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University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects January 2019 On Satyrs: Brutes, Monsters, And Demons: Of Their Nature And Worship: François Hédelin's Des Satyres As A Defense Of God And Humankind Danielle Skjelver Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Recommended Citation Skjelver, Danielle, "On Satyrs: Brutes, Monsters, And Demons: Of Their Nature And Worship: François Hédelin's Des Satyres As A Defense Of God And Humankind" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 2865. https://commons.und.edu/theses/2865 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ON SATYRS: BRUTES, MONSTERS, AND DEMONS: OF THEIR NATURE AND WORSHIP: FRANÇOIS HÉDELIN’S DES SATYRES AS A DEFENSE OF GOD AND HUMANKIND by Danielle Mead Skjelver Bachelor of Arts, University of North Dakota, 2010 Master of Arts, University of North Dakota, 2012 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Grand Forks, North Dakota December 2019 Copyright 2019, Danielle Mead Skjelver ii This dissertation, submitted by Danielle Mead Skjelver in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy from the University of North Dakota, has been read by the Faculty Advisory Committee under whom the work has been done and is hereby approved. ______________________________________ Chairperson, Dr. Hans Peter Broedel ______________________________________ Dr. Ty Reese ______________________________________ Dr. William Caraher ______________________________________ Dr. John K. Cox ______________________________________ Dr. Amanda Boyd ______________________________________ Dr. Jeanne Hageman This dissertation meets the standard for appearance, conforms to the style and format requirements of the Graduate School of the University of North Dakota, and is hereby approved. __________________________________ Chris Nelson Dean of the Graduate School __________________________________ Date iii PERMISSION Title On Satyrs: Brutes, Monsters, and Demons: Of Their Nature and Worship: François Hédelin’s Des Satyres as a Defense of God and Humankind Department History Degree Doctor of Philosophy In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University of North Dakota, I agree that the library of this university shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my dissertation work or, in his absence, by the chairperson of the department or the dean of the Graduate School. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this dissertation or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Danielle Mead Skjelver 10 September 2019 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………….….............………….………………. vi ABSTRACT ……………………………..……….............….……………… xii INTRODUCTION PART I: TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE ………………………………. 1 PART II: A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF FRANÇOIS HÉDELIN 6 PART III: A HISTORIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE EARLY MODERN MONSTROUS …………………......……. 13 PART IV: BEYOND THE EDGES OF HUMANITY: DES SATYRES AS PRE-PRIMATE PRIMATOLOGY ……………………......... 33 PART V: MONSTER AS MIRROR: THE SATYR AS THE ANTI-HÉDELIN…………………………………………............ 95 THE TREATISE ………………………………..……………...............……. 126 FRONT MATTER ………………………………………….................. 127 TABLE OF SUBJECTS …………………………………………...…. 1381 BOOK I ………………………………..……………...............………. 146 BOOK II ………………………………..……………...............……… 170 BOOK III ………………………………..……………...............……... 181 BOOK IV ………………………………..……………...............……... 199 1 In the Table of Subjects, the numbers correspond to the original text. These page numbers are in brackets throughout the text. v BOOK V ……………………………….……………...............………. 240 BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………...................…….……… 265 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Australian ultrarunner Perce Cerutty believed that “You only grow as a human being if you’re outside your comfort zone.”2 Ultrarunners and academics have several things in common: an internal drive to do what others might find a little strange, if admirable; a desire to push their limits; and an insatiable curiosity about what more is out there to discover and achieve. It is also true of academics and people in general that we only grow when we are outside of our comfort zone. My dissertation supervisor, Dr. Hans Peter Broedel, seems to know this well, for from the start, this project has pushed me outside my comfort zone. Before this project, I was an ardent empiricist whose greatest theoretical achievement was a paper on sixteenth-century clerical masculinity. Monsters are by their nature heavily theoretical, and I had to become comfortable with this. Dr. Broedel’s patience and persistence pushed me to a much richer experience of doing history, and that will enable me to contribute more substantively to the field in teaching and research. I would like to thank my committee, particularly Dr. Amanda Boyd, Dr. John K. Cox, and Dr. Ty Reese for their willingness to serve on my committee and for their many hours reading and commenting on this work, helping me to improve it both as a dissertation and eventually as a book. Dr. Jeanne Hageman’s stunning generosity of time and spirit made the translation possible. Her expertise not only in early modern French, but also in theater, provided 2 Scott Jurek with Steve Friedman, Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), 82. vii invaluable insights. Her sense of humor brought levity to the numerous revisions. It is impossible to overstate the value of Dr. Hageman’s comments, which were thorough, clear, and copious. For nine years, Dr. William Caraher has served as my mentor in a variety of areas from teaching to publishing to writing to course design. His optimism and example have inspired me to go in directions I never expected, which have been a boon to this project and to my professional life. I am infinitely grateful for his generosity with his time, most notably with regular meetings that keep me always looking forward to the next project. Thanks as well to the 2019 Scientiae Conference attendees, specifically Dr. Richard Raiswell and Dr. David Winter, who offered comments on preliminary research for Part IV of the Introduction. My gratitude goes as well to my writers group for their ready ear. I owe thanks to many people at the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), but three colleagues stand out. My chair, Dr. Damon Freeman, has provided boundless support, most tangibly in the form of coordinating my teaching schedule to allow for periods of intense focus. His interest in this project and suggestions as to future projects stemming from this dissertation have inspired me and have kept the momentum strong. Dr. Linda Ruggles first reached out to me when I was an undergraduate to encourage presenting my work at conferences. She has read numerous abstracts, writing samples, papers, as well as drafts of fiction work over the years. Of tremendous and immediate value to this project, Dr. Ruggles stepped in to serve as interim executive editor for an open access textbook project that I began as a direct result of Dr. Caraher’s encouragement and Dr. Broedel’s support (I am proud to say that Dr. Broedel also serves on the editorial board for this textbook.). I can not imagine anyone else who could have done the job — and also would have done the job. She has relieved me of a great worry, allowing for focus on the dissertation. Dr. Ruggles also mentored me as a new faculty member at UMGC. viii Likewise Dr. Jeff Glasco served as a mentor when I first taught the capstone series at UMGC. He supervised my undergraduate capstone paper, which caused a sea change in my approach to historical evidence, and he was the first to urge me on to graduate school. I am infinitely grateful to my husband and our children for their patience with my absent- mindedness, and my nose so constantly in a book or on a computer screen. They have not only endured this process; they have embraced it. All of them revel in history, and they have savored the many opportunities that my research has afforded them. Their positivity and relentless certainty that I would finish kept me going. In the wisdom of my daughter, Elizabeth, “If you want to write a dissertation, you have to write a dissertation.” ix For Joan Elizabeth Wilson My Mother, My Foundation ABSTRACT Best known for his 1657 La Pratique du Theatre, François Hédelin was a cleric with a keen interest in the stage. As the abbé d’Aubignac, he wrangled in debate with the most respected scholars of his day, and Hédelin’s contacts extended to the crown itself. His Des Satyres, brutes, monstres et démons is an attempt to do with a species what he did with the stage - to bring disorder and immorality to heel. This dissertation provides historical context, analysis, and translation of François Hédelin’s 1627 Des Satyres, brutes, monstres et démons. De leur nature et adoration Contre l'opinion de ceux qui ont estimé les Satyres estre une espece d'hommes distincts & separez des Adamicques. Coming to us from an age of wonders, Hédelin’s work is itself something of a wonder. To the modern eye, the most startling thing about it is that it never asks whether or not satyrs exist. Today’s readers might find such a bluff acceptance of the existence of half-man half-goat creatures astounding. But this was not unusual in seventeenth century Europe. In the medieval and early modern world, the term ‘satyr’ applied to what were likely chimpanzees, orangoutans, and baboons.

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