Popular piety in sixteenth-century Picardy

Chase, Mary Jane (1992) Popular piety in sixteenth-century Picardy. : Amiens and the rise of private devotions, 1500-1540. PhD.

Text ChaseM-Popular-Diss1992.pdf - Publishers version Restricted to RUG campus Download (19MB)

Abstract

Thesis Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Columbai University. This dissertation is an archivally-based study of popular piety in Amiens during the first forty years of the sixteenth century. It examines the practices of late medieval piety and tracks the transformations of these practices in response to the changing religious climate in France. Two major sources of information are utilized. First, the role of the echevinage as a sponsor of public devotional activity is studied through its accounts, acts, and deliberations. Second, the private devotional activities of individual Amienois are studied through the religious objects found in the inventaires apres deces. This study finds that one of the responses of the echevinage to the Reformation was to withdraw from the sponsorship of traditional public religious activities, such as Lenten preaching and religious theatre. At the same time, devotional activity in the home was increasing, as evidenced by the growth in religious objects. After evaluating a variety of explanations against the available evidence, this study hypothesizes that the observed trend away from public religious activity and towards private devotions is the result of a growing confusion and fear regarding appropriate religious behaviors and their effectiveness. It suggests that late medieval piety was not abandoned and did not disappear in the face of the Reformation, but flourished in a new environment, awaiting a more hospitable public climate.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Amiens, Sixteenth-Century Picardy, Popular Piety, Private Devotions, 1500-1540
Language:	English
Publisher:	University of Groningen
Date of graduation:	1 January 1992
Status:	Published
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Amiens, Sixteenth-Century Picardy, Popular Piety, Private Devotions, 1500-1540
Date Deposited:	02 Jun 2020 10:42
Last Modified:	02 Jun 2020 10:42
URI:	https://ebooks.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/20

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