This is a very well-written, clever, humane, and insightful piece of history; calling it 'a delight' may seem gauche, given the often rather terrible subject matter, but nonetheless it does delight, enthrall, and impress throughout.... It is... written with considerable verve and imagination, based upon a thorough, insightful, and diligent interrogation of a variety of unpublished archival sources. ... Read moreSo Great a Light, So Great a Smoke is an incredibly thorough piece of work, immensely readable, and stuffed with fascinating stories. I particularly like the fact that Louisa A. Burnham solved a couple of age-old mysteries during the course of her research.
Catherine Jinks, author of The Secret Familiar Louisa A. Burnham has employed her extensive knowledge of inquisitorial sources concerning Languedoc and her close acquaintance with archival sources from Montpelier to produce a book that will be of great interest to every student of medieval heresy, Franciscan history, or French social history. She also manages to be very readable, a rare attainment for any scholar.
David Burr, Virginia Tech Louisa A. Burnham addresses a uniquely significant but hitherto neglected chapter in the history of popular religious movements in the Middle Ages: the Beguins of fourteenth-century Languedoc. Her research unveils a community of believers straddling the fringes of orthodoxy and dedicated to preserving the controversial apocalyptic teachings of their spiritual father, Peter John Olivi. Burnham's description of the bonds of fellowship among a generation of dedicated believers, and their resistance tactics when forced underground by persecution, is composed with uncommon compassion and scholarly acumen. Rich in historical detail and in intimate human portraits, So Great a Light, So Great a Smoke provides both a history of the Beguin movement as a whole and a moving reconstruction of the lives of individual men and women struggling to maintain their beliefs and survive in the face of repression.
Nancy Caciola, University of California, San Diego, author of Discerning Spirits Show Less