The Body Broken

This book examines the disputes about the eucharist that were carried out in the popular press in 16th-century France. Christopher Elwood's focus is on the way in which power is symbolized in eucharistic doctrine, and how representations of power in the context of theological discussion influenced understandings of power in other spheres of life. By concentrating on writings that were accessible to and likely to be read by a popular, lay audience, Elwood seeks to discover what ideas concerning the eucharist were actually conveyed to readers. His central argument is that the Calvinist eucharistic theory propounded in the 16th century included a way of construing power and the relation between the sacred and society that contributed in a very significant way to the ideological, social, and political unrest that characterized the Reformation period.