Abbot Suger of St-Denis: Church and State in Early Twelfth-Century France

by Lindy Grant, David Bates

Overview

Based on a fresh reading of primary sources, Lindy Grant's comprehensive biography of Abbot Suger (1081-1151) provides a reassessment of a key figure of the twelfth century. Active in secular and religious affairs alike - Suger was Regent of France and also abbot of one of the most important abbeys in Europe during the time of the Gregorian reforms. But he is primarily remembered as a great artistic patron whose commissions included buildings in the new Gothic style. Lindy Grant reviews him in all these roles - and offers a corrective to the current tendency to exaggerate his role as architect of both French royal power and the new gothic form.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780582051508
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/14/1998
Series:	The Medieval World
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	358
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Lindy Grant, David Bates

Table of Contents

PART ONE: SETTING THE SCENE. 1. Interpreting Suger. 2. Reading Between the Lines. 3. Low Horizons: The Political and Religious Landscape of Capetian France Around 1100.PART TWO: ACTIVE LIFE. 4. Youth and Education. 5. The Young Politician 1106-1122. 6. The Abbot as Politician 1122-1137. 7. The Abbot as Politician 1137-mid-1140s.8. The Regent 1147-1149. PART THREE: THE ABBOT'S LIFE. 9. Pastor of his Flock. 10. Guardian of Abbey Property.11. The Patron. PART FOUR: DRAWING THE CURTAIN. 12. The Final Years 1149-1151. 13. Broad Horizons: The Political and Religious Landscape of Capetian France around 1150.

Editorial Reviews

'lively and interesting...a refreshing interpretation firmly based on primary sources'Ecclesiastical History

From the Publisher