Preview
  • Scandal in the Parish: Priests and Parishioners Behaving Badly in Eighteenth-Century France

  • McGill-Queen’s Studies in the History of Religion, Book 2
  • By: Karen E. Carter
  • Narrated by: Amy Deuchler
  • Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Scandal in the Parish: Priests and Parishioners Behaving Badly in Eighteenth-Century France

By: Karen E. Carter
Narrated by: Amy Deuchler
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

In 1770, the priest Nicolas Vernier was accused of neglecting church services, inappropriate behaviour in the confessional, financial improprieties, and affairs with the village schoolmistresses. In a contentious church court case, parishioners described all of their priest's wrongdoings, and in turn, he detailed many of theirs. Ultimately, Vernier finished his career as a cathedral canon in another diocese.

Scandal in the Parish recounts Vernier's story and many similar 18th-century cases. In fascinating detail that reveals essential facets of rural religion during the Catholic Reformation period, Karen Carter considers French lay people's relationship with their parish curé, who governed and influenced so much of their religious practice. Although the priest's role as purveyor of God's grace through the sacraments was secure as long as he performed his duties appropriately, priests who were unable to navigate the pressures and high expectations put on them by their superiors and parishioners risked broken relationships, public disturbances of the peace, and even prosecution. These scandals, Carter demonstrates, tell us much about rural parish life, the processes of negotiation and accommodation between curés and their parishioners, and ongoing religious reforms and enforcement throughout the 18th century.

An engaging venture into the world of the parish that highlights the centrality of the priest-parishioner relationship, Scandal in the Parish reveals the attitudes and practices of ordinary people who were active agents in their religious and spiritual lives.

The book is published by McGill-Queen’s University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

"Well-written and clearly argued study." (Jeremy Hayhoe, Université de Moncton)

©2019 McGill-Queen's University Press (P)2020 Redwood Audiobooks
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Scandal in the Parish: Priests and Parishioners Behaving Badly in Eighteenth-Century France

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.