Piety and the People: Religious Printing in French, 1511–1551 (St Andrews Studies in Reformation History)

By: Francis M. Higman

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Synopsis: Did the 16th-century Reformation influence French language and culture? This book, the fullest available bibliography of religious printing in French during the early Reformation, provides the materials to answer this question. It assembles information on all known printed editions in French on religious subjects during the crucial period 1511-51 (up to the Edict of Chateaubriant), giving full bibliographical details, library locations and references in secondary literature. An alphabetical list is complemented by a chronological list, and by an analysis of editions by printers and publishers. The work provides the fullest checklist available of works and editions produced from all parts of the religious spectrum, both Roman Catholic and Protestant. It reveals who were the most active and influential writers, which were the most popular texts, and which were the most active printing centres in the field of religious printing in French. The chronological survey shows the immense growth in publications triggered by the Reformation movement, and reveals the radical change in religious sensibility during the period, from contemplative meditation to polemical debate.