Poets, Saints, and Visionaries of the Great Schism, 1378–1417

“Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski writes with a real sympathy for her subjects, who emerge as flesh-and-blood humans struggling to make sense of a profound crisis that threatens to undermine their faith in the clergy. No book more vividly tells the story of the Great Schism or brings together a more fascinating set of characters and texts from the period. I can think of no finer introduction to the workings of the minds of medieval people than Poets, Saints, and Visionaries.”

—Laura Ackerman Smoller, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

“Many scholars have claimed that the two principal kinds of medieval visions, the ‘experience-based’ religious and the ‘literary-poetic’ ones have to be examined together, but up to this moment no such analysis has been done. With an impressive tour de force and a smart, enjoyable narrative, Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski examines the common motifs and the peculiar metaphors of saintly, prophetic, and poetic visionaries during the period of the Great Schism. This specific context also allows her the exploration of the different lobbies and pressure groups promoting and using those visions. It also gives an opportunity for a witty, incisive analysis, reaching back to the experiences of a previous schism in the twelfth century, with Hildegard of Bingen and Elisabeth Schönau taking stands on it, and then going into details with Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Siena, Philippe de Mézières, Christine de Pizan, and several other fascinating prophets, visionaries, mystics, and poets, exploring the limits of our imaginary. This book is the first to analyze this ensemble together, and its perspicacious observations will be the starting point of any future research on this subject.”

—Gabor Klaniczay, Central European University

“This engaging book will satisfy any academic or layperson interested in the history of the Church, but also in the history of mentalities at large. The book is well-written and comprehensive on many levels.”

—Joëlle Rollo-Koster Canadian Journal of History

“Blumenfeld-Kosinski’s choice to focus on the imaginaire of the Great Schism is extremely productive; since the book focuses so extensively on visions and prophecies, one might even say it is an inspired choice. One of the most fascinating dimensions of her approach is the way in which it enables exploration of concepts and images across generic boundaries. Her book offers a fresh perspective on a rich period as well as some extremely well-known medieval writers.”

—Nancy Bradley Warren Spiritus

“[This book] is an excellent complement to our general knowledge of the schism in that it provides an intelligent reading of authors who are often overlooked in this context. The illustrations are particularly well chosen, and the bibliography gratifyingly full.”

—F. Donald Logan Religion and the Arts

“This book is provided with a genealogy of popes, with maps having excellent legends, fourteen illustrations, a good bibliography . . . and an index. The author’s style is leisurely and reads well. Poets, Saints, and Visionaries certainly belongs in university libraries and will profit students and teachers of the late Middle Ages and of Church history.”

—Edelgard E. DuBruck Fifteenth-Century Studies

“This well-researched and lively read will delight enthusiasts of medieval French literature. Its pace accelerates as it reaches its conclusion, leaving the reader wanting more.”

—Jennifer Anne Morrissey French Review