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THE MARTYR-FIGURE IN FRENCH THEATRE, 1596-1675

PAUL ADAM SCOTT

?HESIS

SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE

OF

DOC?OR O? PHILOSOPHY

The copyright of this thesis rests with the author.

No quotation from it should be published without

his pr-ior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged.

UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM

DEPARTMENT

OF FRENCH

2001 2 ? JAN 003J

.L_a-oy· See:, j

ABSTRACT

Paul A. Scott, The Martyr-Figure in French Theatre, 1596--1675, Ph.D., 2001 This doctoral project is the first comprehensive study of plays about Christian martyrdom on the French stage from 1596 to 1675. I have compiled a corpus of such tragedies (Appendix). In Chapter One, I argue that such plays should be treated as a characteristic tragic sub-genre, distinct from other forms of religious plays. I also examine the background to the appearance of the martyr-play, in particular the exaltation of martyrdom in both Protestant and Catholic communities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as other artistic representations of the martyr -hero.

Religious literature has often been studied

in the light of theological controversy. Since a martyr-play deals with an individual resisting lawful authority, I have concentrated on looking at plays from a political aspect: the depiction of revolt.

Accordingly, at the end

of Chapter One, I consider how the French king was widely portrayed under the traits of a Roman emperor in popular iconography, demonstrating that this allegory was so widespread, that an audience viewing an emperor on stage would see a link with their own monarch. In Chapters Two, Three and Four, I examine the extant tragedies from the period, with a particular emphasis on how authors treat the question of obedience and the martyr's struggle. Writers with court connections mellow and neutralise the martyr's refusal to obey, notably Comeille and Rotrou. Other dramatists emphasise and highlight the element of individual conscience, particularly La Serre and Desfontaines. The martyr-play peaks during the

1640s and early 1650s, that is to say during a time of civil war, and I believe that the

play was a vehicle through which authors could express their discontent with contemporary authority, or even use the example of the martyr as a deterrent to active revolt (Gaspard

Olivier is the most striking case).

In Chapter Five, I explore the inherent ambivalence of the martyr, and look at the tragedies from the perspective of suicide and the portrayal of gender. I conclude that the martyr is always an ambiguous model, and that this is reflected in the French stage portrayals.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the financial generosity of the Arts and Humanities

Research Board. This consisted

of a two-year studentship enabling me to complete the Ph.D. (??? ? 000)? as well as an Overseas' Travel Award which financed an eight-week research trip to Paris in August and September of 1999. I would like to thank the staff at the following libraries for their help and suggestions: Palace Green Collections and the Main University

Library, University

of Durham; the British Library; the Bibliotheque nationale de France; the

Bibliotheque de I' Arsenal; the Bibliotheque de

Ia Sorbonne; the Bibliotheque historique de Ia

ville de Paris; the Bibliotheque du Saulchoir, Paris; the Bibliotheque Municipale et Inter Universitaire, Clermont-Ferrand; the Bibliotheque diocesaine, Clermont-Ferrand; the Ecole biblique et archeologique fran.;:aise, Jerusalem. The Arsenal staff deserves a special mention for providing erudite and thorough answers to queries, together with a congenial working atmosphere.

I have a special debt

of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Richard Maher, not only for his unwavering patience and guidance during the course of the thesis, but also for introducing me to the seventeenth century during my undergraduate career. I would further like to thank the Centre for Seventeenth-Century Studies for providing me with a grounding in research skills that proved to be invaluable for the doctorate. I thank the Department of French at the

University

of Durham, particularly Dr Jennifer Britnell, Dr Jan Clarke and Professor Ann Moss, for advice and support over the years. Mrs Heather Fenwick deserves special thanks for her helpful and cheerful attitude. I remember here all other staff and postgraduate members, including Miss Sarah Lowson and Dr Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze. The Department also assisted me financially and aided with material necessities such as a computer, photocopying and interlibrary loans. I am indebted to the Centre d'Etudes sur les Reformes, l'Humanisme et I' Age Classique, Universite Clermont-Ferrand II, for having accepted me as part of its research community and for the use of facilities this membership afforded me. Professor Dominique Descotes and Professor Jean Pironon were particularly helpful. I am grateful to Professor Perry Gethner, Professor Elizabeth Rapley and Dr Sophie de Vomecourt for their advice on a number of points. I appreciate the encouragement that Professor Peter Bayley has extended to me and to this project. My thanks are due to Oliver Harry for his hospitality and friendship in Durham and Paris at various crucial points of the course of the thesis. I would like to express my appreciation and affection to Joseph Campbell-Dance and his family for their calm, encouragement and support over the last couple of years. Lastly, the greatest due is to my mother, Brenda May, who taught me from an early age the value of learning and the power of knowledge. I owe everything to her love and sacrifices.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE MARTYR-HERO IN EUROPE

CHAPTER ONE: Perspectives on the Seventeenth-Century Martyr-Hero

1.1 General Introduction........................................... 1

1.2 Thematic Approach............................................ 3

1.3 Historical Background........................................ 14

1.4 Choice of Martyrdom Theme................................. 22

1.5 From Bibles to Bullets........................................ 41

THE MARTYR-HERO IN TRAGEDY

CHAPTER TWO: Politicising the Religious

2.1 The Spectre of Tyranny.............................. . . . . . . . . . . 56

2.2 Plays and Power................................................ 58

2.3 Plays in the Early 1640s....................................... 84

2.4 The Martyr-Play Comes of Age.............................. 97

CHAPTER THREE: The Martyr-Play in a Time of Crisis

31 G t.

c·. . overnmen m ns1s ......................................... . 119

3.2 Pre-Frondes Tension .......................................... . 121

3.3 Post-Frondes Martyr-Plays ................................... . 149

CHAPTER FOUR: Decline of the Martyr-Play

4.1 The Decade of the Personal Rule, 1661-1669............... 172

4.2 The Remnants: Martyr-Plays after 1670...................... 199

CHAPTER FIVE: Sociological Considerations: Suicide, Suffering and Sex

5.1 Voluntary Death.............................................. 213

5.2 Differences of Gender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

243
APPENDIX: Corpus of the French Martyr-Play..................... 249 254

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources.................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Secondary Literature................................................. 281

Doctoral Theses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 04

Internet Sources.................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1 Antonio Gallonio, De SS. Martyrum cruciatibus (Cologne:

Joannes Gymnium, 1602), po 340 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 000 0 0 0 0 0 0 oo 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000 255

Figure 2 Richard Verstegan, Theatrum Crudelitatum Haereticorum nostri temporis (Antwerp: Adrien Hubert, 1587), po 490 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 00 256 Figures 3 and 4 Claude Menestrier, Histoire du Roy Louis le Grand par les Medailles, Emblemes, Devises, Jettons, Inscriptions, Armoiries, et autres

Monumens Publics,

2nd edn (Paris: J. B. Nolin, 1693), ppo 2 and 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 257

Figure 5 Menestrier, Histoire du Roy Louis le Grand, po

16000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 oo 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 oo ooo 258

Figure 6 Gallonio, De SSO Martyrum cruciatibus, po 2660 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 259 Figure 7 Jean Puget de La Serre, Sainte Catherine tragedie (Paris:

Sommaville

& Courbe, 1643), po 56 (IV, 4)0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 00 ?0

Figure 8 La Serre, Sainte Catherine, po 14 (II, 3)0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 261 Figure 9 La Serre, Sainte Catherine, po 75 (V, 1)0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 262 Figure 10 Gallonio, De SS. Martyrum cruciatibus, po 2100 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 00 263 Figure 11 St Ursula by Thomas de Leu from the unpaginated work, L. Beyerlinck, Martyrologium sanctarum virginum ([Antwerp]: Thomas de Leu,

[1610])0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 000 264

Figure 12 Woodcut of St Reine from Claude Temet, Le Martyre de Ia glorieuse Sainte Reine d'Alise. Tragedie (Autun: Pierre Laymere, 1682)0 0 0 0 0 0 265 Figure 13 The execution of St Tarbula and her companions Bivero,

Sacrum Sanctuarium crucis, po 6010 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 00 266

Figure 14 St Catherine from Laurentius Beyerlinck, Martyrologium sanctarum

virginumooo 00 0 000 ooo 000 00 0 00 0 00 0 000 OO ooo 000 000 0 00 0 00 000 00 0 O 00 0 000 000 0000 267

Figure 15 The crucifixion of St Benedicta from Bivero, Sacrum

Sanctuarium crucis,

po 5770 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 268

Figure 16 Frontispiece from the first edition of Pierre Comeille, Polyeucte martyr. Tragedie (Paris: Antoine de Sommaville & Augustin Courbe,

??43)0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 O 269

NOTE ON REFERENCES

Unless otherwise stated, act and scene numbers following quotations are from first editions of the tragedies, full details for which are provided in the Bibliography. All citations from the French texts have been reproduced as in the original. However, the letters u/v and i/j have been resolved to accord with modem usage, and contractions in the text (including the ampersand) have also been resolved throughout. Spaces before colons and punctuation marks have been eliminated. Where modem critical editions have been used, the quotations follow the conventions of the editor. The standard abbreviation ELR for English Literary Renaissance, MLN for Modern Language Notes and RHLF Revue d 'Histoire Litteraire de Ia France have been used throughout.

I declare that none

of the material in this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree in this, or any other university. Small parts of material in Chapter One (namely section

5), and some ideas in Chapters Two, Three and Four, were used in two

articles: 'The Martyr-Figure as Transgressor in Seventeenth-Century French Theatre', in Les Lieux Jnterdits: Transgressions and French Literature, ed. by L. Duffy and A

Tudor (Hull: Hull University Press, 1998),

pp. 63-89, and 'Resistance Theories. Orthodoxy and Subversive Drama in Early Modem France', Seventeenth-Century

French Studies,

21 (1999), 57-73. A primitive version of the corpus of plays, included

as an appendix in this thesis, was published with both articles, and has been subsequently revised. The thesis has, in many respects, superseded and expanded on some of the arguments in these two articles.

The copyright

of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without their prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged.

THE MARTYR-HERO IN EUROPE

CHAPTER ONE

Perspectives on the Seventeenth-Century Martyr-Hero By dying for doctrine about which Christians disagreed, martyrs infuse4 religious dispute with a sense of urgency. Any compromise could unfold only "over their dead bodies" and the memory of their refusal to submit. -Brad S. Gregory 1

1.1 General Introduction

The aim of this project is to provide a study of the martyr-play on the French stage between 1596 and 1675: that is to say after the restoration of political stability following Henri IV' s conversion and his possession of Paris, up to the consolidation of the personal authority of the monarch and the peak of the prestige that arrived during Louis XIV' s reign in the mid-1670s. Commentators have tended to situate plays about martyrs as belonging to a wider category of saint-plays, or simply as part of religious drama as a whole. Even the monumental study of seventeenth-century drama by Henry Carrington Lancaster lists martyr-plays eitherquotesdbs_dbs26.pdfusesText_32

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