Sur certaines formes de la propagande religieuse au XVI e siècle

• Published in: Annales : histoire, sciences sociales (French ed.) sciences sociales (French ed.), 1981-02, Vol.36 (1), p.16-25
• Main Author: Deyon, Pierre
• Format: Article
• Language: fre
• ISSN: 0395-2649; 1953-8146
• DOI: 10.3406/ahess.1981.282713

L'extension rapide de la Réforme a été, chacun le sait, facilitée par l'utilisation intelligente des nouveaux moyens de communication. Avec audace, Luther et les autres réformateurs ont mis le livre, la gravure et la prédication au service de leurs idées et cette offensive multiforme semble, dans les deux premiers tiers du siècle, avoir pris l'Église catholique de vitesse. C'est ce décalage qui retiendra notre attention, peut-être nous aidera-t-il à mieux comprendre, en particulier à travers la chronique des affrontements religieux en France de 1561 à 1594, la signification spécifique des propagandes ennemies. Luther frequently praised printing as a gift of God, and the protestant reformers skilfully used books, music and engraving in the service of their propaganda. The reissue of Max Geisberg's book gives us an opportunity of admiring the talent of the artists enrolled in the service of this offensive. The Catholic Church was initially caught unprepared ; it looked askance at translations of the holy books into the vernacular, and feared the widespread dissemination of theological debate. It was only later on that it developed an appropriate riposte of its own, but the history of the Parisian League does give us some idea of its effectiveness. It was around the meaning of the Eucharist that anathemas and polemics chiefly crystallized, and their opposition reflected two different conceptions of the relations between man and the divine and salvation.