This thesis is on the theory and practice of comic sexual euphemism in Renaissance France and England. The term ‘comic sexual euphemism’ means the use of non-literal descriptions for sexual topics for the purposes of comedy, similar to an innuendo or double-entendre. Crucially, instances are often more explicit than straightforward literal statement, so fail to be euphemistic. I use ancient, early modern, and modern theory, as well as my own theoretical insights, and apply this to three types of Renaissance text: texts associated with the court from England and France, medical texts from France and their English translation, and theatre from England and France. Primary authors include Baldesar Castiglione, Pierre de Brantôme, Sir John Harington (who translated Ludovico Ariosto into English – Ariosto is also translated into French by Jean Martin), Laurent Joubert, Jacques Ferrand (translated into English by Edmund Chilmead), Thomas Middleton, Ben Jonson, Edward Sharpham, John Marston, and Pierre de Troterel. At the court of both countries a dangerous line was walked between protecting women and gossiping about them, between proving yourself witty regarding sexual material and going too far. In the world of French medicine, where you might expect professional and clinical language, there is instead a trend towards outrageous sexual humour. As at court, if deemed to have exceeded social norms, this could get writers into trouble. The stage was in some ways a safer environment in which to use comic sexual euphemism, as it was expected more in comic drama. This does not, however, lessen how vibrant and multi-faceted such language could be in early modern drama. Interestingly, similar imagery is found across texts and genres. In this period overall there was a tension between the rhetorical rules which forbid the discussion of the sexually obscene and the clear delight writers took in breaking these.

The Château d'Anet, France was a hunting lodge and familial residence commissioned and built in the years 1547 to 1555 at the behest of Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henri II. The architecture of the château incorporates a set of devices cultivated by Diane to establish an association between herself and Diana, the Roman goddess of the Hunt; these were the crescent moon, the bow and arrow, and Diane's own initials. Devices, which were personal marks chosen to distinguish an individual through the expression of some idealized element of character or aspirations, had primarily appeared at the French Renaissance court in jewelry, clothing, or art. Beginning in the late 15th century, the Valois kings Louis XII and François I took the practice a step further by weaving devices into the architectural fabric of their residences, where they appeared in entrances, walls, balustrades, and dormers; while drawing on this precedent, the Château d'Anet is the first example of a château commissioned by a woman that featured a program of personalized architectural decoration specific to her character, interests, and position. In this thesis, I will catalogue and analyze the emblematic architectural decorations that permeate both the exterior and interior of the structure, focusing on those examples embedded in the exterior stonework. This catalogue will, in turn, lead to an examination of the impact of this imagery on the overall experience of the château in the 16th century, and the influence the château may have had on the perception of Diane de Poitiers at court. By layering the qualities of the goddess over her own attributes, she was able to create a persona that meshed Diane with Diana; the skillful utilization of the aspects of the deity's otherworldly nature, such as her beauty, chastity, and mystique, was very useful in a court enamored with novelty and chivalric romance, where Diane's power and social position depended on her ability to retain the king's interest. / text

Charles de Valois (1446-1472) was a prince in fifteenth-century France. During his short lifetime, Charles endeavored to gain more authority while in conflict with his brother Louis XI, who was king. Although a minor political character in French history, Charles did demonstrate his power in several artistic ways. One commission by the young royal was a manuscript now known as the Hours of Charles of France. Two pages of this text, the Annunciation to the Virgin, are decorated with rich imagery and iconography used to exhibit Charles' desire for greater authority. The manuscript has only been discussed stylistically, and therefore this thesis examines the content of these pages in terms of secular imagery, religious symbolism, and the prince's connection to the priestly Virgin Mary. These aspects all relate to Charles' display of authority. To fully understand Charles' propaganda, this thesis first examines secular imagery within the manuscript pages. The analysis of worldly symbols of power, such as knighthood, fashion, ornamentation, and architecture, present Charles' desire for greater wealth and power. In addition, this thesis discusses the Virgin Mary in connection with the prince's political imaging. By looking at religious imagery that supports Mary in her role as priestess, this thesis considers how Charles attaches himself to her heightened power. Through both secular and spiritual characteristics, Charles' authority was elevated during a period of political uncertainty and monarchical unrest.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal. / Pour respecter les droits d'auteur, la version électronique de cette thèse ou ce mémoire a été dépouillée, le cas échéant, de ses documents visuels et audio-visuels. La version intégrale de la thèse ou du mémoire a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Ce mémoire de maîtrise en recherche-création explore aussi bien la teneur populaire que l'aspect proprement théâtral associés aux figures narratives que sont les bonimenteurs. À partir d'une lecture critique des Nouvelles récréations et joyeux devis (1558) de Bonaventure Des Périers, le volet essai du mémoire tente de cerner quelle est la posture particulière que présente ce narrateur bonimenteur de la Renaissance française. Nous avons cette fois tenté de voir comment ce discours employé par Des Périers, grâce à une stylistique et une structure discursive qui lui sont propres, participe de la figure du bonimenteur s’adressant au lecteur comme il le ferait sur une place publique, usant de cette posture pour jouer avec son lecteur, grâce à des effets paradoxaux de rapprochement et de mise à distance. Cette façon ludique de se mettre en valeur propre aux bonimenteurs aura des échos jusque dans le volet création du mémoire. Propos et contes avinés est un recueil de nouvelles inspiré de la tradition boccaccienne dans lequel des protagonistes se racontent des histoires pour convaincre leurs interlocuteurs du bien-fondé de leur position. S’y juxtapose aussi bien la parole dialoguée (dans les « propos ») que la parole narrative (dans les « contes »), dans une atmosphère carnavalesque. / This master’s thesis in research/creation explores the popular scope as well as the theatrical aspect associated with the narrative figures that are the pitchmen. Following a critical reading of the Nouvelles récréations et joyeux devis (1558) from Bonaventure Des Périers, the essay portion of the thesis attempts to identify the particular posture presented by the pitchman narrator from the French Renaissance. We have attempted to illustrate how this discourse used by Des Périers, through his particular stylistic and discursive structure, partakes in the pitchman figure who addresses the readers directly as he would do in the public square and uses this posture to play with them, using paradoxical effects of proximity and detachment. This playful manner through which the pitchmen distinguish themselves will fin echoes in the creation portion of this thesis. Propos et contes avinés is a collection of short stories inspired by the boccaccian tradition in which the protagonists tell stories in order to convince their listeners of the validity of their opinions. Their dialogue (the discourse) is juxtaposed with narrative (the tale) in a carnivalesque atmosphere.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal / Pour respecter les droits d'auteur, la version électronique de cette thèse ou ce mémoire a été dépouillée, le cas échéant, de ses documents visuels et audio-visuels. La version intégrale de la thèse ou du mémoire a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Principal centre d’imprimerie du XVIe siècle, rassemblant les auteurs et les forces artistiques du royaume, Paris offre un échantillon parfait pour l’étude de l’illustration à la Renaissance. De 1530 à 1580, la typographie parisienne intègre des influences issues des éditions humanistes italiennes et des particularités artistiques de l’école de Fontainebleau. La participation des peintres à la préparation des illustrations est un fait clairement établi : les noms des dessinateurs sont parfois cités sur les pages de titre et dans le texte des éditions. Cependant, les modalités de leur collaboration avec les différents métiers du livre restent à préciser. Soumis à la commande des éditeurs et au contrôle des auteurs, contraints par la technique de l’élaboration du livre imprimé, les illustrateurs étaient amenés à s’adaptent à ce nouveau médium. Par ailleurs, la diffusion massive des images imprimées a, elle-même, bouleversé les pratiques artistiques. Associant l’étude des œuvres et la recherche des témoignages d’archives, cette étude se retrouve à l’intersection de l’histoire de l’art et de l’histoire du livre. Cette approche croisée permet de déterminer plus précisément la place des peintres dans le monde du livre imprimé parisien et d’analyser en détail leurs réseaux professionnels. La reconstitution des corpus d’illustrations permet l’étude plus précise d’un certain nombre d’artistes particulièrement actifs dans ce domaine, tels que Jean Cousin père, Baptiste Pellerin, Geoffroy Ballain et Charles Jourdain. / Paris presents a prefect example for the study of the book illustration as the main center of printing in the 16th century and where the prolific authors and the artistic forces of the Kingdom concentrated. From 1530 to 1580, Parisian typography integrated the influence of Italian humanist editions and the artistic particularities of the Fontainebleau school. The participation of painters in the preparation of illustrations is a well-known fact: we can sometimes find their names on the title pages and in the texts of books. However, the terms of their collaboration with other book printing trades are still to be clarified. Dependent on book publishers’ command, subjected to the authors’ control and limited by the book printing techniques, the illustrators had to adjust to this new medium. Besides, the massive diffusion of printed images profoundly changed artistic practices. Combining the study of artworks and archives, this research is at the junction of art history and book history. This complex approach highlights the place of painters in the world of the Parisian book printing and allows an analysis of their professional networks. The reconstruction of illustrations corpuses enables the study of the career of some Parisian artists who were particularly active in this field, such as Jean Cousin the Elder, Baptiste Pellerin, Geoffroy Ballain and Charles Jourdain.

La tesi affronta il problema della teatralità presente nel romanzo di François Rabelais (1483-1553). La scrittura dell’umanista contamina i generi letterari attivi tra tardo Medioevo e Rinascimento, recupera le forme dei generi classici greco-latini e sfrutta la forza vivente delle pièces teatrali francesi. La mescolanza di tutti questi materiali produce una poetica coerente, volta al potenziamento della visione del mondo, che trova nella teatralità la sua evidenza più forte. Ribaltando la prospettiva degli studi critici precedenti, il lavoro analizza l’opera secondo un "découpage" delle categorie teatrali principali: il tempo, lo spazio, il pubblico, il testo e l’attore. Il risultato finale è l’emersione di una teatralità strutturale, diffusa nell’intero romanzo tramite diversi meccanismi: l’ambiguità tra diegesi/mimesi e tra lettura/ascolto, il dialogo tra narratore e lettori, la compresenza di pubblico e personaggi recitanti, le indicazioni di una spazialità performativa, l’importanza della gestualità e della vocalità, la musicalità teatrale della lingua, il lessico specialistico della messinscena, i temi del travestimento, del "théâtre du monde" e del "théâtre anatomique". / The dissertation focuses on the connection between François Rabelais’s Gargantua et Pantagruel and the theatre. Rabelais’s writing possesses generic characteristics, typical of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance periods; it also presents generic forms derived from Greek and Latin literature, and is endowed with the vitality of French medieval theatre. The mingling of these materials results in a coherent poetics expressed through pervasive theatrical elements, and aimed at amplifying the reader’s worldview. Previous scholarly perspectives are here “overturned”, for analysis is built on fundamentally theatrical categories: time, space, audience, text and actor. Theatricality proves to inform the very structure of Rabelais’s work and manifests itself in the alternation of diegesis and mimesis; in the ongoing dialogue between narrator and readers/listeners; in the co-presence of audience and characters/players; in the indications of performative spaces; in the emphasis on gesture and voice; in the theatrical musicality of language; in the specialist vocabulary of the mise-en-scène and the themes of disguise, théâtre du monde and théâtre anatomique.

L'objectif de cette étude est de renouveler les connaissances sur le « Logis Royal » du château de Loches et de proposer une restitution de ses chantiers, de ses distributions et de ses décors entre le dernier tiers du XIVe siècle, qui vit l'édification d'un premier corps de logis par le duc Louis Ier d'Anjou, et le début du XVIe siècle durant lequel s'acheva la construction d'un second bâtiment accueillant les logis royaux de Charles VIII, Louis XII et Anne de Bretagne. Encore en élévation, les deux corps de logis ont pu bénéficier d'une étude archéologique du bâti approfondie qui, associée à l'analyse des sources textuelles et iconographiques conservées, permet de mettre en évidence la contribution que le « Logis Royal » de Loches a pu apporter à l'architecture des palais résidentiels du XIVe siècle et des châteaux royaux de la première Renaissance française en Val de Loire / The purpose of this study is to renew our knowledge of the "Logis Royal" of the castle of Loches and propose a restitution of its sites, its distributions and its decorations from the last third of the fourteen century, which saw the building of a first main lodging by Duke Louis Ier d’Anjou, to the beginning of the sixteenth century during which completed the construction of a second building housing the royal lodgings of Charles VIII, Louis XII and Anne de Bretagne. Still standing, the two main lodgings have benefited from a thorough archaeological study of buildings, combined with the analysis of textual and iconographic sources conserved, that allows to highlight the contribution the "Logis Royal" of Loches could bring to the architecture of the residential palaces of the fourteenth century and the royal castles of the first french Renaissance in the Loire Valley

Cento Probae is one the important works of late Roman literature, which had a great success both in the Middle Ages and in the humanism. This is evidenced by the large number of manuscripts and printed witnesses, to which it is possible to add two French translations from the middle of the 16th century. The main focus of this master's thesis is to propose a detailed comparison of the texts with regard to contemporary translation practice. Based on this analysis, the author examines the purpose of these translations, the audience for which they were intended and whether there is any connection between them.