Overview

This study examines one of the most unusual figures of the sixteenth century, Guillaume Postel, who believed that a female messiah had arrived on earth who would usher in a new age of political and religious harmony. He grounded this prophecy in the Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition, and relied extensively on its use of gender symbolism. Postel has often been viewed as a marginal figure, whose unconventional views preclude comparison with his contemporaries. However, this study suggests that Postel used his prophecy to participate in two arenas: Reformation controversy and the querelle des femmes or debate about women. His thought has relevance not only for an understanding of Renaissance Kabbalah, but for Reformation history and for early modern gender studies.

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9789004138018

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Reviews

'This book is readable and interesting, and the author should be congratulated for pursuing this difficult study. It will also make scholars more aware of Postel's importance to Renaissance studies.' Marion Leathers Kuntz, Renaissance Quarterly, 2005. 'Guillaume Postel has generally been regarded as a marginal figure in sixteenth-century Europe. Though he possessed immense erudition, he was derided by his contemporaries, chiefly because of his consuming interest in the Kabbalah. This books seeks to understand this enigmatic individual by placing him within the context of the Renaissance and the Reformation...Yvonne Petry succeeds admirably in her declared aim of attempting to fill in some of the neglected areas of Postel scholarship. Her monograph is a significant contribution to learning and a welcome addition to Studies in Medieval and Reformation Thought. It will be appreciated by historians and theologians alike.' Gareth Lloyd Jones, Ecclesiastical History, 2005.

Author Information

Yvonne Petry, Ph.D. (1997) in History, University of Manitoba, is Professor of History at Luther College, University of Regina. She has recently contributed several chapters to a collaborative work entitled Webs of Reality: Social Perspectives on Science and Religion (Rutgers, 2002).

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