The Birth of Purgatory

by Jacques Le Goff, Arthur Goldhammer (Translation)

In The Birth of Purgatory , Jacques Le Goff, the brilliant medievalist and renowned Annales historian, is concerned not with theological discussion but with the growth of an idea, with the relation between belief and society, with mental structures, and with the historical role of the imagination. Le Goff argues that the doctrine of Purgatory did not appear in the Latin theology of the West before the late twelfth century, that the word purgatorium did not exist until then. He shows that the growth of a belief in an intermediate place between Heaven and Hell was closely bound up with profound changes in the social and intellectual reality of the Middle Ages. Throughout, Le Goff makes use of a wealth of archival material, much of which he has translated for the first time, inviting readers to examine evidence from the writings of great, obscure, or anonymous theologians.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Medieval, Medieval History, Theology, Christianity

440 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

A prolific medievalist of international renown, Le Goff is sometimes considered the principal heir and continuator of the movement known as Annales School (École des Annales), founded by his intellectual mentor Marc Bloch. Le Goff succeeded Fernand Braudel in 1972 at the head of the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) and was succeeded by François Furet in 1977. Along with Pierre Nora, he was one of the leading figure of New History (Nouvelle histoire) in the 1970s.

Since then, he has dedicated himself to studies on the historical anthropology of Western Europe during medieval times. He is well-known for contesting the very name of "Middle Ages" and its chronology, highlighting achievements of this period and variations inside it, in particular by attracting attention to the Renaissance of the 12th century.

Reviews

[Siti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impegnativo, mi ha tenuta lontana da altre letture. Stop ai saggi per ora.

[Zachary Kostopoulos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book, still a must read for any studies on purgatory. However, Le Goff's insistence that purgatory is only truly "born" in the 12th century with its emergence from scholastic minds as a concrete "place" can at times limit the subject too drastically, and it also ignores what might have been much earlier, fully-mature understandings of purgatory in Christian history. One should read Isabel Moreira's "Heaven's Purge" along with this book for a helpful, alternate approach to studying this subject.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid introduction into the history of Purgatory as an idea; however, it is not the most straightforward about its sources or how exactly some of the conclusions were formed. While it is an interesting read, I somehow feel that it is both too vague (because it only focuses on Purgatory without really considering Heaven and Hell) and too specific (it centers on monasticism and the Church and does not go into great detail about secular society).
Overall, a good read, but I am left with many questions.

[Alexis Grenier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comment tu produis quelque chose de même man fr??

[Antonio Fanelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

pagine e pagine per ripetere gli stessi concetti. Troppo noioso, pur se estremamente accurato.
l'argomento è abbastanza interessante, anche se perplime l'accanimento con cui, nei secoli, teologi padri della chiesa eccetera si siano dedicati a sviscerare quell'unica frase da una delle epistole di san Paolo (tra l'altro non si specifica nel libro se è una delle lettere autentiche o una delle apocrife).
Capisco che in quei secoli non c'era internet o la playstation, però ... bah, davvero io la religione e i religiosi proprio non riesco a comprenderli.

[Kamil · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a part of my historical studies on Purgatory, this book have tremendously helped me understand the subject. Even though the author mainly researches the 4th to 14th century's evolution of the purgatory, the style is same as in all other Le Goff's books: Long, many times entertanining, a few times boring, but to the point and concise. One of the things I appreciated about the book was the variety of the names of historical figures that were presented by the author, which I started exploring as I read to learn more of the historical contexts.
****4

[Filip Šimek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le Goff is a beast...I've been planning to read this book for a long time and I am happy I finally did it. Its subject is fascinating, his research meticulous, and his style engaging. It is trying to track the evolving idea of a "third" place - purgatory, using mostly text sources. The only thing I missed was more attention given to its iconography, but he explained that prior to the 13th century there were none. I am not 100 percent convinced by that but I understand. Otherwise, a really good book, and I am looking forward to reading some other works by this amazing scholar.

[Justin Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jacques Le Goff is by all accounts a very important historian. This book seems to be a collection of undigested reading notes on obscure theologians, except that undigested reading notes would probably have been better organized.

[Maximus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough and smoothly translated must-have for the person who collects spiritual books.

[Weslley Dos Santos Graper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma obra densa e magistral. Muito rica, específica e cheia de detalhes, porém esses fatores podem ser seus pontos positivos e negativos. Em muitos, momentos tive de buscar apoio em outros materiais complementares para entender certas questões, apesar de já ter uma certa base acerca da Idade Média. Saio da leitura com algumas questões, a exemplo de como o Purgatório (se é que já podemos falar dele) se manifestou nos cotidianos populares da baixa Idade Média e posteriormente na idade moderna (este recorte em nenhum momento o autor propôs a abordar, apenas assiná-la algumas questões no seu decorrer e ao final da obra). A qualidade da edição da editora Vozes não deixa a desejar na questão do material físico e tradução/adaptação para o Português, além de estar repleto de notas de roda pés muito auxiliares.

[Ben Mizrahi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall it is an excellent and informative book. I especially enjoyed the first two parts, about the precursors to purgatory (despite it containing material that, on my humble judgement, is not really relevant to purgatory's prehistory, such as the Hindu concept of the afterworld) and about the slow birth of purgatory itself, from Origen's heretical universal teachings (basically turning hell into one big purgatory) to early hesitant step, to Augustine's classification of sinners and Gregory the Great's idea about sinners who are not damned, but who cannot yet enter heaven either, paying for their sins in the very earthly places in which they have sinned, to the final birth of purgatory in 1170-1180 in Paris.

I think the third, and last part, is completely useless though. After chapter 8, Le Goff details the reception of the doctrine of purgatory in its first 150 years, but it is really beyond the declared scope of the book.

[Javier Prado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aprovecho para añadir esto aquí, después haberlo leído prácticamente entero para el TFG. Es un recorrido histórico muy completo sobre los limbos y Purgatorios cristianos, desde los orígenes y antecedentes primigenios hasta las últimas décadas del XX. Cierto es que quizá le falta algo de cohesión a los capítulos y la estructura general parece una recopilación de episodios dispersos, pero es lo más completo que encontré y, supongo, el libro más amplio y exhaustivo en este tema.

[Hannah Stake · Rating 4 out of 5]

a beautifully comprehensive history of the “birth” of purgatory. discussing the wars, philosophies, sciences, fears, saints, and anthropological phenomenons that played into the creation and evolution of purgatory.

my favorite quote from this book: “between the darkness of hell and the illumination of heaven, purgatory is a study in chiaroscuro in which the light steadily drives out the dark.”

[tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting in so far as you can really get a feel for how a particular doctrine (or idea, or movement, etc) comes into being, how it gets defined and how the various attitudes toward it while it develops end up affecting the end result. I really can't stress how interesting that is, or articulate how important I feel understanding the structure of how these concepts are "born" is properly. However, and it may just be my translation, it was incredibly dry to wade through. Most of my sluggishness reading it probably had to do with my limited knowledge of medieval catholic theology, but honestly the details of what was being discussed wasn't as interesting as the process being described. Not to diminish the appeal of purgatory as a subject to explore but... you'll see what I mean if you read it.

[John Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book of its type I have ever read. Le Goff masterfully puts together the story of the development of the doctrine of purgatory, beginning from the Alexandrian church fathers and bringing us all the way to high-medieval scholars and churchmen. He is a master of first-source research, filling each page with extensive details and documentation from the private back rooms of little known libraries in France.

[Graziano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quia territi purgabuntur (Giobbe 41.16)(362)

Quando il cristianesimo ... si mise a riflettere, tra il II e il IV secolo, sulla situazione delle anime tra la morte individuale e il giudizio finale, e quando i cristiani pensarono ... che le anime di alcuni peccatori potevano forse, durante quel lasso di tempo, essere salvate, probabilmente subendo una prova, la credenza che così si manifestava (e che nel secolo XII darà origine al Purgatorio) non sfociò nella localizzazione precisa di tale situazione e di tale prova(5)

Chi parla del Purgatorio ... per il periodo che va dall'Impero romano alla cristianità del secolo XIII ... si lascia sfuggire aspetti capitali - se non l'essenza stessa - di quella storia. Si lascia sfuggire ... l'occasione di individuare, a proposito della credenza nel Purgatorio, un fenomeno di grande importanza nella storia delle idee e della mentalità: il processo di spazializzazione del pensiero. (6)

L'immaginario dell'aldilà è stato un'arma politica. Gregorio Magno, però, dispone ancora soltanto dell'Inferno. Il ricorso a quest'arma suprema si può attuare soltanto in casi estremi. Il Purgatorio permetterà di graduare la minaccia. (107)

Il bisogno del Purgatorio, di un'ultima peripezia tra la morte e la resurrezione, di un prolungamento del processo di penitenza e di salvezza al di là della falsa frontiera della morte è diventato un'esigenza di massa. Vox populi...(326)

[Delia · Rating 2 out of 5]

We have to start remembering that this is an essay, a monography on the concept of Purgatory and the creation of its idea, its location and function, during centuries of theological reflection.
That is fine. But, this is not only an academic work, it is aimed also to a wider public.
I'm sorry to say that I didn't enjoyed this book as I usually do with Le Goff's works.
Too many references, too many examples. Most of them not providing useful support to concepts.
As I learnt many times, a British way of doing History. Which I really appreciate, usually.
Not in this case, maybe because this topic doesn't need this structure.
I tried to finish, but I jumped some points.
A condensed version would have been more apreciated.

[Przemysław Zając · Rating 5 out of 5]

fundamental

[Alessandro Nicolai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessante e specialistico, si vede che è un pó datato e forse teoppo nozioistico ma LeGoff resta remore un bel leggere

[Geof Sage · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good God, hire a proof reader.

Pslam was a particularly low point.

[Jacob Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough and scholarly overview of the sources of the doctrine of Purgatory and the process of its distillation and solidification in the 12th and 13th centuries. In a nutshell, the scriptural basis of Purgatory is primarily 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, Matthew 12:31-32, and 2 Maccabees 12:4-46. A deeper and more cohesive picture emerged from the writings of St. Augustine, particularly his 'Enchiridion,' and Pope St. Gregory the Great, particularly his 'Dialogues.' All of these texts were then further synthesized and commented upon by a variety of theologians, most notably Peter Lombard (1155-57), whose 'Sententiae' became the core theology textbook for generations of Parisian academics. Because of this, Albertus Magnus, Bonaventure, Alexander of Hales, and Thomas Aquinas all produced commentaries on the 'Sententiae' which further fine-tuned and elaborated the doctrine. The 2nd Council of Lyons in 1274 first officially established Purgatory as Catholic dogma. A very worthwhile read, and even more interesting because the author is an agnostic, and so comes to the subject from more of an academic historical and sociological perspective, which seems helpful for a thorough understanding of this particular topic.

[Makomai · Rating 3 out of 5]

tanta diversitas scripturarum...

Da buon ateo, la penso come Borges: El Infierno y el paraìso me parecen desproporcionados: los actos de los hombres no merecen tanto. Nella mia visione, quindi, inferno, paradiso e purgatorio hanno un senso solo per come sono percepiti dalla società e dalla pische degli individui. Il tema appartiene, per me, alla storia del costume. Trovo quindi più interessante Ariès (Storia della morte in occidente), che non si limita a registrare dettagliatamente le varie fasi dell'ingresso di un doppio grado di giudizio del defunto (alla morte ed alla fine dei tempi), ma ne analizza le ragioni, che Le Goff accenna appena (nel capitolo "la conversione al terreno ed alla morte individuale"). Ciò detto, anche un'analisi della dottrina del purgatorio ha il suo interesse, anche se la teologia secondo me è l'ineffabile che affronta l'inconoscibile; purtroppo, buona parte del libro si risolve proprio in questo...

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Examines the development of the idea of Purgatory as a distinct place with a distinct purpose. Examines theological treatises, sermons, poetry (esp. Dante), etc. to trace the gradual articulation of the ideology of Purgatory over the course of the latter half of the twelfth century and into the early fourteenth, by which time Le Goff concludes that it had more or less coalesced into its recognisably "modern form". Argues that by the early fourteenth century, Purgatory had morphed into a doctrine that offered hope for salvation, away from its initial conception as a tool for inflicting damnation.

[Mathieu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabuleux, fabuleux livre qui nous montre la naissance d'une géographie de l'imaginaire pour répondre aux besoins et aux angoisses des chrétiens du XIIe s. Le Purgatoire a une histoire, il est datable et on peut remonter jusqu'à ses origines. Le Goff est brillant.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stellt, geradezu beispielhaft für die annalles Schule die Entwicklung eines Weltbildes von Augustinus bis ans Ende des 12 Jahrhunderts dar, Lesenswert

[Barbara D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reading!

[Stephen Cranney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very thick with detail but on the whole not very thesis driven.

[Hérodote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livre très intéressant. Mais de trop nombreux exemples/citations qui noient le propos ou lassent le lecteur.

[Derek Parsons · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting topic but I found the writing overindulgent. It's necessary scholarship though.