Inventing the Church
The Pull of the Past in Ecclesial Politics
$53.59
- Paperback
328 pages
- Release Date
11 November 2025
Summary
Why is the official narrative of the history of the Catholic Church so discordant with the archival sources of the Middle Ages? From the fifteenth century down to the present day, the Church has constructed an identity and a past at odds with what the records show-expanding the authority and power of the papacy in ways that have striking broader political implications.
This audacious and nuanced book explores how the Church has repeatedly invented and reinvented itself through a const…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780231218399 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0231218397 |
| Author: | Bénédicte Sère, Caroline Wazer |
| Publisher: | Columbia University Press |
| Imprint: | Columbia University Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 328 |
| Release Date: | 11 November 2025 |
| Weight: | 408g |
| Dimensions: | 140mm x 216mm |
| Series: | Religion, Culture, and Public Life |
Critics Review
Was there a medieval Church? Is the modern Church based on it? Bénédicte Sère convincingly answers “no” to both questions. Both Churches instead are imaginative constructions. How they came to be so is the story of this book. In the process, it probes our assumptions about the very nature of knowledge, tradition, and interpretation. – Barbara H. Rosenwein, Professor Emerita, Loyola University Chicago
Inventing the Church is a sophisticated and eye-opening exercise in historiographical analysis. Bénédicte Sère begins with a deceptively simple question: why do histories of the medieval Church—including those by academics as well as those of the Church itself—deviate significantly from readily available archival and printed documents? Sère’s answers are revelatory with respect to both the use of documentary evidence and the construction of historical narratives: that “strategies for constructing a memory” should not be disengaged from “knowledge itself.” This is an invaluable lesson for our time. – Alan Cooper, Elaine Ravich Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, The Jewish Theological Seminary
Inventing the Church illuminates the crucial role of the past in debates over ecclesial politics. Bénédicte Sère explores conflicts between writings on Church politics and the collisions of those writings with the sources, revealing the recent roots of seven key streams of thought. In so doing, she casts light on recent Church history as it is molded by ecclesial politics. – Thomas Izbicki, Librarian Emeritus, Global Medieval Studies, Rutgers University
Bénédicte Sère
Bénédicte Sère is a member of the Institut Universitaire de France and an associate professor in medieval history at the University of Paris Nanterre. She is a visiting professor at Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Caroline Wazer is a translator and writer who holds a PhD in ancient Roman history from Columbia University.
Caroline Walker Bynum is University Professor Emerita at Columbia University and professor emerita of medieval European history at the Institute for Advanced Study.
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