Forms and methods of religious controversy in Paris: with special reference to Pierre du Moulin and his Catholic opponents

Abstract

This thesis describes some of the most important features of the controversies between Protestants and Catholics in early seventeenth-century Paris. The emphasis is on debate conducted at a local and popular level. Part I contains three introductory chapters which describe: the social and political setting in which Parisian inter-confessional debate took place (Chapter 1); relevant aspects of the conditions governing printing in the capital and various episodes which reveal developments in censorship during this period (Chapter 2); the forms of religious debate sermons and letters, informal discussions and conferences - which contributed to the range of religious controversy in print (Chapter 3). Part II contains a detailed account of du Moulin's career as a controversialist (Chapter 4): Section 1 covers events in his early life (1568-1621); Sections 2 to 5 survey his activities as a controversialist at Paris (1599-1620) and provide detailed descriptions of all his polemical works published during these years; Section 6 outlines his contribution to religious debate during the remainder of his life, spent at Sedan (1621-58).Part III deals with the careers and publications of eight of du Moulin's Catholic opponents: du Perron, Cayet, Bouju and Coeffeteau (Chapter 5); Coton, Gontéry, Arnoux and Abra de Raconis (Chapter 6). The Epilogue examines Parisian religious debate in the period 1621-29, with a description of: the 'méthode', originally devised by Gontéry, then elaborated by Véron (Section 1); the reactions of members of the second generation of Protestant ministers at Paris - Mestrezat, Drelincourt and Daillé (Section 2). The treatment of the fundamental issue of the 'juge des contreverses' is studied throughout Parts II and III, particularly as it arose in discussions on the Eucharist and on the biblical basis of the Catholic doctrine of purgatory. Particular attention is also paid to developments in conference method and a typical contemporary record of conference proceedings is reproduced in an appendix.