Reactions among the First Estate to the French Revolution were decidedly complex. The work of John McManners, Bernard Plongeron, Michel Vovelle and Timothy Tackett have done much over the past decades to explore this complicated question. Generally, their work has focused on members of the episcopate and priesthood who refused to take the oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in 1791. The question of those curés who, swept up in the enthusiasm of the moments, swore loyalty to the French Revolution, remains far more neglected. Only Rodney Dean, in several substantial tomes, has explored the fate of the abbé Henri Grégoire and the Constitutional Church during the Terror, Directory and its final demise during the negotiations for the Concordat. This is why Chapman-Adisho's new study on Jean-Baptiste Volfius and his diocese in the Burgundian department of the Côte-d'Or is original, timely and to be welcomed.

The author has painstakingly researched the story of this liberal and progressive prelate. She has unpacked meticulously the ecclesiastical history of the diocese of Dijon before and after the Revolution. Volfius is a fascinating case, as he was neither a radical firebrand, nor a turncoat who constantly changed allegiances on mere political whim. He was a committed Gallican, who believed in a national Church that should reflect the administrative, social and political values of the regenerated French community to which it ministered. Indeed, he used his considerable intellect, as a former professor of rhetoric at the Collège des Godrans, to show that, in accepting the Revolution's mission, the Church was merely returning to its primitive roots as an apostle of the people. He was able to craft eloquent sermons, which won him many plaudits in Dijon. In 1791 he was elected Constitutional bishop of the new diocese of the Côte-d'Or. Volfius’ time in office, like that of most of his constitutional colleagues, was to be unhappy. In his first two years those within his diocese who were loyal to Rome did everything in their power to undermine him. When the Terror began de-Christianisers felt equally hostile to all members of the clergy, irrespective of whether they were loyal to the pope or Paris. Volfius was forced to resign his see, but did not renounce his priesthood (as so many other constitutionals were forced to do at this time). He participated enthusiastically in the abbé Gregoire's mission to resurrect the Constitutional Church. When this attempt failed, he retired into obscurity during the Empire. Sadly, Volfius’ great age meant that he survived into the Restoration when he was forced to publish a humiliating retraction, denouncing his previous conduct towards the papacy and the Bourbon monarchy.

Chapman-Adisho is to be complimented for rescuing Volfius and the Constitutional Church in Burgundy from oblivion. This is a meticulously researched study that makes an important contribution to the study of clergy loyal to the French Revolution. One hopes that others will follow in her footsteps. Indeed, it is unclear how far Volfius’ experiences in Dijon were representative of the Constitutional Church's brief existence. Although I deeply admire this work it does contain some minor errors. For example: Pope Pius vi did not leave Rome voluntarily in 1798, nor did he quite form a government in exile in Tuscany. Equally, the National Councils (of 1797 and 1801) of the Constitutional Church were not the first in many centuries to take place on French soil. Chapman-Adisho forgets the Council of Embrun (1727–28) which condemned the Jansenism of Jean Soanen, bishop of Senez. This was the last national council of the Gallican Church before the Revolution. Finally, the mysterious Cardinal de Perro (p. 158) must be the better-known Cardinal Michele di Pietro one imagines? These are minor slips in what is otherwise a worthwhile and original study that sheds much new light on the puzzle of the French Revolution's Constitutional Church.