Craig E. Harline and Eddy F. Put, eds. A Bishop's Tale: Mathias Hovius Among His Flock in Seventeenth-Century Flanders.

London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. Pbk. x + 388 pp. index, illus, map. gloss, bibl. $16.95. ISBN: 0-300-09405-1.

Following the path of such masters of historical storytelling as Natalie Zemon Davis and Carlo Ginzburg, A Bishop's Tale engages a colorful cast of characters to draw the reader into Catholic life on the front line of the religious conflicts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Spanish Netherlands. The lead character in this tale is Mathias Hovius, archbishop of Mechelen from 1596 to 1620. Throughout his tenure, he worked relentlessly to balance his vision of godliness with the social, political, and religious realities of the larger society of his day.

But why use an archbishop as a window onto these realities? Well-acquainted with the historiographical fashion for "history from below," authors Craig Harline and Eddy Put argue convincingly that Mathias Hovius' tale is crucial to understanding religion at the time because the religion of bishops was just as diverse as scholars have shown lay religion to be, and thus warrants study. Furthermore, in his effort to implement the decrees of Trent, Bishop Hovius became a fundamental point of intersection, negotiation, and debate between the church hierarchy and people from all social stations. Consequently, his tale elucidates the wider process of Catholicism in action and the forces that shaped it. The lifeblood of this tale is a journal kept by Bishop Hovius between 1617 and 1620, in which he recorded his appointments, triumphs, and defeats. Harline and Put scoured legal records, letters, and administrative documents to complete the picture of Bishop Hovius' world as he and his contemporaries saw it.

In choosing the word "tale" for the title, Harline and Put reveal that their book falls outside the confines of traditional historical biography. Rather than covering Bishop Hovius' life in full, they present sixteen snapshots, chronologically arranged, to bring his world alive, from his battle to put the archdiocese on a firm financial footing (chap. 4) to his establishment of sacred shrines (chap. 6) to his settlement of marital disputes (chap. 15). The result is mesmerizing and deserves a wide readership not simply because the stories illuminate the social and religious history of an understudied region of early modern Europe, but because Harline and Put tell them with such care and vibrancy.

As readers immerse themselves in the tale, several features emerge that speak to broader issues in Reformation history. First among them is that Bishop Hovius' loyalties lay foremost in the local church and in his role as its head pastor. This stance often brought him into conflict with Rome because it feared the loss of central authority, even in instances when in theory they were on the same side, such as promoting reform. A strong local church also appealed to the archdukes who ruled the Spanish Netherlands during most of Bishop Hovius' episcopate, for they equated strong religion with a strong state. They thus became his biggest supporters, but their support was selective, guided by political interests as much as piety. Even if church and state collaborated to create a more disciplined society in the Spanish Netherlands, as they did throughout much of early modern Europe, Bishop Hovius' tale reveals that it was the archdukes who were ultimately in charge.

Another striking characteristic of Bishop Hovius' world was that despite the Council of Trent's reinforcement of episcopal authority, in reality this authority was in a constant state of flux as the laity and clergy competed for power, prestige, and the right to set the tone of their own lives--from wine-guzzling canons resisting Bishop Hovius' discipline to rural parishioners demanding the removal of their pastor. Therefore, no matter how strong his commitment to strengthening the local church as a caretaker of souls and a bastion of moral authority, translating reform into practice was a daunting challenge. In response, Bishop Hovius became a shrewd negotiator and political maneuverer who recognized the necessity of compromise.

When Bishop Hovius died in 1620, church bells rang and a suitable eulogist was summoned. In his address, the eulogist highlighted what he and his fellow clergymen regarded as the archbishop's greatest accomplishments, including the establishment of a seminary and the convocation of a provincial council. By reconstructing Bishop Hovius' day-to-day life, Harline and Put add flesh and blood to this official portrait and, in the process, expose just how diffuse, complex, and diverse religion could be. In fact, as John O'Malley has recently argued and A Bishop's Tale conveys so vividly, it was precisely such characteristics that defined early modern Catholicism.

KATHARINE J. LUALDI

University of Southern Maine