant (1875–1914):
faux-fuyant ou nécessité ponctuelle? Rafaël Herzstein. Mémoire Spiritaine, 22 (2, 2005), 96–113.
The Observant Branch of the Order of Friars Minor and Italian Foreign Policy,
1880–1890. Maurice Carmody, OFM. Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, 98 ( Jan.–Dec., 2005), 769–794.
Vie et mort, pouvoir et vulnérabilité: contradictions quotidiennes à la Mission
de Loango (1883–1904). Phyllis M. Martin. Mémoire Spiritaine, 21 (1,
2005), 84–115.
Georges Goyau (1869–1939), un publiciste entre catholicisme intransigeant et
catholicisme libéral. Jérôme Grondeux. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für
Religions- und Kulturgeschichte, 99 (2005), 321–333.
Les rédemptoristes polonais dans l’empire russe de 1905 à 1910. Władysław
Szołdrski, C.SS.R. Spicilegium Historicum C.SS.R., LIII (2, 2005), 389–486.
Laïcité et séparation des Églises et de l’État: esquisse d’un bilan historiographique
(2003–2005). Jacqueline Laloutte. Revue Historique, 129, CCCVII (Oct.,
2005), 849–870.

PERIODICAL LITERATURE

329

Églises du xxe siècle en Bretagne, de la loi de Séparation à Vatican II (1905–
1962). Philippe Bonnet. Bibliothèque de l’École des Chartes, 163 ( Jan.–
June, 2005), 79–116.
Michael Cardinal Logue, 1840–1924, Part IV—‘A Catholic Ethos for a Catholic
Society.’ Aisling Walsh. Seanchas Ard Mhacha, 20 (2, 2005), 245–292.
Bishop Charles McHugh of Derry Diocese (1856–1926). Philip Donnelly. Seanchas Ard Mhacha, 20 (2, 2005), 212–244.
L’expulsion des missionnaires allemands du Cameroun pendant la première
guerre mondiale à travers la correspondance des Pères français Barreau et
Hermann. Salvador Eyezoo. Mémoire Spiritaine, 21 (1, 2005), 116–132.
An der konfessionellen Nahtstelle. Eine Mikroanalyse der konfessionellen Turnvereine in Birmenstorf. Patrick Zehnder. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für
Religions- und Kulturgeschichte, 99 (2005), 335–346.
Visual Culture and Catholicism in the Irish Free State, 1922–1949. John Turpin.
Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 57 ( Jan., 2006), 55–77.
Alle origini degli «Eretici italiani del Cinquecento». Nuovi documenti del carteggio Bainton-Cantimori (1932–1940). Lucia Felici. Archivio Storico Italiano, CLXIII (3, 2005), 531–593.
«Wir sind alle schuldig geworden»!? Überlegungen zur Flüchtlings-Arbeit des
schweizerischen Protestantismus in den Jahren 1933 bis 1948. Hermann
Kocher. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Religions- und Kulturgeschichte,
99 (2005), 349–367.
„Kämpferische Seelsorge wäre heute ein Irrweg.“ Das Franziskanerkloster Münster in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. Andreas Kratel. Wissenschaft und
Weisheit, 68 (2, 2005), 195–266.
Nazifying Christmas: Political Culture and Popular Celebration in the Third
Reich. Joe Perry. Central European History, 38 (4, 2005), 572–605.
„Wer nicht dabeigewesen is, kann es nicht beurteilen.“ Diskurse über Nationalsozialismus, Holocaust und Schuld in der Perspektive verschiedener theologischer Generationen. Norbert Reck. Münchener Theologische Zeitschrift,
56 (4, 2005), 342–354.
Auguste Champetier de Ribes et la question des religieux anciens combattants
durant l’Entre-deux-guerres. Phillippe Dazet Brun. Bulletin de Littérature
Ecclésiastique, CVI ( July–Sept., 2005), 261–282.
L’honneur des catholiques. Laurent Dispot. La Régle du Jeu, 30 ( Jan., 2006),
7–26.
À propos de deux concepts: Catholicisme de gauche et progressisme chrétien
en France (1945–1955). Yvon Tranvouez. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für
Religions- und Kulturgeschichte, 99 (2005), 93–140.

330

PERIODICAL LITERATURE

Avec les pygmées Bakas de la forêt camerounaise: les combats de sœur MarieAlbéric Moÿse (1919–1974). Sœur Paul Girolet. Mémoire Spiritaine, 21
(1, 2005), 133–149.
Recent Dutch religious history and the limits of secularization. James C. Kennedy. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Religions- und Kulturgeschichte, 99
(2005), 79–92.
Fr. Pablo Fernández, O.P., Dominican Historian and Archivist: A Bibliography
of His Historical Writings. Jose Victor Z. Torres. Philippiniana Sacra, XL
(Sept.–Dec., 2005), 635–662.
Das Ringen um ein erneuertes Verständnis der Franziskusregel auf des Tagung
in Exaten (1966). Ein Beitrag zur Erforschung der nachkonziliaren Ordensreform im Franziskanerorden. Damian Bieger, O.F.M. Wissenschaft und
Weisheit, 68 (2, 2005), 267–289.
American
Jonathan Edwards, Enthusiast? Radical Revivalism and the Great Awakening in
the Connecticut Valley. Douglas L. Winiarski. Church History, 74 (Dec.,
2005), 683–739.
Presidential Appointments and Religious Stratification in the United States,
1789–2003. James D. Davidson, Rachel Kraus, and Scott Morrissey. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 44 (Dec., 2005), 485–495.
The Final Effort to Fulfill George Whitefield’s Bequest: The Bethesda Mission of
1790–1792. John Thomas Scott. Georgia Historical Quarterly, LXXXIX
(Winter, 2005), 433–461.
The Nineteenth-Century Bible Wars and the Separation of Church and State.
Tracy Fessenden. Church History, 74 (Dec., 2005), 784–811.
The American-Cassinese Congregation: Origins and Early Development (1855–
1905), Part II. Jerome Oetgen. American Benedictine Review, 56 (Dec.,
2005), 418–454.
Autobiography of Peter Heinrich Dicke: Pastor and Pioneer Missionary: Translated by Eleanor Katherine Daib. Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly,
78 (Fall, 2005), 135–161.
A Pioneer Pastor’s Spouse: Autobiography of Anna Katherina Bezler Dicke.
Translated by Richard Runge. Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly,
78 (Fall, 2005), 162–177.
By Letter: Three Years in the Life of Vicar Machebeuf. Thomas H. Steele and
Florence Byham Weinberg. New Mexico Historical Review, 80 (Summer,
2005), 293–308.

PERIODICAL LITERATURE

331

Mrs. Mary Surratt, 140 Years Later: Still Behind the Veil and Fan. Kenneth J.
Zanca. Delta Epsilon Sigma Journal, L (Fall, 2005), 103–114.
Die Polnisch-katholische Kirche als Mitglied der Utrechter Union: Entstehung,
Geschichte, Rechtslage. Wiktor Wysoczański. Internationale Kirchliche
Zeitschrift, 95 ( July–Sept., 2005), 157–201.
Catholics in Political Life: Reflections on Speeches by Smith, Kennedy, and
Cuomo. Dennis J. Lyle. Josephinum, 12 (Summer/Fall, 2005), 253–267.
Bernhard M. Christensen (1901–1984). James S. Hamre. Lutheran Quarterly,
XIX (Winter, 2005), 414–435.
“He Liked to Call Me Padre”: Bishop Duncan Gray Remembers William Faulkner.
Sally Wolff King. Southern Quarterly, 43 (Fall, 2005), 80–106.
The Strange Case of Murray Kram: Catholic Devotionalism and Direct Mail Marketing in 1950s Pittsburgh. Timothy Kelly. Journal of Ritual Studies, 19
(2, 2005), 89–97.
The Catholic Church in Mississippi and Desegregation, 1963–1973. Mark Newman. Journal of Mississippi History, LXVII (Winter, 2005), 331–355.
An Episcopal Priest’s Reflections on the Kansas City Riot of 1968. David Kerrigan Fly. Missouri Historical Review, 100 ( Jan., 2006), 103–112.
Latin American
La herencia del Ars lulliana contemplativa en el orbe cultural de la evangelización franciscana: Fray Juan de Zumárraga y la vía de los beneficios en
tierras de la nueva España. Linda Báez-Rubí. Antonianum, LXXX ( July–
Sept., 2005), 533–562.
La figura del Obispo diocesano como protagonista de la reforma eclesiástica en
los decretos del III Concilio provincial mexicano (1585). Juan Carlos Casas
García. Efemérides Mexicana, 22 (Sept.–Dec., 2004), 349–372.
La libertad y el liberalismo: retos a la conciencia católica en el siglo XIX. Manuel
Olimón Nolasco. Efemérides Mexicana, 22 (Sept.–Dec., 2004), 301–347.

OTHER BOOKS RECEIVED

Allitt, Patrick. Religion in America Since 1945: A History. [Columbia Histories
of Modern American Life.] (New York: Columbia University Press. 2005.
Pp. xviii, 313. $24.00, £15.50 paperback.) Originally published in 2003
and reviewed by R. Laurence Moore ante, XC (July 2004), 583–584.
Canfield, Jack, Mark Victor Hansen, and LeAnn Thieman (Eds.). Chicken Soup
for the Christian Soul 2: Stories of Faith, Hope and Healing. (Deerfield
Beach, Fla.: Health Communications Inc. 2005. Pp. xviii, 373. $12.95 paperback.)
Chennattu, Rekha M. Johannine Discipleship as a Covenant Relationship.
(Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers. 2006. Pp. xxiv, 256. $29.95 paperback.)
Cooper, Kate, and Jeremy Gregory (Eds.). Retribution, Repentance and Reconciliation, [Studies in Church History, Volume 40.] (Rochester, N.Y.:
The Boydell and Brewer. 2004. Pp. xiv, 384. $75.00 clothbound.)
Davies, Brian (Ed.). Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae: Critical Essays. [Critical
Essays on the Classics.] (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. 2006. Pp. xx,
270. $75.00 clothbound, $27.95 paperback.)
Davis, Kenneth G., O.F.M. Conv., and Leopoldo Pérez, O.M.I. (Eds.). Preaching
the Teaching: Hispanics, Homiletics, and Catholic Social Justice Doctrine. [The Hispanic Theological Initiative Series, Volume IV.] (Scranton:
University of Scranton Press. 2005. Pp. xviii, 228. $20.00, £14.00 paperback.)
Eisenmann, Linda. Higher Education for Women in Postwar America, 1945–
1965. (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 2006. Pp. x, 280.
$45.00 clothbound.)
Green, Barbara, O.P. Jonah’s Journeys. [Interfaces.] (Collegeville, Minn.: The
Liturgical Press. 2005. Pp. xx,172. $14.95 paperback.)
Gruchy, John de (Ed.). The London Missionary Society in Southern Africa,
1799–1999: Historical Essays in Celebration of the Bicentenary of the
LMS in Southern Africa. (Athens: Ohio University Press. 2000. Pp. x, 229.
Paperback.)
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Hampsch, John H., C.M.F. The Awesome Mercy of God. (Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press. 2006. Pp. xii, 119. $9.99 paperback.)
Harp, Gillis J. Brahmin Prophet: Phillips Brooks and the Path of Liberal Protestantism. [American Intellectual Culture.] (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2003. Pp. xii, 237. Paperback.)
Harrington, Daniel J., S.J. Jesus Ben Sira of Jerusalem: A Biblical Guide to Living Wisely. [Interfaces.] (Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press. 2005.
Pp. x, 142. $14.95 paperback.)
Hiesberger, Jean Marie (Intro.). The Catholic Comparative New Testament.
Rheims New Testament, New American Bible, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem
Bible, Good News Translation, Christian Community Bible. (New York:
Oxford University Press. 2005. Pp. xxxviii, 1762. $32.99 clothbound.)
Howe, Jean-Marie, OCSO. Secret of the Heart: Spiritual Being. Translated by
Kathleen Waters, OCSO. [Monastic Wisdom Series, 2.] (Kalamazoo, Mich.:
Cistercian Publications. 2005. Pp. xiv, 79. Paperback.) Originally published as Le Secret du coeur: l’être spirituel by the Abbaye cistercienne
Notre Dame du Lac in 1999.
Lanzi, Fernando, and Gioia Lanzi. Saints and Their Symbols: Recognizing
Saints in Art and in Popular Images. Translated by Matthew J. O’Connell.
Drawings by Ermanno Leso. (Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press.
2004. Pp. 239. $49.95 clothbound.)
McCabe, Maureen, OCSO. Inside the Psalms: Reflections for Novices. [Monastic Wisdom Series: #3.] (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications. 2005.
Pp. x, 137. Paperback.)
Milanich, Jerald T. Laboring in the Fields of the Lord: Spanish Missions and
Southeastern Indians. (Gainesville, Fla.: University Press of Florida. 2006.
Pp. xiv, 210. $24.95 paperback.) Originally published by the Smithsonian
Institution Press in 1999.
Miller, Barbara. Tell it on the Mountain: the Daughter of Jephthah in Judges
11. [Interfaces.] (Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press. 2005. Pp. xxiv,
144. $14.95 paperback.)
Mullin, Robert Bruce. The Puritan as Yankee: A Life of Horace Bushnell. [Library of Religious Biography.] (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company. 2002. Pp. xvi, 296. $21.00, £14.99 paperback.)
Mullins, Michael. The Gospel of Mark. A Commentary. (Dublin: The Columbia
Press. 2005. Pp. 506. €19.99, £13.99 paperback.)
Oakley, Francis, and Bruce Russett (Eds.). Governance, Accountability, and
the Future of the Catholic Church. (New York: Continuum. 2004. Pp.
240. $26.95 clothbound.) The papers here published were presented at a

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conference held at the Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center at
Yale University in March 2003. Those written by historians are “Myth, History, and the Beginnings of the Church,” by Francine Cardman (pp. 33–
48); “Church Law and Alternative Structures: A Medieval Perspective,” by
Brian Tierney (pp. 49–61); “Reclaiming Our History: Belief and Practice in
the Church,” by Marcia L. Colish (pp. 62–75); “Constitutionalism in the
Church,” by Francis Oakley (pp. 76–87); “Episcopal Governance in the
American Church,” by Gerald P. Fogarty, S.J. (pp. 103–118); and “The Sex
Abuse Crisis: The View from Recent History,” by John T. McGreevy (pp.
136–142).
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Compendium of the Social Doctrine
of the Church. (Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops Publishing. 2005. Pp. xxviii, 446. $24.95 paperback.)
Porter, Andrew (Ed.). The Imperial Horizons of British Protestant Missions,
1880–1914. [Studies in the History of Christian Missions.] (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2003. Pp. xiv, 250.
$45.00, £32.99 paperback.)
Queen, Edward L. II, Stephen R. Prothero, and Gardiner H. Shattuck, Jr. The
Encyclopedia of American Religious History. Volume 1: A–L, Volume 2:
M–Z. (New York: Facts on File, Inc. 1996. Pp. x, 800. $99.00 clothbound.)
Roberts, Augustine, OCSO. Centered on Christ: A Guide to Monastic Profession. [Monastic Wisdom Series: #5.] (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications. 2005. Pp. xxii, 323. Paperback.)
Rose, Anne C. Voices of the Marketplace. American Thought and Culture,
1830–1860. [American Thought and Culture.] (Lanham, Md.: Rowman &
Littlefield. 2004. Pp. xxiv, 251. $75.00 clothbound, $29.95 paperback.)
First published in 1995 by Twayne Publishers.
Sierra, Javier. The Secret Supper. Translated by Alberto Manguel. (New York:
Atria Books. 2004. Pp. vi, 329. $34.95 paperback.)
Stiebert, Johanna. The Exile and the Prophet’s Wife: Historic Events and Marginal Perspectives. [Interfaces.] (Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press.
2005. Pp. xxvi, 130. $14.95 paperback.)
Vilensky, Joel A. Dew of Death: the Story of Lewisite, America’s World War I
Weapon of Mass Destruction. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
2005. Pp. xxv, 213. $24.95 clothbound.)
We Begin: The Inauguration of the Reverend John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. September 22–23, 2005. (Notre Dame: The University of Notre Dame. 2005. Pp.
34. Clothbound.) This book incorporates photographs taken during the
Presidential Inauguration, and excerpts of Father Jenkins’ inaugural address.

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Weber, Francis J. Unity in Diversity: The Story of Ethnic Ministries and Eastern Rites in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. (Mission Hills, Calif.: Saint
Francis Historical Society. 2004. Pp. viii, 87. Paperback.) Illustrating the
”Polyglot Archdiocese” are brief essays on Afro-Americans, Armenians, Assyrian Chaldeans, Braceros, Cambodians, Chinese, Coptic Egyptians, Creoles, Croatians, Cubans, Czechoslovakians, Filipinos, French, Germans,
Guamanians, Hispanics, Hungarians, Indonesians, Irish, Italians, Japanese,
Lithuanians, Koreans, Maronites, Melkites, Native Americans, Pobladores,
Polish, Portuguese, Russian Greek, Ruthenian Byzantine, Salvadorians, Samoans, Syrian Catholics of Antioch, Ukranian Byzantine, and Vietnamese.