Men at the Center

Download or read book Men at the Center written by William C. Jordan and published by Central European University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Three portraits of men who were at the very center of governance in thirteenth-century France men who strove in the shadow of King Louis IX (Saint Louis) to impose a redemptive regime on the realm. Professor Jordan treats them as individuals, but in a sense they are also types: Robert of Sorbon, a churchman; Etienne Boileau, a bourgeois; and Simon de Nesle, an aristocrat. Robert was the founder of the Sorbonne; Boileau was the pr v t or royal administrator of Paris; and Simon was twice co-regent of the kingdom. Thinking about them and their relations with Louis IX opens up a new and altogether sobering vista for exploring the nature of the king's rule and the impact of his rule on his subjects.