Politics and ‘Politiques' in Sixteenth-Century France: A Conceptual History (Ideas in Context, Series Number 134)

"During the French Wars of Religion, the nature and identity of politics was the subject of passionate debate and controversy. The word 'politique', in both sixteenth-century and contemporary French, refers to the theory and practice of politics - 'la politique' - and the statesman or politician - 'le politique' - who theorised and practised this art. The term became invested with significance and danger in early modern France. Its mobilisation in dialogues, treatises, debates, and polemics of the French Wars of Religion was a crucial feature of sixteenth-century experiences of the political. Emma Claussen investigates questions of language and power over the course of a tumultuous century, when politics, emerging as a discipline in its own right, seemed to offer a solution to civil discord but could be fatally dangerous in the wrong hands. By placing this important term in the context of early modern political, doctrinal and intellectual debates, Emma Claussen demonstrates how politics can be understood in relation to the wider linguistic and conceptual struggles of the age, and in turn influenced them" Cover Half-title Series information Title page Copyright information Dedication Contents List of Figures Preface Acknowledgements Note on the Text Part I The Politique Problem Chapter 1 Politics and Politiques Histories of Politics Histories of Politiques Approaches Methods Sources Politics and Politiques Chapter 2 Pre-Histories and Word Histories Weeds in the Garden of France Origins Between Philosophers and Princes before 1550: Budé and Rabelais Politiques in Dialogue(s) c. 1550-68: Le Caron, Pasquier, L'Hospital La Noue and Montaigne: Surviving Fragments Part II C. 1568-78 Chapter 3 Wise Politiques? Jean Bodin and Loys Le Roy The République and the Politiques d'Aristote Introducing La Science Politique Aristotle's Politiques? Prudent Politiques Bodin's Sages Politiques Politique Self-Fashioning Chapter 4 A Wake-Up Call and A Call to Arms: Le reveille-matin des François and Simon Goulart's Mémoires de l'estat de France The Borrowers: The Reveille-matin and the Mémoires The Politique's Wake-Up Call Le Politique contre Machiavel The Politique Reader, between Liberty and Servitude Memory and Projection: The Politique Agent Part III C. 1588-94 Chapter 5 'What Is This Monster?' The 'Bad' Politique Mixed Merchandise: A Proliferation of Politiques The 'Bad' Politique Mixed Messages Politique Manners The Politique Body The Politique Monster Chapter 6 Strange Meeting: The Dialogue d'entre le Maheustre et le Manant, and the Satyre ménippée Dialogue and Satire Naming, Renaming, and Redescribing: 'Our Friends, Whom You Call Politiques' Redescription and Resistance Redescription/Conversion 'The Politiques Who Distort Meaning' Redescribing Borders Conclusion Bibliography Manuscript Primary Sources Archives nationales de France (AN) Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF) Printed Primary Sources Secondary Sources Internet Sources Lectures Index "This book asks how people understood the concept of politics in sixteenth-century France, and how those who practised it were characterised. Both concept and practitioners were referred to by the same word, politique. I trace written uses of this word as a means of studying shifts in the meaning of the concept and the figure. As much as this is a conceptual history, therefore, it is a textual, and indeed, a literary one. Part of the book's argument is that sixteenth-century literary ideas and processes influenced developments in political thought and practice. It also argues that the word politique and the idea of politics hold a specific place in the literature of the period. The book is about the representation of politics and political actors in writing, the writing of politics, and writing as politics. It treats a diverse corpus, including polemical pamphlets, texts of high political thought, and works more associated with the literary canon such as Montaigne's Essais and the Satyre ménippée"-- Provided by publisher During the French Wars of Religion, the nature and identity of politics was the subject of passionate debate and controversy. Exploring early modern French uses of the word 'politique' and the statesman who practised this art, this book investigates questions of language and of power over the course of a tumultuous century Emma Claussen, University Of Cambridge. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Electronic Reproduction. Cambridge Available Via World Wide Web.