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Charron's Response to Religious Conflict

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Charron's Response to Religious Conflict chapter 2 Human Wisdom and Moderation versus Indifference and Superstition: Charron’s Response to Religious Conflict The nation, country, place, gives the religion, and a man professes that which is in force in that place and among those persons, where he is born, and where he lives…for religion is not of our choice. pierre charron, De la Sagesse II.5 (1604) … Experience has taught us that apostasy, atheism and irreligion are re- leased by heresies and the dregs of long and dreary religious disputes and confrontations…. pierre charron, Les Trois Véritez I.1 (1593) … If I had undertaken to instruct the cloister…I must necessarily have fol- lowed the advice of the divines: but our booke instructs civil life, forms a man for the world, that is to say, human wisdom, not divine. pierre charron, De la Sagesse, preface to the second edition (1604) ∵ Pierre Charron’s work constituted an elaborate response to the confusion of religious conflict. His approach to religion was a reflection of his experience. He was appalled to discover that the strife had bred religious apathy and athe- ism but also extreme zeal and ‘superstition’. Confronted by the entrenchment of the opposing sides and the violent passions behind it, Charron promoted moderation and sought to establish a philosophically inspired natural founda- tion to religion, away from religious dogmatism of any kind. He wrote vehe- mently against passions and religious extremities and advocated the necessity © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi �0.��63/978900433077�_004 <UN> 72 chapter 2 of religion within the state for reasons of governing and for the preservation of peace and the commonwealth. He argued for the attainment of preud’hommie, which was atuned to nature and universal reason, and would provide peace and tranquillity of mind, a much longed-for state of mind in the midst of con- fessional upheaval. These positions are expressed in his pair of works, the Les trois véritez contre les athées, idolâtres, juifs, mahumétans, hérétiques et schis- matiques (Bordeaux, 1593) and De la Sagesse, Trois Livres (Bordeaux, 1601).1 Charron’s work is indicative of the state of religious flux and questioning that took place at the end of the sixteenth century in response to the disruptive experience of religious division. In his effort to combat indifference and reli- gious dogmatism, however, Charron essentially suceeded in challenging the importance of religion from different points of view. By equating Christianity with other religions (even though he was not alone in the attempt to establish similarities between various religions), he undermined it from a historical/ temporal perspective. He gave a similar impression by associating religion with nature. Lastly, by proclaiming piety to be inferior to honesty and probity (preud’hommie), he subordinated religion to human morality. This temporal aspect which, even if inadvertedly, arose from his work, is important evidence towards the critical state of religious attitudes following decades of civil strife. Of Charron’s two works, the Sagesse came to be at the centre of heated contro- versies for centuries following its initial publication. This was Charron’s attempt at constructing a compendium of received knowledge and a guide to (human) wisdom, founded primarily upon nature. His first book, Les Trois Véritez had been an interesting blend of Catholic apologetics and a philosophical explana- tion for the existence of God. Both works enjoyed great popularity, though un- doubtedly of the two the Sagesse enjoyed the longest. Numerous editions bear witness to this book’s popularity: no less than twenty-five appeared between 1618 and 1634 in French,2 alongside at least five editions of the abridged version of the text, the Traicté de la Sagesse (Paris, 1614).3 Another nine editions of the English translation of the work appeared by the end of the seventeenth century.4 1 Pierre Charron, Les trois véritez contre les athées, idolâtres, juifs, mahumétans, hérétiques et schismatiques (Bordeaux: Simon Millanges, 1593); ustc 2978 and De la Sagesse, Livres Trois (Bordeaux: Simon Millanges, 1601). 2 Information from the Bibliothèque nationale de France catalogue (www.bnf.fr) and Copac (merged online catalogues of major University, Specialist, and National Libraries in the uk and Ireland; http://copac.ac.uk/), accessed 21 May 2012. 3 Traicté de la Sagesse, plus Quelques Discours Chrétiens qui on eté trouvé après son deceds (Par- is: Durant, 1614). 4 Information from the English Short Title Catalogue (http://estc.bl.uk/) and Copac. <UN>.
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