Abstract
The article intends to shed light on the manifold reception of medieval and early modern prophetic literature by Guillaume Postel in his attack of the Roman Papacy as the embodiment of an “Antichristic” force within the context of his eschatological vision of the supposedly imminent restitutio omnium. In particular, the Roman pontiff is seen by Postel as the opposer of at least three major forces that would bring about the final age of restitution: the council, the French king, and the pastor angelicus. Within this framework, the article aims at highlighting the previous French prophetic tradition that attributed to the French monarch notable responsibilities in the ecclesiastical affairs and presented him as the future universal ruler. On the other hand, the article shows the relation of Postel’s original understanding of the “angelic Papacy” (identified with Madre Zuana, a Venetian Virgin and the second manifestation of Christ within a female body) with the late medieval prophetic tradition revolved around the expectation of a saintly Pope reformer of the Church and the early modern Italian tradition of the so-called “living saints” (sante vive).
© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Religious Women and Liturgy in a Fifteenth-Century Portuguese Codex: Gendering the Reception and Profession Ceremonies in the Dominican Convents
- Memory and the Cloister: Mapping the Architecture of Observant Franciscan Identity in Brescia, 1422–1610
- La Babilonyke Meretrice Romaine: Roots and Character of Guillaume Postel’s Anti-Papalism
- Translating Women’s Silence: Erasmus’ Translation and Paraphrase of 1Corinthians 14:34–35
- Maritime Networks: Priests, Mariners, and Their Landing Places in Elizabethan and Early Stuart England
- “The Precious Gifts of Faith, Repentance, and the Feare of God”: Court Confessions and Emotions in Old and New England Witch Trials (ca. 1560–1692)
- Pascal’s Wafer: The Concept of Piety in Blaise Pascal’s Theological Anthropology
- Dossier: Text, Textile, and Theology 1
- Making the Bible a Fashion Accessory in Seventeenth-Century England: Materiality, Market, and the Present-Tense Protestantism of Embroidered Book Covers
- “And I Shall Give to Thee the Crown of Life”: The Utstein Antependium and the Visual Religious Culture in Early Modern Norway (ca. 1680–1700)
- Les ornements liturgiques des Carmes dans les anciens Pays-Bas du XVIIe siècle: un outil au service de leurs thèses
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Religious Women and Liturgy in a Fifteenth-Century Portuguese Codex: Gendering the Reception and Profession Ceremonies in the Dominican Convents
- Memory and the Cloister: Mapping the Architecture of Observant Franciscan Identity in Brescia, 1422–1610
- La Babilonyke Meretrice Romaine: Roots and Character of Guillaume Postel’s Anti-Papalism
- Translating Women’s Silence: Erasmus’ Translation and Paraphrase of 1Corinthians 14:34–35
- Maritime Networks: Priests, Mariners, and Their Landing Places in Elizabethan and Early Stuart England
- “The Precious Gifts of Faith, Repentance, and the Feare of God”: Court Confessions and Emotions in Old and New England Witch Trials (ca. 1560–1692)
- Pascal’s Wafer: The Concept of Piety in Blaise Pascal’s Theological Anthropology
- Dossier: Text, Textile, and Theology 1
- Making the Bible a Fashion Accessory in Seventeenth-Century England: Materiality, Market, and the Present-Tense Protestantism of Embroidered Book Covers
- “And I Shall Give to Thee the Crown of Life”: The Utstein Antependium and the Visual Religious Culture in Early Modern Norway (ca. 1680–1700)
- Les ornements liturgiques des Carmes dans les anciens Pays-Bas du XVIIe siècle: un outil au service de leurs thèses