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McGuire, Brian Patrick. Jean Gerson and the Last Medieval Reformation. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2005. Pp. xvi, 441; 2 maps, 16 ill.
Although McGuire primarily offers a biography of Jean Gerson (1363-1429), Chancellor of the University of Paris (succeeding Pierre d'Ailly in 1395) and one of the leading theologians of his time, this author's study also sheds a fascinating light on the historical context, including the Schism, the decline of the late-medieval Church, the state of the university system, and, above all, on Gerson's significant effort to reform the Church from within to avoid its splintering into separate quasi-political and theological bodies. After elementary studies with the Benedictines of Saint-Rémi, and at the Collège de Navarre, then as Chancellor, Gerson may not have achieved all of his goals, but his large oeuvre provides remarkable insight into the conflicts and tensions tearing the Church apart at his time. Gerson's bibliography counts more than 500 authentic titles (plus a few false attributions), some edited during his lifetime.
McGuire's careful reading of Gerson's texts reveals that several late-medieval intellectuals knew how to analyze the basic problems of the papacy and the structure of the Church, as well as propose radical changes in order to save the clerical system. Yet the material interests of the powers in charge prevented reform. Whereas many individuals struggled hard throughout the early fifteenth century to understand the Great Schism (1378-1417) and the absolute power of several popes, ultimately they all failed - including Gerson - in keeping the Church from becoming a papal monarchy with influence upon secular rulers. This circumstance in turn made it difficult for Protestant reformers (in the early sixteenth century) to establish their own united religion, and a reform from within the system no longer seemed possible. According to McGuire, this failure resulted from the Church's rejection of "conciliar...