Sacred history and national identity
Subtitle: comparisons between early modern Wales and Brittany
By: by Jason Nice.
Series: Religious cultures in the early modern world -- no. 4
Publisher: Pickering & Chatto
Published: 2009
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 239
ISBN-13: 9781851966233
Subjects: Nationalism -- Wales -- History -- 16th century; Nationalism -- France -- Brittany -- 16th century; Historiography -- Wales -- History -- 16th century; Historiography -- France -- Brittany -- History -- 16th century; Wales -- Church history; Brittany (France) -- Church history; Wales -- Politics and government -- 16th century; Brittany (France) -- Politics and government -- 16th century
Description: "The late sixteenth century saw a redrawing of the borders of north-west Europe. Wales and Brittany entered into unions with neighboring countries England and France. Nice uses Brittany and Wales' responses to unification to write a comparative history of national identity during the early modern period. The Estates of Brittany and the Council in the Marches of Wales sponsored works of sacred historiography which manipulated history to defend their jurisdictions and legitimize their legal claims over the land. Nice argues that the sacred histories of each country fostered contrasting national identities, one differentialist and the other assimilationist. This distinction, which uses terms characteristic of twentieth-century nationalism, demonstrates that the original function of national identities must be considered in order to appreciate their historical specificity and mutability."--Publisher's website.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-231) and index.