Territories of Grace: Cultural Change in the Seventeenth-Century Diocese of GrenobleTerritories of Grace offers a sophisticated model of cultural change in early modern rural society, by examining the religion of villagers in the French diocese of Grenoble during the Counter-Reformation. Keith P. Luria describes the encounter of village and official forms of piety, arguing that historians have oversimplified the struggle between high and low culture in early modern Europe. He shows how religion was constructed in a complex relationship between villagers, concerned with creating their own religion, and a bishop, intent on cultivating in his flock a Counter-Reformation style of worship and a new standard of social behavior. Luria analyzes records of pastoral visits, examines forms of devotion to saints, and undertakes an ethnographic investigation of one community, to illustrate this interaction. He uncovers a process of cultural change in which villagers and reformers alike took an active role in creating their own culture by adopting, adapting, or resisting the symbols, practices, and meanings of others. The theoretical insights of his study will be of interest to historians, anthropologists, and others concerned with rural society, comparative religion, and questions of cultural change. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1991. |
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activities Anthony assembly authority beliefs bench Bernard bishop Blessed Sacrament Bligny Camus Catholic reformers catholicisme ceremony Chambéry chapel chapter clergy community's conflict confraternities Counter-Reformation cult of saints cultural change curés Dauphiné devotion diocese of Grenoble diocese's early modern Early Modern France ecclesiastical elite Entraigues Entraigues's episcopal Eucharist example families festivals fête flock France Francis de Sales French Froeschlé-Chopard Goncelin groups Guillaume Buisson Holy Savior Holy Spirit Ibid inhabitants Isère Jean John Joseph Lady of Carmes Lady of Consolation Lady of Pity Lavaldens Le Camus's main altar mass meanings miracles Montmélian mountain Nativity Our Lady neighbors Notre-Dame-de-Mésage Oisans orders parcellaire Paris parish church parishioners pastoral visits patron penitents Pierre piety political practices priests processions Protestants Recueil des ordonnances region relics Religion populaire religious change revenue rituals Roch role Rosary Rosary confraternity Saint-Pierre-d'Albigny Savoy Savoyard Sebastian seventeenth century shrines siècle social spiritual symbols tion Valbonnais Vercors village religion village's Vizille