Abstract
Revolution and the threat of further traumatic change promoted the religious mobilization which would represent a vital, and often under-estimated, feature of the emergence of a modern mass culture. Understanding its development requires an appreciation of the outillage mental of the clergy—from Pope to parish priest—and of the pastoral care they provided. Who were the clergy? Why did they think and behave as they did? How much influence did they wield? Answering such questions will provide the means of assessing the influence of the Church within social and cultural systems undergoing rapid change and contradictory processes of secularization and religious renewal and lead to a consideration of the nature of religious faith.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Notes
- 1.
C. Langlois, ‘Infaillibilité, une idée neuve au 19e siècle’ in Le continent théologique. Explorations historiques, Rennes, 2016, p. 61.
- 2.
T. Tackett, C. Langlois, ‘Ecclesiastical structures and clerical geography on the eve of the French Revolution’, French historical studies, 1980, p. 357.
- 3.
C. Langlois, T. Tackett, M. Vovelle, Atlas de la Révolution française, vol. IX, 1996, p. 42; R. Gibson, A social history of French catholicism, 1789–1914, 1989, p. 44. See also M.-H. Froeschlé-Chopard, Espace et sacré en Provence, 16e–20e siècles, 1994, pp. 305–317. The intense ‘shock’ this represented is discussed by R. Price, The Church and the State in France, 1789–1870. ‘Fear of God is the basis of Social Order’, 2017, Chap. 2.
- 4.
See also E. Duffy, Saints, Sacrilege and Sedition. Religion and conflict in the Tudor reformations, 2012, p. 176.
- 5.
The concept was developed by E. Larkin, ‘The Devotional revolution in Ireland, 1850–75’ American Historical Review, 1972. For subsequent debate, see e.g. L. van Ypersele, A.-D. Marcelis, (eds) Rêves de chrétienté, Réalités du monde. Imaginaires catholiques, Louvain-la-Neuve, 2001, pp. 7–9.
- 6.
R. Price, The Modernization of Rural France. Communications networks and agricultural market structures in 19th century France, 2017, Part 3.
- 7.
Y. Déloye, Les voix de Dieu. Pour une autre histoire du suffrage électoral: le clergé catholique et le vote 19e–20e siècles, 2006, p. 46; E. Bogalska-Martin, Sacrée liberté. Imaginaires sociaux dans les encycliques pontificales du 19e siècle, 2012, p. 10.
- 8.
See also H. Multon, ‘Un vecteur de la culture politique contre-révolutionnaire. La décadence dans la littérature apocalyptique’ in F. Jankowiak, (ed) La décadence dans la culture et la pensée politique, Rome, 2008, pp. 140–3.
- 9.
R. Schaefer, ‘Program for a new Catholic Wissenschaft: devotional activities and Catholic modernity in the 19th century’, Modern Intellectual History, 2007, p. 437.
- 10.
I. Katznelson, G. Stedman Jones, (eds) Religion and the Political Imagination, Cambridge 2010, p. 10.
- 11.
Ibid., p. 447.
- 12.
Anonymous publisher’s reader.
- 13.
A. Walch, La spiritualité conjugale dans le catholicisme français (16e–20e siècles), 2002, p. 477.
- 14.
J. de Vries, J. Morgan, (eds) Women, gender and religious culture in Britain, 1800–1940, 2010, p. 3.
- 15.
Rowan Williams, Why study the past? The quest for the historical church, 2005, p. 89.
- 16.
R. McKitterick, ‘Great light’, Times Literary Supplement, 22 May 2009, p. 9.
- 17.
See R. Harris, Lourdes. Body and spirit in the secular age, 1999, p. xv.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Price, R. (2018). Introduction. In: Religious Renewal in France, 1789-1870. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67196-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67196-3_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-67195-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-67196-3
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)