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Clovis and Constantine. The Uses of History in Sixteenth-Century Gallicanism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2011

J. H. M. Salmon
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Extract

A strong case has been made for the appearance of a new kind of history in late sixteenth-century France. Whether or not it deserves the label ‘historicist’, it has been credited with a desire to discover the objective face of the past, with a critical approach to sources, and even, though more rarely, with attempts to explain historical process. Prominent among the new brand of historians are Jean du Tillet, Charles du Moulin, Pierre and François Pithou, Claude Fauchet and Etienne Pasquier. All these men of the robe are also celebrated as defenders of the liberties of the Gallican Church. The Gallican tradition shared an attitude towards the past that was quite contrary to the new history. It did not accept change for its own sake, nor did it see change as improvement pointing towards the present.

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Articles
Information
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History , Volume 41 , Issue 4 , October 1990 , pp. 584 - 605
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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References

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