The gargantuan polity
Subtitle: on the individual and the community in the French Renaissance
By: Michael Randall.
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Toronto; Buffalo
Language: eng; fre; frm
Number of pages: 374
ISBN-13: 9780802098146
Subjects: Individualism -- France -- History -- 16th century; Renaissance -- France; French literature -- 16th century -- History and criticism; Individualisme -- France -- Histoire -- 16e siècle; Littérature française -- 16e siècle -- Histoire et critique; Renaissance -- France; France -- Civilization -- 1328-1600; France -- Intellectual life -- 16th century; France -- Politics and government -- 1328-1589; France -- Vie intellectuelle -- 16e siècle; France -- Civilisation -- 1328-1600; France -- Politique et gouvernement -- 1328-1589
Description: "The Gargantuan Polity examines political, legal, theological, and literary texts in the late Middle Ages to show how individuals were defined by contracts of mutual obligation, which allowed rulers to hold power through the approval of their subjects. Noting how the relationship between rulers and common people changed with the rise of absolute monarchy, Michael Randall provides significant insight into Renaissance culture and politics by showing how individuals went from being understood in terms of their objective relations with the community to being subjective entities." "A profound and detailed study of one of Europe's most drastic periods of change, The Gargantuan Polity will be of interest to scholars of French literature. the Renaissance, and intellectual history."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [341]-361) and index.

Includes some text in French and Middle French.
Table of contents: title: Bottom-up vs top-down polities : the Council and the Pope; title: The representation of Basel in Chants Royaux written for the Puy de Rouen; title: Late-medieval polity and poetics : Jean Molinet's Ressource du petit peuple; title: The Kings two portraits in Claude de Seyssel and Guillaume Cretin; title: Barthélemy de Chasseneuz and the top-down polity; title: Rabelais and the ideal imperfect polity; title: The death of consensual politics and the individual in Agrippa d'Aubigné.