Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's book The Beggar and the Professor: A Sixteenth-Century Family Saga is an absorbing tale of a family which spans an entire centuries and covers three generations. The history of this family is the history of reformation and renaissance in Europe and through the memoirs, letters and other documents, the lives of three main characters are developed brilliantly to give an insight into life in that age. These three characters namely Thomas, Sr., Felix, and Thomas Platter, Jr., have had many biographical tales associated with them over the last several centuries.
             Scholars and historians have exploited the autobiographical material available on the subjects but none of these attempts have been as successful as the one made by Ladurie. The story of these characters is so important because it best illustrates the struggles faced by them and the material and social upward mobility they gained. There is a strong religious flavor too associated with their lives and those who are interested in exploring the history of Church should definitely read this account. Instead of just presenting the lives of the three males, the author has tried to expose the political, religious, cultural, and social psyches of the people at that time in history.
             Sixteenth century Europe was an interesting amalgamation of changing times. Reformation and renaissance were important phenomenon and many religious people were highly wary of the changes. Author is not exactly objective in his remarks as well. For example when talking about John Calvin and the publication of his book Institutes of the Christian Religion, Ladurie refers to Calvin as the ". . . future dictator of Geneva" (68). And without mincing words maintains that Thomas, Sr.'s faith ". . . had come a long way from the fanatical iconoclasm of his youth, a period in which he had suffered from the infantile disorder of hysterical ultra-dogmatic orthodoxy. B
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