Jean Crespin and Eustache Vignon: Diagonal Relationships and the Networking Strategies of Huguenot Printers in Late Sixteenth-Century Geneva (original) (raw)
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Historein, 2001
It is by now a commonplace among historians that Protestantism was the first major movement to fully and systematically use the new medium of the printing press. 1 Following on Luther's steps, the leaders of the Reformation became actively engaged in a multilayered printing and disseminating mechanism which produced an unprecedented mass of printed material and provoked an equally massive-though somewhat belatedresponse from the Catholic side. With the emergence of Calvin as the leader of the French Reformation movement and the constant influx of French refugees, the city of Geneva was eventually transformed into a hub of a European printing network, devoted to the dissemination of the Calvinist message. 2 Besides the rejection of Catholicism on dogmatic grounds, the initial aim of Protestant propaganda was to establish the historical continuum of the "new religion" within the framework of an alternative history of Christianity, and on the other hand to underline the "obvious relation" between the ancient Christian martyrs and the persecuted reformed Christians of the sixteenth century. This would serve to identify the Catholics with the enemies of Christianity and actually reverse the grave accusation of heresy. In the 1560s, the exiled French Protestant leadership in Geneva sought to boost the moral of Protestant enclaves in France by means of a "martyrization" of the Huguenot struggle for survival. 3 Yet the Calvinists were called quite soon to answer to accusations of treason and rebellion against the king and the kingdom of France.
Hatred in Print: Aspects of Anti-Protestant polemic in the French Wars of Religion
The medium of printing has been persistently associated with Protestantism. As a result, a large body of French Catholic anti-Protestant material was to a large extent ignored. In contrast with Germany, there is evidence to suggest that French authors used printing effectively and aggressively to promote the Catholic cause. During the French Wars of Religion, French Catholics were far more innovative than they were given credit for: the German paradigm of a leaden-footed Catholic response to the Reformation was inappropriately applied to France. This is ironic given that it was the Catholic cause which ultimately prevailed. In seeking to explain why France remained a Catholic country, the French Catholic response must be taken into account. Catholic polemical works, and their portrayal of Protestants in print in particular, is the central focus of this work. The first chapter is devoted to a historiographical discussion of the problem of violence in the French Wars of Religion. The next two chapters are concerned with the comparison between Protestantism and medieval heresies, and particularly the recourse in polemic to the topos of the Albigensian Crusade. The next chapter addresses the use of cultural archetypes such as 'the world turned upside down' and the reversal of gender roles to deride the impact of the Reformation. The last two chapters are an attempt to assess the impact of the Catholic polemic on the Protestant culture and identity and on the emerging public opinion. Rather than confront the Reformation on its own terms, the Catholic reaction concentrated on discrediting the Protestant cause in the eyes of the Catholic majority. They had a considerable impact on their readership and on an illiterate audience (through the interaction between written and oral), and on the French Protestants' own self-perception and identity. This thesis aims to contribute to the ongoing debate over the nature of the French Wars of Religion, to explain why they were so violent and why they engaged the loyalties of such a large portion of the population. This study also provides an example of the successful defence of Catholicism developed independently and in advance of Tridentine reform which is of wider significance for the history of the Reformation in Europe.
Nicolas Chesneau, Catholic Printer in Paris during the French Wars of Religion
2009
This article explores the activities of Nicolas Chesneau, a Parisian printer active between the beginning of the French Wars of Religion and the League. While printing in the Protestant sphere has received a great deal of historiographical attention, the influence of Catholic printing on opinion forming during the French Wars of Religion remains comparatively misunderstood. Nicolas Chesneau was a militant Catholic printer whose activity responded to commercial and political pressures but also reflects a personal commitment to Catholicism. Evidence drawn from Chesneau's epistles and bibliography reveals personal relationships with authors, other printers, and patrons. Chesneau's production answered growing demand for news and religious instruction for the laity, a phenomenon that is only beginning to be understood. Analysis of his output reveals the influence of the cardinal de Lorraine who was determined to use the vernacular book to pursue his agenda of reform, often in the face of institutional opposition from the crown, the parlement, and the University of Paris. The end of Nicolas Chesneau's career is marked by a shift towards expensive in-folio books that proved to be less profitable than the short in-octavo works that distinguishes his production during the first decade of the French Wars of Religion.
The medium of printing has been persistently associated with Protestantism. As a result, a large body of French Catholic anti-Protestant material was to a large extent ignored. In contrast with Germany, there is evidence to suggest that French authors used printing effectively and aggressively to promote the Catholic cause. During the French Wars of Religion, French Catholics were far more innovative than they were given credit for: the German paradigm of a leaden-footed Catholic response to the Reformation was inappropriately applied to France. This is ironic given that it was the Catholic cause which ultimately prevailed. In seeking to explain why France remained a Catholic country, the French Catholic response must be taken into account. Catholic polemical works, and their portrayal of Protestants in print in particular, is the central focus of this work. The first chapter is devoted to a historiographical discussion of the problem of violence in the French Wars of Religion. The next two chapters are concerned with the comparison between Protestantism and medieval heresies, and particularly the recourse in polemic to the topos of the Albigensian Crusade. The next chapter addresses the use of cultural archetypes such as 'the world turned upside down' and the reversal of gender roles to deride the impact of the Reformation. The last two chapters are an attempt to assess the impact of the Catholic polemic on the Protestant culture and identity and on the emerging public opinion. Rather than confront the Reformation on its own terms, the Catholic reaction concentrated on discrediting the Protestant cause in the eyes of the Catholic majority. They had a considerable impact on their readership and on an illiterate audience (through the interaction between written and oral), and on the French Protestants' own self-perception and identity. This thesis aims to contribute to the ongoing debate over the nature of the French Wars of Religion, to explain why they were so violent and why they engaged the loyalties of such a large portion of the population. This study also provides an example of the successful defence of Catholicism developed independently and in advance of Tridentine reform which is of wider significance for the history of the Reformation in Europe. iv Souvent, le conflit est fonde sur une difference de perception qu'a l'autre de la situation de son adversaire. Votre identite ne se definit pas en opposition a une autre identite. Si vous en étes la, c'est que vous avez bien peu confiance en vous-memes'. John Hume, Peace Nobel Prize winner, addressing the Corsican nationalists gathered at Bastia on 14 February 1999, 'la lecon de pacifisme d'un Prix Nobel irlandais aux nationalistes corses', Le Monde (Tuesday 16 February 1999), p. 1.
Empire in Fragments: Transatlantic News and Print Media in the Iberian World, ca. 1600-40
Renaissance Quarterly 74.2, 2021
This article shows how the rise of printed news media during the opening decades of the seventeenth century fomented and fragmented authority in the polycentric Spanish Habsburg empire. Analyzing the making, dissemination, and reception of transatlantic news from Madrid to Mexico and from Lisbon to Lima, the article explores how the influx of fragments of unverifiable information from overseas undermined the possibility of complete knowledge. While the Spanish Crown exploited news media to create a sense of a unified imperial space, the dynamics of distance resulted in uncertainty and the spread of conflicting narratives that fractured central control.