Reviews for French at Home: A Nation's Character, Culture and Genius as Observed by an American Diplomat

The average rating for French at Home: A Nation's Character, Culture and Genius as Observed by an American Diplomat based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-04-23 00:00:00 Michael Demarco Really enjoyable book to read. Gaposchkin takes a look at the canonization process of King Louis IX of France (essentially, how he went from Louis IX to Saint Louis). It's a fun story in its own right, with lots of power plays between Pope Boniface VIII and Louis's grandson Philip IV, but the real focus on the story is how Louis was seen after his canonization. Gaposchkin makes wonderful use of lesser-known sources - especially sermons and liturgies written for Louis - and she explores how different groups at the time had very different ideas of what precisely made Louis a saint. The Capetians, the royal dynasty of France, unsurprisingly saw Louis as an archetype of an ideal king who protected his people through his wisdom, justice, and piety. He was also later utilized as a tool of political legitimization. The Franciscans saw him as a kind of kingly Francis, echoing the office of their founder in Louis's later office, and portraying him as defined by humility, self-sacrifice, and imitation of Christ (especially through crusade). Later Books of Hours, frequently made for St. Louis's female descendants, focused on the aspects of Louis's life that should be emulated by a good queen. On the whole, Louis's legacy was elastic, and acted as a mirror of both differing forms of piety and how those forms changed during the 13th and 14th centuries. Gaposchkin is a great writer and her knowledge of liturgy is especially impressive. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in medieval piety or medieval kingship.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-06-07 00:00:00 Darren Fraley This is a really informational book and if you can find a copy of it, you should definitely read it. You have French history colliding with witchcraft that is based in Catholic teachings. This is a really good read you can tell Mollenauer knows how to write a story. Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys these intersections of religion, witchcraft, and royalty for their history reading.