An edition of The travails of conscience (1998)
The travails of conscience
the Arnauld family and the Ancien Régime
By Alexander Sedgwick
Publish Date
1998
Publisher
Harvard University Press
Language
eng
Pages
297
Description:
The Arnauld family rose to prominence at the end of the sixteenth century by attaching themselves to the king. Their power and influence depended upon absolute loyalty and obedience to the sovereign whose own power they sought to enhance. Dictates of conscience, however, brought all that to an end and put them in conflict with both king and pope. The dramatic appeal of this book is underscored by a tumultuous period of French history which coincides with and punctuates the Arnauld family's struggle with the world. We see how this extraordinary family reacted to momentous political and religious developments, as well as the ways in which individual members, by means of their own convictions, helped shape the history of their time.