Overview

For almost forty years, from 1378 to 1417, the Western Church was divided into rival camps headed by two-and eventually three-competing popes. The so-called Schism provoked a profound and long-lasting anxiety throughout Europe-an anxiety that reverberated throughout clerical circles and among the ordinary faithful. In Poets, Saints, and Visionaries of the Great Schism, Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski looks beyond the political and ecclesiastical storm and finds an outpouring of artistic, literary, and visionary responses to one of the great calamities of the late Middle Ages. Modern historians have analyzed the Great Schism mostly from the perspective of church politics. Blumenfeld-Kosinski shifts our attention to several groups that have not before been considered together: saintly men and women (such as Catherine of Siena, Pedro of Aragon, Vincent Ferrer, and Constance de Rabastens), politically aware and committed poets (such as Philippe de Mezieres and Christine de Pizan), and prophets (for example, the mysterious Telesphorus of Cosenza and the authors of the anonymous Prophecies of the Last Popes). Not surprisingly, these groups often saw the Schism as an apocalyptic sign of the end times. Images abounded of the divided Church as a two-headed monster or suffering widow. A twelfth-century ""prelude"" looks at the schism of 1159 and the role the famous visionaries Hildegard of Bingen and Elisabeth of Schonau played in this earlier crisis in order to define common threads of ""mystical activism"" as well as the profound differences with the later Great Schism. Poets, Saints, and Visionaries of the Great Schism will be of interest to students and scholars of medieval and early modern history, religious studies, and literature.

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Many scholars have claimed that the two principal kinds of medieval visions, the 'experience-based' religious and the 'literary-poetic' ones have to be examined together, but up to this moment no such analysis has been done. With an impressive tour de force and a smart, enjoyable narrative, Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski examines the common motifs and the peculiar metaphors of saintly, prophetic, and poetic visionaries during the period of the Great Schism. This specific context also allows her the exploration of the different lobbies and pressure groups promoting and using those visions. It also gives an opportunity for a witty, incisive analysis, reaching back to the experiences of a previous schism in the twelfth century, with Hildegard of Bingen and Elisabeth SchOnau taking stands on it, and then going into details with Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Siena, Philippe de MEziEres, Christine de Pizan, and several other fascinating prophets, visionaries, mystics, and poets, exploring the limits of our imaginary. This book is the first to analyze this ensemble together, and its perspicacious observations will be the starting point of any future research on this subject. --Gabor Klaniczay, Central European University

This well-researched and lively read will delight enthusiasts of medieval French literature. Its pace accelerates as it reaches its conclusion, leaving the reader wanting more. --Jennifer Anne Morrissey, French Review

This well-researched and lively read will delight enthusiasts of medieval French literature. Its pace accelerates as it reaches its conclusion, leaving the reader wanting more. Jennifer Anne Morrissey, French Review

Many scholars have claimed that the two principal kinds of medieval visions, the 'experience-based' religious and the 'literary-poetic' ones have to be examined together, but up to this moment no such analysis has been done. With an impressive <em>tour de force</em> and a smart, enjoyable narrative, Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski examines the common motifs and the peculiar metaphors of saintly, prophetic, and poetic visionaries during the period of the Great Schism. This specific context also allows her the exploration of the different lobbies and pressure groups promoting and using those visions. It also gives an opportunity for a witty, incisive analysis, reaching back to the experiences of a previous schism in the twelfth century, with Hildegard of Bingen and Elisabeth Schonau taking stands on it, and then going into details with Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Siena, Philippe de Mezieres, Christine de Pizan, and several other fascinating prophets, visionaries, mystics, and poets, exploring the limits of our imaginary. This book is the first to analyze this ensemble together, and its perspicacious observations will be the starting point of any future research on this subject. </p>--Gabor Klaniczay, Central European University</p>

Many scholars have claimed that the two principal kinds of medieval visions, the 'experience-based' religious and the 'literary-poetic' ones have to be examined together, but up to this moment no such analysis has been done. With an impressive tour de force and a smart, enjoyable narrative, Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski examines the common motifs and the peculiar metaphors of saintly, prophetic, and poetic visionaries during the period of the Great Schism. This specific context also allows her the exploration of the different lobbies and pressure groups promoting and using those visions. It also gives an opportunity for a witty, incisive analysis, reaching back to the experiences of a previous schism in the twelfth century, with Hildegard of Bingen and Elisabeth Sch nau taking stands on it, and then going into details with Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Siena, Philippe de M zi res, Christine de Pizan, and several other fascinating prophets, visionaries, mystics, and poets, exploring the limits of our imaginary. This book is the first to analyze this ensemble together, and its perspicacious observations will be the starting point of any future research on this subject. --Gabor Klaniczay, Central European University This engaging book will satisfy any academic or layperson interested in the history of the Church, but also in the history of mentalities at large. The book is well-written and comprehensive on many levels. --Jo lle Rollo-Koster, Canadian Journal of History This book is provided with a genealogy of popes, with maps having excellent legends, fourteen illustrations, a good bibliography . . . and an index. The author's style is leisurely and reads well. Poets, Saints, and Visionaries certainly belongs in university libraries and will profit students and teachers of the late Middle Ages and of Church history. --Edelgard E. DuBruck, Fifteenth-Century Studies Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski tells the story of the Great Schism not as a political or ecclesiastical event, but rather as a disturbing crisis profoundly felt by ordinary Christians at all levels of society. Her innovation is to focus on what she calls 'the imaginaire, ' emotional responses to the division of Christendom expressed in visions, letters, poetry, prophecies, and artistic representations. Blumenfeld-Kosinski writes with a real sympathy for her subjects, who emerge as flesh-and-blood humans struggling to make sense of a profound crisis that threatens to undermine their faith in the clergy. No book more vividly tells the story of the Great Schism or brings together a more fascinating set of characters and texts from the period. I can think of no finer introduction to the workings of the minds of medieval people than Poets, Saints, and Visionaries. --Laura Ackerman Smoller, University of Arkansas at Little Rock This well-researched and lively read will delight enthusiasts of medieval French literature. Its pace accelerates as it reaches its conclusion, leaving the reader wanting more. --Jennifer Anne Morrissey, French Review [This book] is an excellent complement to our general knowledge of the schism in that it provides an intelligent reading of authors who are often overlooked in this context. The illustrations are particularly well chosen, and the bibliography gratifyingly full. --F. Donald Logan, Religion and the Arts Blumenfeld-Kosinski's choice to focus on the imaginaire of the Great Schism is extremely productive; since the book focuses so extensively on visions and prophecies, one might even say it is an inspired choice. One of the most fascinating dimensions of her approach is the way in which it enables exploration of concepts and images across generic boundaries. Her book offers a fresh perspective on a rich period as well as some extremely well-known medieval writers. --Nancy Bradley Warren, Spiritus Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski writes with a real sympathy for her subjects, who emerge as flesh-and-blood humans struggling to make sense of a profound crisis that threatens to undermine their faith in the clergy. No book more vividly tells the story of the Great Schism or brings together a more fascinating set of characters and texts from the period. I can think of no finer introduction to the workings of the minds of medieval people than Poets, Saints, and Visionaries. --Laura Ackerman Smoller, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Many scholars have claimed that the two principal kinds of medieval visions, the 'experience-based' religious and the 'literary-poetic' ones have to be examined together, but up to this moment no such analysis has been done. With an impressive tour de force and a smart, enjoyable narrative, Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski examines the common motifs and the peculiar metaphors of saintly, prophetic, and poetic visionaries during the period of the Great Schism. This specific context also allows her the exploration of the different lobbies and pressure groups promoting and using those visions. It also gives an opportunity for a witty, incisive analysis, reaching back to the experiences of a previous schism in the twelfth century, with Hildegard of Bingen and Elisabeth Sch nau taking stands on it, and then going into details with Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Siena, Philippe de M zi res, Christine de Pizan, and several other fascinating prophets, visionaries, mystics, and poets, exploring the limits of our imaginary. This book is the first to analyze this ensemble together, and its perspicacious observations will be the starting point of any future research on this subject. --Gabor Klaniczay, Central European University This engaging book will satisfy any academic or layperson interested in the history of the Church, but also in the history of mentalities at large. The book is well-written and comprehensive on many levels. --Jo lle Rollo-Koster, Canadian Journal of History This well-researched and lively read will delight enthusiasts of medieval French literature. Its pace accelerates as it reaches its conclusion, leaving the reader wanting more. --Jennifer Anne Morrissey, French Review This book is provided with a genealogy of popes, with maps having excellent legends, fourteen illustrations, a good bibliography . . . and an index. The author's style is leisurely and reads well. Poets, Saints, and Visionaries certainly belongs in university libraries and will profit students and teachers of the late Middle Ages and of Church history. --Edelgard E. DuBruck, Fifteenth-Century Studies [This book] is an excellent complement to our general knowledge of the schism in that it provides an intelligent reading of authors who are often overlooked in this context. The illustrations are particularly well chosen, and the bibliography gratifyingly full. --F. Donald Logan, Religion and the Arts Blumenfeld-Kosinski's choice to focus on the imaginaire of the Great Schism is extremely productive; since the book focuses so extensively on visions and prophecies, one might even say it is an inspired choice. One of the most fascinating dimensions of her approach is the way in which it enables exploration of concepts and images across generic boundaries. Her book offers a fresh perspective on a rich period as well as some extremely well-known medieval writers. --Nancy Bradley Warren, Spiritus Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski tells the story of the Great Schism not as a political or ecclesiastical event, but rather as a disturbing crisis profoundly felt by ordinary Christians at all levels of society. Her innovation is to focus on what she calls 'the imaginaire, ' emotional responses to the division of Christendom expressed in visions, letters, poetry, prophecies, and artistic representations. Blumenfeld-Kosinski writes with a real sympathy for her subjects, who emerge as flesh-and-blood humans struggling to make sense of a profound crisis that threatens to undermine their faith in the clergy. No book more vividly tells the story of the Great Schism or brings together a more fascinating set of characters and texts from the period. I can think of no finer introduction to the workings of the minds of medieval people than Poets, Saints, and Visionaries. --Laura Ackerman Smoller, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski writes with a real sympathy for her subjects, who emerge as flesh-and-blood humans struggling to make sense of a profound crisis that threatens to undermine their faith in the clergy. No book more vividly tells the story of the Great Schism or brings together a more fascinating set of characters and texts from the period. I can think of no finer introduction to the workings of the minds of medieval people than Poets, Saints, and Visionaries. --Laura Ackerman Smoller, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Author Information

Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski is Professor of French at the University of Pittsburgh. Her books include Not of Woman Born: Representations of Caesarean Birth in Medieval and Renaissance Culture (1990) and Reading Myth: Classical Mythology and Its Interpretations in Medieval French Literature (1997).

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