The Talents of Jacopo da Varagine

In Epstein's sure hands, Jacopo emerges as one of the most active and talented minds of his day. Indeed, Epstein argues that one needs to read all of Jacopo's books, in a Genoese context, in order to understand the original scope of his thinking, which greatly influenced the ways generations of people across Europe experienced their Christianity.

Steven A. Epstein is Ahmanson-Murphy Distinguished Professor of Medieval History at the University of Kansas. He is the author of several books, including Speaking of Slavery: Color, Ethnicity, and Human Bondage in Italy, also from Cornell, and The Medieval Discovery of Nature.

In this book, Epstein set out to 'overcom[e] the barriers separating the students of [Jacopo's] books by genre'; to show 'how deeply Jacopo had thought about Genoese political and social history' (272), despite its absence from his sermons and the GL; and to uncover the breadth and originality of his thinking from beneath the density of his citation of others.... Epstein masterfully succeeds in his goals and reminds us of the insights to be gained in restoring this exemplary figure to his full complexity.

Any reader of this volume will be impressed by what Epstein himself knows.... The relaxed prose and self-conscious explanation of choices seem appropriate to a study dedicated by one scholar to another. The book serves as a guide to intellectual trajectory, a companion to preaching for liturgical feasts and an updated account of how Genoese society functioned in the late thirteenth century from one of the city's best historians.

George Dameron, Saint Michael’s College, author of Florence and Its Church in the Age of Dante:

This is a work of outstanding scholarship, impressive for Steven A. Epstein's command of the primary and secondary sources, for his ability to situate Jacopo within his Genoese context, and for the quality of his writing. It will constitute a significant contribution to our scholarship on Jacopo. One of the major strengths is its close readings of primary sources. Particularly noteworthy are the chapters on Jacopo as a historian, the complex and nuanced interpretations of Jacopo’s works, and the numerous Genoese references that help situate Jacopo in a specific place. I finished this book deeply impressed by the range of Jacopo’s contributions in a wide variety of genres. That an archbishop of a major port city was able to administer his archdiocese and complete so much brilliant work is remarkable. This book is distinguished by its interdisciplinarity, which should help it appeal to a wide variety of historians and scholars.

Samantha Kahn Herrick, Syracuse University, author of Imagining the Sacred Past: Hagiography and Power in Early Normandy:

The Talents of Jacopo da Varagine offers a new way of looking at a particularly important medieval writer and, therefore, a new way of understanding his works. Steven A. Epstein illuminates Jacopo's contexts, such as Genoa at its height and the Dominican order as it had become established by the later thirteenth century. This book will deepen scholarly use of Jacopo's writings; there are no comparable books that consider Jacopo in his integrity as an author in this way.