French Literature Reviews - 2026
Book of Miracles of Saint Gilles
Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Just published:
Livre des miracles de saint Gilles (Liber miraculorum sancti Egidii).
The Life of a Twelfth-Century Pilgrimage Sanctuary
By Marcel and Pierre-Gilles Girault
In collaboration with Annick Chupin and Gilles Duhil
Foreword by André Vauchez
Editions Paradigme, coll. Medievalia, 368 pages including 5 plates, 15x21 cm. 28 €
ISBN 978-2-86878-263-2
The first complete edition of the 12th-century Latin text based on the Paris manuscript, made accessible to all through a full French translation and a commentary comparing the source with other historical, archaeological, and literary data.
This work is published with the support of the CNRS and the SALVÉ Research Group (Sources, Actors, and Places of Religious Life in the Medieval Era), as part of the "Sanctuaries and Pilgrimages" program.
Abstract:
As the cradle of the Counts of Toulouse and a major center of Southern Romanesque art, the great abbey of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, built on the borders of Languedoc and Provence, was one of the most vibrant hubs of medieval religious life. A key stopover on the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela, Saint-Gilles was also, in the 12th century, the destination of one of Christendom's most important pilgrimages.
The Book of Miracles of Saint Gilles brings together thirty-one accounts of wonders attributed to the hermit saint, functioning as true "serial novels" featuring freed prisoners or the "un-hanged." These picturesque narratives provide exceptional testimony to the daily life and spirituality of medieval pilgrims and monks.
Published from the Paris manuscript, translated from Latin, and annotated under the direction of Marcel and Pierre-Gilles Girault, this is an exceptional document made available to historians, students, pilgrims, and all enthusiasts of the Middle Ages or Southern France.
André Vauchez's review: "The publication of the Liber miraculorum sancti Egidii, accompanied by an excellent French translation and a high-quality historical commentary, is to be welcomed as a happy event and a most timely initiative..."
The authors: Marcel Girault holds a doctorate in history and archaeology and revived the pilgrimage of Saint-Gilles (1965). He is the author of *La vie de saint Gilles* and *Les chemins de Saint-Gilles* (Lacour). Pierre-Gilles Girault is a graduate of the EHESS; together, they published *Visages de pèlerins au Moyen Age* (Zodiaque).
The Livre des miracles de saint Gilles belongs to the genre of hagiographic collections, which were common in the Middle Ages to document the sanctity and intercessory power of local figures. These texts often served liturgical purposes for monastic communities. The abbey of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, situated between Languedoc and Provence, functioned as a significant nexus for religious activity and artistic development during this period, serving as a stopover on the Way of St. James.
This edition provides the 12th-century Latin text based on the Paris manuscript, accompanied by a French translation and a commentary comparing the source with other historical, archaeological, and literary data. The volume includes thirty-one accounts of wonders attributed to the saint. Readers interested in the history of Southern France or the development of medieval religious sanctuaries may find this research relevant.