Winning the Catholic Reformation Through the Conversion of Female Protestants: the Education of Les Nouvelles Catholiques in Seventeenth-Century France
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Winning the Catholic Reformation through the Conversion of Female Protestants: The Education of Les Nouvelles Catholiques in Seventeenth-Century France Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Kang, Julie H. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 23/09/2021 11:46:37 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/193615 WINNING THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION THROUGH THE CONVERSION OF FEMALE PROTESTANTS: THE EDUCATION OF LES NOUVELLES CATHOLIQUES IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE by Julie H. Kang _____________________ Copyright © Julie H. Kang 2010 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2010 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Julie H. Kang entitled Winning the Catholic Reformation Through the Conversion of Female Protestants: The Education of Les Nouvelles Catholiques in Seventeenth-Century France and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 10/22/10 Susan C. Karant-Nunn _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 10/22/10 Ute Lotz-Heumann _______________________________________________________________________ Date: 10/22/10 Paul Milliman Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: 10/22/10 Dissertation Director: Susan C. Karant-Nunn 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: Julie H. Kang 4 ACKNOWLEGEMENTS I would like to express thanks to the Fulbright Program and the Franco-American Commission for providing the major financial support for archival research in France. In addition, dissertation research was made possible through funding affiliated with the University of Arizona: the Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies, including the Ora DeConcini Martin and Morris Martin Fellowship; the Group for Early Modern Studies (GEMS), and the University of Arizona Medieval, Renaissance, and Reformation Committee (UAMARRC); and a Dissertation Research Grant from the Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute; and the Department of History’s Richard A. Cosgrove Graduate Fund, Edwin S. Turville Fellowship, Michael Sweetow Fellowship, and William H. Hesketh Fellowship. I encountered many people, both inside and outside the archives, who ended up helping me on my research trips throughout France. Particularly, I thank Madame Françoise Moreil of the Université d’Avignon who first guided me at the archives at the Palais des Papes, and shared her time and expertise with me while I was there. Debts of gratitude are owed to my professors and colleagues at the University of Arizona, who encouraged my research interests. First and foremost, I thank my advisor, Regents’ Professor Susan C. Karant-Nunn, for her valuable insights and constant vigilance, which she generously provided at every step of my graduate studies and the course of writing the manuscript. She took on the role of professional, as well as personal, mentor at her office while she sat at her desk and I sat in “the wing chair.” I am grateful to Professor Kari B. McBride for our weekly discussions over cups of strong English tea at her home. Equally stimulating, in regard to both conversation and beverage, was the coffee time I had with Professor Emerita Helen Nader at Espresso Art. I am also deeply appreciative of Professors Martha Few and Kevin Gosner, who helped me think about trans-Atlantic connections in the early modern period. I am grateful for Luise Betterton, who was kind enough to help me make sense of a few of the translations that ultimately made their way into the dissertation, and for minding the pesky administrative tasks, of which I was unaware or simply negligent. Thanks also to Sandra Kimball, whose assistance was made all the more pleasant by her unyielding wit. My loving family and friends freely offered their steadfast encouragement and support, but these things are not readily evident upon reading this dissertation. They themselves do not really know the extent of their contributions, and only I fully realize how crucial they were in the making of this work. I profusely and wholeheartedly thank them. 5 DEDICATION To my parents Boon Soon and Le Won Kang 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................9 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................11 Historiography ...................................................................................................................16 The Compagnies of the Propagation ..................................................................................24 The Houses of the Propagation ..........................................................................................32 Chapter Synopsis ...............................................................................................................36 CHAPTER I. IN PURSUIT OF CONFORMITY: MISSIONARY WORK AND THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE ..........42 French Catholicism after the Religious Wars ....................................................................45 The Missionary Spirit of the Catholic Reformation .........................................................51 Marie de l’Incarnation: Missionary for Women ...............................................................65 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................75 CHAPTER II. THE WOMEN OF FÉNELON: REMAKING SOCIETY THROUGH THE EDUCATION OF GIRLS ......................................................................................77 Advocate for the Education of Girls .................................................................................83 Social Reform According to Fénelon ...............................................................................90 Mother as Teacher and Role Model ..................................................................................94 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS – continued Conclusion .......................................................................................................................108 CHAPTER III. SUSPICIOUS WOMEN, PARENTING AND RELIGIOUS CONVERSION IN HOUSEHOLDS ............................................................................112 Family and Household Threats .......................................................................................122 Combating Dangerous Parenting ....................................................................................131 Mixed Marriages and Huguenot Mothers .......................................................................138 Huguenot Grandmothers, Widows and Single Women ...................................................145 An Ideal Mixed Marriage .................................................................................................153 The Bleeding Tree and the Ideal Catholic Wife ..............................................................156 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................161 CHAPTER IV. MARRIAGE AND LES NOUVELLES CATHOLIQUES .................165 Public Safety and Enclosed Women ...............................................................................168 Extirpation of Heresy via Marriage ................................................................................175 Poor Relief and Marriage Aid .........................................................................................181 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................202 CHAPTER V. FEMALE INITIATIVE, PATRONAGE AND SPONSORSHIP VIA COMPAGNIES OF THE PROPAGATION ................................................................205 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS – continued Pious Women and the Catholic Reformation ..................................................................206 Dévots and the Catholic Reformation .............................................................................210