Theatre of Truth: Performing Public Religious Disputation in Seventeenth-Century Europe
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Theatre of Truth: Performing Public Religious Disputation in Seventeenth-Century Europe by David Lorne Robinson A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree History University of Toronto © Copyright by David Lorne Robinson 2020 Theatre of Truth: Performing Public Religious Disputation in Seventeenth-Century Europe David Lorne Robinson Doctor of Philosophy History University of Toronto 2020 Abstract This dissertation examines the practice of public religious disputation in early seventeenth- century Europe. It takes a transnational approach, examining disputations in France, England, and the Low Countries between 1598 and 1625. This approach highlights the ways in which common social and political circumstances created a climate for frequent disputations, but also how religious controversy was communicated across political boundaries. It argues that these debates were part of a wider culture of performance and became especially prevalent in religiously-divided communities where performances of religious unity like Corpus Christi processions had become contested. These disputations took the practice of academic disputation, still well regarded by both Catholics and Protestants as an effective method of inquiry, and relocated it in the homes of lay hosts. The lay audience thereby became active participants in the performance, debating clergy and performing their own religious identity. Disputations then became the subject of a more public debate as rumours about them spread and clerics exploited oral and manuscript communications networks and printing presses to vaunt their victories and denigrate their opponents, making use of negative stereotypes to solidify religious divisions. State actors, seeing the utility of disputation in shaping public opinion, also sought to organize disputations in an effort to legitimize their religious policies. An examination of these ii disputations therefore contributes to our understanding of how religious divisions were framed and communicated in the early modern public sphere. iii Acknowledgments A dissertation is not a solo project, and I could not have completed it without the contributions and support of many people and institutions. I would like to first thank my supervisor, Paul Cohen, for his advice, encouragement, and support throughout the project and through challenges and changes in both our personal lives. Nick Terpstra has provided insightful commentary at critical points during this project and has provided me with many opportunities for growth as a scholar over the years. Grégoire Holtz has also made many contributions to this project over the years and introduced me to a wealth of French scholarship that has enriched this work. Similarly, I must also thank examiners Nhung Tuyet Tran and Mirjam van Veen for their insights in reviewing the full dissertation. This project could not have been accomplished without the generous financial support from the The Avie Bennett Award, the René Efrain Scholarship in French History, the Pre-Dissertation Research Award, the Doctoral Completion Award, and various research and conference travel awards from the Department of History, the School of Graduate Studies, and the Graduate Student’s Union. I would like to thank the staff and librarians at the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Bibliothèque Mazarine, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, and the Universiteitsbibliotheek Amsterdam who helped find and retrieve many of the sources consulted in this dissertation. The Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies offered not only a space for research but also an intellectual community of early modern scholars from whom I have learned much. In particular, I would like to mention Natalie Oeltjen for her kindness and tireless work at the Centre and in organizing the Global Reformations conference where part of this dissertation was first presented. I am grateful for the many scholars who have offered me support along this intellectual journey. Edwin Bezzina inspired my interest in early modern France during my undergrad and has continued to offer helpful advice over the course of my academic career. I owe my knowledge of Dutch history to Gary Waite who introduced me to the rich material of Dutch pamphlets and the historiography of religious tolerance in Europe, out of which my interest in disputations grew. Like so many early modernists who have studied at the University of Toronto, I owe a debt of gratitude to Natalie Zemon Davis for her interest and research advice in the early stages of this iv project. I am also grateful for the comments of Emily Michelson that brought to my attention the similarities between disputations and sermons. This connection was further brought out through my work on the Gateway to Early Modern Manuscript Sermons Project, and I am grateful to Jeanne Shami, Anne James, and Jennifer Farooq for the opportunity to be part of that project. I am especially thankful for the many friends and colleagues in Toronto whose camaraderie during the PhD program, during the 2015 strike, and in formal and informal conversations about our work, have enriched me not just as a scholar, but as a person. In particular, I want to thank Benji Lukas, Allison Graham, Alex Logue, Julia Rombough, Bethan Fisk, Lindsay Sidders, Kari North, Hana Suckstorff, Sarah Keeshan, and Robert Porter. I also want to thank Adrian and Suanne Miedema for offering my wife and me a community when we first moved to Toronto from the east coast, and for their support in trying times. My parents, Cathy and Lorne Robinson, have been unwavering in their support. I owe my love of history in part to my mother, who fostered my interest in it during the years I was homeschooled. They have always been there to lend a helping hand, even when living far away in Newfoundland. This is no small thing given the frequent relocations that so often come with academic study. Since they moved to Ontario, their willingness to help out with their new little grandchildren has also been a great boon during the final stages of this project. Finally, I must thank my wife, Amanda Robinson, whose support during this project has been essential. A PhD is a grueling and sometimes emotionally draining endeavour, but it was made significantly more bearable by her encouragement and companionship. She has always been ready with an encouraging word or insightful critique when needed. She accompanied me on, and helped plan, my research trip to France and the Netherlands in 2015. Moreover, her support has been unwavering even while she pursued her own career aspirations, obtaining a Masters in Library and Information Science and starting work at CEGEP Heritage College, as we balanced caring for two young children. She is truly an extraordinary person and I am fortunate that she has been at my side. I dedicate this dissertation to our two children, Ernest and Eleanor. Eleanor will not remember me working on this project, but Ernest has already grown up while I have been writing it, and has been patient, as much as you can expect of a three-year old, while Daddy has been busy “making letters.” v Table of Contents Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... vi 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Defining Disputation ..........................................................................................................10 1.2 The Performance of Disputation ........................................................................................12 1.3 Disputation and the Public Sphere .....................................................................................17 1.4 Sources and Overview .......................................................................................................24 2 Staging and Performing Religious Debate ................................................................................27 2.1 Disputation as Path to Truth ..............................................................................................30 2.2 Disputation as Theatre .......................................................................................................37 2.3 Seventeenth-century “Private Conferences” ......................................................................43 2.3.1 Comparison: Pierre du Moulin vs. Pierre Victor Palma-Cayet, Paris 1602...........52 2.4 Lay Women and Disputation .............................................................................................58 2.5 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................64 3 Private Conferences into Public Controversy ...........................................................................65 3.1 The Issue of Conversion and the early modern Public Sphere ..........................................66 3.2 Nancy, 1599: A case study in conversion, private conference, and its public aftermath ..74 3.3 John Fisher and Public Religious Controversy in England ...............................................83 3.3.1 Baiting the Hook. Lady Buckingham and the True Church ..................................87