Barbara Diefendorf | Boston University (original) (raw)

Papers by Barbara Diefendorf

Research paper thumbnail of Were the Wars of Religion about Religion?

Political Theology, 2014

William Cavanaugh's The Myth of Religious Violence raises important questions about the role of r... more William Cavanaugh's The Myth of Religious Violence raises important questions about the role of religion in society. It challenges all-too-common misunderstandings about the relationship between religion and politics and, most valuably, warns against any assumption that religion is peculiarly prone to violence. This essay nevertheless takes issue with his attempt to disprove what he calls ''the myth of religious violence'' with evidence from the Wars of Religion in sixteenth-and seventeenth-century Europe and his claim that ''the story of these wars serves as a kind of creation myth for the modern state'' (10). The essay emphasizes the importance of understanding the religious dimensions of early modern Europe's wars but also of recognizing that, in both historical and contemporary situations, religious motivations are best understood not as independent variables but rather as catalysts that could exacerbate-or relieve-tensions rooted in other sorts of divisions or quarrels. keywords Wars of Religion, religious violence, Huguenots William Cavanaugh's The Myth of Religious Violence raises important questions about the role of religion in society. The book challenges all-too-common misunderstandings about the relationship between religion and politics and, most valuably, warns against any assumption that religion is ''peculiarly,'' or inherently, prone to violence (8). I agree with Cavanaugh on this and a number of other points but must take issue with his attempt to disprove what he calls ''the myth of religious violence'' in Chapter 3 of the book, where he argues that the term ''wars of religion'' commonly affixed to the conflicts that embroiled Western Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is a misnomer and a particularly dangerous one because ''the story of these wars serves as a kind of creation myth for the modern state'' (10). I respond as a historian who has spent much of her career studying the Wars of Religion in France, the conflicts that Cavanaugh makes the focus of his critique, and disagree with his interpretation of both historical evidence and historiographical tendencies in the literature about the wars. My

Research paper thumbnail of Planting the Cross: Catholic Reform and Renewal in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century France, written by Barbara B. Diefendorf

Journal of Jesuit Studies, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Intimate Enemies: Religious Difference in Seventeenth-Century French Catholic Hagiography

Palgrave Studies in the History of Experience, 2019

In the opening article of this collection, ‘Intimate Enemies: Religious Difference in Seventeenth... more In the opening article of this collection, ‘Intimate Enemies: Religious Difference in Seventeenth-Century French Catholic Hagiography’, Barbara Diefendorf uses French seventeenth-century Catholic biographies to examine relations between Catholics and Protestants in intimate settings such as in family life, work, and friendship. Previous research has tended to emphasise the relatively peaceful inter-confessional relations, despite repeated violent outbreaks, that reigned more or less until the suppression of the Protestant faith in 1685 by the king. In her article, Diefendorf shows that the hardening of confessional lines had begun already before the actions of Louis XIV and that in this, Catholic hagiography was one important tool used to point to the dangers of heresy.

Research paper thumbnail of From Mother to Son: The Selected Letters of Marie de l'Incarnation to Claude Martin From Mother to Son: The Selected Letters of Marie de l'Incarnation to Claude Martin . Mary Dunn, translated with introduction and notes. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Pp. 256, $81.50 cloth

Canadian Historical Review, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Prologue to a Massacre: Popular Unrest in Paris, 1557-1572

The American Historical Review, 1985

... A bloody riot took place on March 20, when a Catholic crowd attempted to disinter a corpse th... more ... A bloody riot took place on March 20, when a Catholic crowd attempted to disinter a corpse that had been buried according to Reformed rites in the Cemetery of the Innocents.48 The presence of the Protestant leader Louis de Bourbon, prince de Conde, who was in Paris to ...

Research paper thumbnail of Reflections on Community and Identity

French Historical Studies

Research paper thumbnail of Were the Wars of Religion about Religion?

Political Theology, 2014

William Cavanaugh's The Myth of Religious Violence raises important questions about the role of r... more William Cavanaugh's The Myth of Religious Violence raises important questions about the role of religion in society. It challenges all-too-common misunderstandings about the relationship between religion and politics and, most valuably, warns against any assumption that religion is peculiarly prone to violence. This essay nevertheless takes issue with his attempt to disprove what he calls ''the myth of religious violence'' with evidence from the Wars of Religion in sixteenth-and seventeenth-century Europe and his claim that ''the story of these wars serves as a kind of creation myth for the modern state'' (10). The essay emphasizes the importance of understanding the religious dimensions of early modern Europe's wars but also of recognizing that, in both historical and contemporary situations, religious motivations are best understood not as independent variables but rather as catalysts that could exacerbate-or relieve-tensions rooted in other sorts of divisions or quarrels. keywords Wars of Religion, religious violence, Huguenots William Cavanaugh's The Myth of Religious Violence raises important questions about the role of religion in society. The book challenges all-too-common misunderstandings about the relationship between religion and politics and, most valuably, warns against any assumption that religion is ''peculiarly,'' or inherently, prone to violence (8). I agree with Cavanaugh on this and a number of other points but must take issue with his attempt to disprove what he calls ''the myth of religious violence'' in Chapter 3 of the book, where he argues that the term ''wars of religion'' commonly affixed to the conflicts that embroiled Western Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is a misnomer and a particularly dangerous one because ''the story of these wars serves as a kind of creation myth for the modern state'' (10). I respond as a historian who has spent much of her career studying the Wars of Religion in France, the conflicts that Cavanaugh makes the focus of his critique, and disagree with his interpretation of both historical evidence and historiographical tendencies in the literature about the wars. My

Research paper thumbnail of Planting the Cross: Catholic Reform and Renewal in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century France, written by Barbara B. Diefendorf

Journal of Jesuit Studies, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Intimate Enemies: Religious Difference in Seventeenth-Century French Catholic Hagiography

Palgrave Studies in the History of Experience, 2019

In the opening article of this collection, ‘Intimate Enemies: Religious Difference in Seventeenth... more In the opening article of this collection, ‘Intimate Enemies: Religious Difference in Seventeenth-Century French Catholic Hagiography’, Barbara Diefendorf uses French seventeenth-century Catholic biographies to examine relations between Catholics and Protestants in intimate settings such as in family life, work, and friendship. Previous research has tended to emphasise the relatively peaceful inter-confessional relations, despite repeated violent outbreaks, that reigned more or less until the suppression of the Protestant faith in 1685 by the king. In her article, Diefendorf shows that the hardening of confessional lines had begun already before the actions of Louis XIV and that in this, Catholic hagiography was one important tool used to point to the dangers of heresy.

Research paper thumbnail of From Mother to Son: The Selected Letters of Marie de l'Incarnation to Claude Martin From Mother to Son: The Selected Letters of Marie de l'Incarnation to Claude Martin . Mary Dunn, translated with introduction and notes. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Pp. 256, $81.50 cloth

Canadian Historical Review, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Prologue to a Massacre: Popular Unrest in Paris, 1557-1572

The American Historical Review, 1985

... A bloody riot took place on March 20, when a Catholic crowd attempted to disinter a corpse th... more ... A bloody riot took place on March 20, when a Catholic crowd attempted to disinter a corpse that had been buried according to Reformed rites in the Cemetery of the Innocents.48 The presence of the Protestant leader Louis de Bourbon, prince de Conde, who was in Paris to ...

Research paper thumbnail of Reflections on Community and Identity

French Historical Studies