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Jean Gerson and the Last Medieval Reformation. By Brian Patrick McGuire. (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press. 2005. Pp. xviii, 446. $85.00 clothbound; $30.00 paperback.)
More than forty years ago now, in the distinguished two-volume tome on the later medieval church contributed to Fliche and Martin, Histoire de l'Église, F. Delaruelle chose to devote a whole chapter to Jean Gerson (1363-1429), long-serving Chancelor of the University of Paris, dedicated pastor, gifted preacher, tireless advocate of church reform "in head and members," distinguished theologian, and one of the leading intellectuals of his day. In so doing, and speaking of the first half of the fifteenth century, Delaruelle felt it warranted to portray the great Chancellor as "the mirror of his times" and to entitle the chapter "Le siècle de Gerson."
By the time he did so, scholarly interest in matters Gersonian had long since begun to quicken.That that was the case is evidenced inter alia by the decision of Palemon Glorieux to undertake the first new edition of Gerson's complete works since that of Dupin in 1706, by Max lieberman's extraordinary (and extraordinarily gritty) series of articles on his life and writings, and by the work of Louis Mourin on his sermons, Andre Combes on his mystical theology, and J. B. Morrall on his ecclesiology. In the years since then interest in one or other aspect of Gerson's richly varied career has, if anything, intensified. It is reflected, for example, in Gilbert Ouy's fundamental researches on the Gersonian manuscript tradition, in the works of G. H. M. Posthumus Meyjes on his ecclesiology, Louis B. Pascoe on his idea of reform, D. Catherine Brown on his pastoral theology, in Brian Patrick McGuire's translation into English of a whole series of his early writings as well as in his sponsorship and editing of a multi-authored Companion to Jean Gerson scheduled by Brill for publication in 2006.
All of that duly noted, the surprising thing about the currently thriving field of Gersonian studies is the fact that nobody since John Connolly in 1929 has made a full-scale attempt at a new biographical treatment of the man himself. That prominent gap in Gersoniana McGuire himself has now moved boldly to fill. He has done so in this substantial, painstakingly-researched,...