Jean-Claude Schmidtt

About the Author

Jean-Claude Schmitt is a distinguished French medievalist and historian whose scholarship illuminates the intersections of culture, religion, and folklore in the Middle Ages. A professor emeritus at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, Schmitt has devoted his career to exploring how oral traditions and popular beliefs shaped medieval society, challenging conventional narratives of ecclesiastical dominance. His seminal work, The Holy Greyhound: Guinefort, Healer of Children since the Thirteenth Century (Cambridge Studies in Oral and Literate Culture, Series Number 6), uncovers the fascinating legend of a canine saint venerated by rural communities, revealing the persistence of pre-Christian rituals amid Christian orthodoxy. Through meticulous archival research and interdisciplinary analysis, Schmitt's writings bridge history and anthropology, offering profound insights into the lived religion of ordinary people and the dynamics of cultural transmission across centuries.