Margot E. Fassler is the Robert Tangeman Professor of Music History at Yale University.
“Fassler is one of the only scholars in medieval musicology able to
bring both the liturgical and the historical expertise to questions
of cult. We so desperately need this book if we are to fully
understand the workings of religion in medieval Europe.”—Rachel
Fulton, University of Chicago
*Rachel Fulton*
"Fassler goes much further in her explication of the liturgy of
Chartres Cathedral than any scholar has yet done. This is destined
to be an important book."—James Bugslag, University of Manitoba
*James Bugslag*
"The scholarly core and unique contribution of Fassler's
monumental book is a meticulously detailed study of the
development and dynamics of this Fulbertian phenomenon of the feast
of Mary's Nativity through close reading of the material that
created it. . . . The Virgin of Chartres will appeal not only
to medievalists and liturgists but to the general readership as
well. . . . If you are a lover of Chartres—and who is not
a lover of Chartres even after visiting only once?—there
is much in this masterful and wonderfully interdisciplinary new
study to inform, delight and illuminate."—Franco Mormando, America:
The National Catholic Weekly
*America: The National Catholic Weekly*
“[A] vivid chronicle . . . Engaging . . . Important reading for
students and scholars of medieval studies, art history, liturgics,
and theology.”—A. W. Klink, Choice
*Choice*
“Margot Fassler has succeeded in constructing an account . . . that
is not unlike the magnificent cathedral that is her subject:
complex, awesome, instructive, and also ultimately edifying.”—Emma
Dillon, Journal of the American Musicological Society
*Journal of the American Musicological Society*
"The Virgin of Chartres is an astonishingly bold, broad, and
learned account of the relationship between social and political
history, church and kingship, theology and liturgy, in the rise of
the cult of the Virgin and the building of Chartres, her chief
sanctuary in Europe."—Howard R. Bloch
*Howard R. Bloch*
"This imaginative, pioneering, but also precise and thorough
examination of the cult of Mary at Chartres examines the medieval
processes of knowing the past through rituals, visual art, music,
and devotional texts. The result is a total history of
devotions to the Virgin at one of the great cathedrals of the
Middle Ages and a model of multi-disciplinary study in any
period."—Robert Nelson
*Robert Nelson*
“Among its chief virtues is the subtle presentation of a wide range
of evidences that engender nuanced connections in the mind of the
reader. What results is something akin to a thick description, in
the anthropological sense of the term, of the Virgin’s cult at
medieval Chartres. Moreover, the book repeatedly and generously
imagines productive trajectories for future inquiries, especially
with respect to the political implications of the liturgy. One
could extend Fassler’s admirably interdisciplinary approach to
subsequent artistic and architectural campaigns of the cathedral,
as well as to broader trends within the monumental arts throughout
the region. Did, for example, the Thibaudians have an agenda in the
construction of history that can be observed in other churches?
What role might the Virgin have played in forging regional
identities beyond the city limits of Chartres? Fassler has provided
a great service in offering future generations of scholars a
formidable and flexible model for approaching these and many other
questions. For this reason, her study will likely endure as
essential reading not only for students of Chartres but for all
those interested in examining the multifaceted ways that medieval
communities constructed their own histories.”—Kirk Ambrose
*Kirk Ambrose*
“Comprising roughly one hundred pages, the volume’s eight
substantial and extremely useful appendices include, among others,
a genealogy of the Thibaudians, transcriptions and translations of
key liturgical texts, a table of donors, and a list of liturgical
manuscripts that can be associated with Chartres. In perusing these
fascinating materials, I was struck by how deftly Fassler has
distilled her arguments from primary sources.”—Kirk Ambrose
*Kirk Ambrose*
“Fassler’s analysis and explication of the message proclaimed
jointly by multiple media at Chartres holds enormous value. As she
deftly traces the complex interplay of memory, liturgy, and artwork
at Chartres, Fassler reveals the sophistication and reach of
medieval “history making” more generally, and she challenges us to
do justice to this complexity in our own understanding of the
past.”—Samantha Kahn Herrick, American Historical Review
*American Historical Review*
Winner of the 2012 Otto Gründler Book Prize sponsored by
Western Michigan University.
*Western Michigan University*
“Riveting . . . magisterial . . . exquisite . . . an unprecedented
depth of understanding and empathy . . . [Fassler’s] compelling
vision of the power of liturgy offers fresh insight into medieval
Christian cultures across the disciplines.”—from the citation of
the 2012 Otto Gründler Book Prize
*Otto Gründler Book Prize*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
