Prophets in Sixteenth Century French Literature by Jessica Singer A

Glimpsing the Divine: Prophets in Sixteenth Century French Literature By Jessica Singer A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in French in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Timothy Hampton, Chair Professor Déborah Blocker Professor Susan Maslan Professor Oliver Arnold Spring 2017 Abstract Glimpsing the Divine : Prophets in Sixteenth Century French Literature by Jessica Singer Doctor of Philosophy in French University of California, Berkeley Professor Timothy Hampton, Chair This project looks at literary representations of prophets from Rabelais to Montaigne. It discusses the centrality of the prophet to the construction of literary texts as well as the material conditions in which these modes of representation were developed. I analyze literature’s appropriation of Hebrew and Classical sources to establish its practices as both independent and politically relevant to the centralizing French monarchy. I propose that prophets are important to the construction of literary devices such as polyphonic discourse, the lyric subject, internal space, and first-person prose narration. The writers discussed in this project rely on the prophet to position their texts on the edge of larger socio-political and religious debates in order to provide a perceptive, critical voice. By participating in a language of enchantment, these writers weave between social and religious conceptualizations of prophets to propose new, specifically literary, roles for prophets. I look at François Rabelais’ prophetic genres – the almanac and the prognostication – in relation to his Tiers livre to discuss prophecy as a type of advice. I then turn to the work of the Pléiade coterie, beginning with Pierre de Ronsard, to argue for the centrality of the prophet to the formation of the lyric subject. The second Pléiade member that I discuss, Robert Garnier, puts prophets on the stage to interrupt the temporality of the dramatic action and direct the audience’s gaze toward the king as the embodiment of the divine on earth. I conclude with a reading of one of Montaigne’s essays in relation to contemporary descriptions of religious ceremonies as haunted houses. This allows me to pinpoint the formal literary constructions that arise in sixteenth century approaches to the representation of prophets. 1 Introduction This project looks at literary texts’ complex juxtaposition and re-articulation of religious, political, and social changes through representations of prophets. As prophecy took on new forms through print culture and changing theatrical practices in the sixteenth century, literary engagement with prophets similarly required the development of new genres and discursive practices to interact with a world that could no longer be understood through medieval forms. Medieval mystery plays frequently portrayed prophets as integral to religious history. The fifteenth century play, Le Mistère du siège d’Orléans, which uncharacteristically portrays a contemporary historical event, is a helpful point of comparison to look specifically at the shift in literary conventions used to represent prophets that occurred during the sixteenth century. The play portrays Joan of Arc’s prophetic intervention during the 1428 – 1429 English siege of Orléans. Victorious French battle scenes, prayer, and divine visitation are juxtaposed with the false astrological prophecies of the occupying English. Charles VII kneels and prays. He asks God to come to his aid in Orléans for he fears he will lose his kingdom. The Virgin Mary speaks to him first, affirming his belief in France’s right to their territory: C’est le royaulme qui tout soustien crestienneté et la maintien par la vostre divine essense, ne autre n’y doit avoir rien : au roy Charles luy appartien, qu’il est droit heritier de France.1 The fate of France is bound to Christianity, creating continuity between the outcome the Hundred Years’ War and religious Providence. Saint Euvertre appears next, followed by Saint Aignan. Finally God himself appears, responding to and arguing with Mary’s intervention. Mary and the saints finally convince God to save France. He sends the archangel Michael to bring a mission to a “pucelle” who is “toute doulceur/ bonne, juste et innocente, / qui m’ayme du parfont du cueur, / honneste, saige et bien prudente.”2 Joan will represent God’s virtue against French pride and help them to reclaim their territory. A young maiden is prophetically inspired to lead France to victory. Theological time and historical time intertwine as God intervenes in the Hundred Year’s War to assure the preservation of the French nation as the vanguard of Christianity, and of Charles VII as the rightful heir of the nation. Joan of Arc metonymically embodies France, which metonymically brings forth Providence. This literary representation of a contemporary event juxtaposes political, religious, and historical concepts to help spectators understand their present moment. Joan of Arc, as prophet to the French, is the nexus where these concepts converge. Medieval representational conventions allowed for the coexistence of the realistic and the supernatural, particularly in the romance or adventure, as equivalent things that happen.3 The divine and the earthly are represented with the same literary conventions. Contemporary political figures and divine figures both speak in octosyllabic verse and share the stage. Both Jesus and the Devil can appear on the stage with cobblers and drunken fools.4 The staging of mysteries followed similar conventions, however, it was unusual for a mystery to portray contemporary events. This medieval mystery weaves the 1 Folio 168v 2 Folio 171r 3 Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinki. The Strange Case of Ermine de Reims. 2015. 4 Graham A. Runnalls. Les mystères dans les provinces. 2003. i specificity of contemporary history into large-scale theological history. Unlike most mystery plays, Le Mistère du siège d’Orléans not does not stage a biblical story or a hagiography. Contemporary people and historical events take the place of traditional religious stories to fulfill the same narrative function. As the play avoids any significant change in historical conception – this episode of French history is part of a larger theological arc – the literary conventions of a more traditional religious history continue to work. Joan of Arc continued to be a symbol for sacred French nationalism throughout the sixteenth century.5 However, literary representations of prophets took new forms and significantly changed the way in which religious history and political history intersected. The anonymous Tragédie de sac de Cabrières, published in 1566, like Le mistère du siège d’Orléans, takes a contemporary historical event for its subject. It tells the story of the religiously motivated massacre of Protestant in a stronghold at Cabrières in 1545. The play opens with a prophetic dream, which causes the commanding Catholic military leader to hesitate, as it suggests he rely on the strength of language, rather than the sword. The dream is not sufficient to prevent the massacre and a Protestant chorus in return prophetically sings of punishment for Catholics and martyrdom for Protestants. The Greek chorus formally marks a departure from the medieval form of the mystery. Tragédie de sac de Cabrières adapts the classical form of the tragedy, reworking the way prophecy relates to larger representations of religious and political history. A prose account of the massacre, Histoire memorable de la persecution et du saccagement du peuple de Mérindol et Cabrières et autres circonvoisins, appelez Vaudois, written in 1554 by Jean Crespin, pulls together historical documents for the glorification of God, again formally shifting the way religious history relates to contemporary politics.6 Peter Burke has proposed that the Middle Ages do not end until the educated elite cease to take prophecy seriously.7 While the bans on medieval mystery plays, beginning with the 1548 ban of Jean Michel’s Passion Notre Sauveur in Paris did not target representation or content but rather the violent social behaviors that had become prevalent in these large outdoor gatherings, literary shifts led to a decline of the mysteries but not to representation of religious subjects and figures, including prophets.8 Moreover, prophetic rhetoric became increasingly divisive and explosive throughout the century. Prophecy’s position between politics and religion made it volatile and ambivalent. Many of the ways in which religious prophets intervened in political conflicts during the late middle ages continued to structure the incendiary ambivalence of sixteenth century prophets. Social forms of prophecy that developed during the Great Schism (1378 – 1417) to negotiate between competing papal authorities persisted and developed throughout the sixteenth century. An early example of fifteenth-century possession clearly illustrates the two sides of prophecy : unparsed noise and interpretation. The case of Ermine de Reims and her confessor, Jean le 5 Even today, the Front National champions Joan of Arc today as an origin point for messianic protectors of French territory. In a speech given to commemorate the 600th anniversary of Joan of Arc’s birth, Jean-Marie Le Pen describes the apocalyptic conditions of contemporary France conjures Joan of Arc’s spirit to lead a new rebellion against injustice and strive for an ideal France: “Fille du ciel, mais aussi de la terre, celle des siens, les Français occupés, opprimés, divisés, qu’elle venait arracher à la menace de la servitude et à la misère et qu’elle appelait à combattre pour que Dieu leur donne victoire… Vive Jeanne, Vive Marine, Vive la France!” Four months before the presidential election, Le Pen metonymically places his daughter as the embodiment of France through Joan of Arc. 6 January 2012, Paris, Place des Pyramides. 6 See introductory material and notes in Daniela Boccassini’s edition of Tragédie du sac de Cabrières. La Tragédie à l’époque d’Henri II et de Charles IX. Vol. 4 7 Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe. p. 273. 8 Graham A. Runnalls. Les mystères dans les provinces.

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