“In this thoughtful and accessible study, the thirteenth-century theologian and bishop of Paris William of Auvergne comes alive through an especially close reading of his sermons. Smith has a light touch that complements her thorough mastery of the details of William’s worldview and the context within which he taught and provided pastoral care. Fragments of a World is a stunning achievement, one of the finest biographies of a medieval figure that I know and a sheer pleasure to read.”

William Chester Jordan, Princeton University

“This book is a vivid portrait of an attractive and original mind in the intellectual, cultural, and social landscape of early thirteenth-century Paris, based on hundreds of sermons to the laity and clergy as well as academic writings that have a much more individual tone and color than most of the works by the famous scholastic synthesizers. Fragments of a World is a distinguished addition to the genre of Southern’s study of Grosseteste or Clanchy’s of Peter Abelard. It will be enlightening for specialists and students but also deserves to reach a wider public: no prior knowledge is assumed and everything is explained in an most engaging and readable style.”

David d’Avray, University College London

“Fragments of a World draws renewed and deserved attention to William of Auvergne, who played a key role in medieval French history, but it does more than that. While Smith plumbs new evidence to reveal William’s perspective on the biggest moral and social questions of his time, she also presents a three-dimensional portrait of thirteenth-century Paris in a book that will be as interesting to those who never knew about William as it will be useful to specialists.”

Lucy Pick, University of Chicago