This doctoral project is the first comprehensive study of plays about Christian martyrdom on the French stage from 1596 to 1675.1 have compiled a corpus of such tragedies (Appendix). In Chapter One, I argue that such plays should be treated as a characteristic tragic sub-genre, distinct from other forms of religious plays. I also examine the background to the appearance of the martyr-play, in particular the exaltation of martyrdom in both Protestant and Catholic communities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as other artistic representations of the martyr-hero. Religious literature has often been studied in the light of theological controversy. Since a martyr-play deals with an individual resisting lawful authority, I have concentrated on looking at plays from a political aspect: the depiction of revolt. Accordingly, at the end of Chapter One, I consider how the French king was widely portrayed under the traits of a Roman emperor in popular iconography, demonstrating that this allegory was so widespread, that an audience viewing an emperor on stage would see a link with their own monarch. In Chapters Two, Three and Four, I examine the extant tragedies from the period, with a particular emphasis on how authors treat the question of obedience and the martyr's struggle. Writers with court connections mellow and neutralise the martyr's refusal to obey, notably Comeille and Rotrou. Other dramatists emphasise and highlight the element of individual conscience, particularly La Serre and Desfontaines. The martyr-play peaks during the 1640s and early 1650s, that is to say during a time of civil war, and I believe that the play was a vehicle through which authors could express their discontent with contemporary authority, or even use the example of the martyr as a deterrent to active revolt (Gaspard Olivier is the most striking case).In Chapter Five, I explore the inherent ambivalence of the martyr, and look at the tragedies from the perspective of suicide and the portrayal of gender. I conclude that the martyr is always an ambiguous model, and that this is reflected in the French stage portrayals.

Si l'auto sacramental baroque du XVIIe siècle est aujourd'hui amplement étudié, moins fréquentes sont les études consacrées aux drames eucharistiques espagnols du XVIe siècle, et plus rares encore celles qui ont pris comme objet la théâtralité spécifique de ces modestes pièces de la Renaissance. Travailler sur les pièces eucharistiques du XVIe siècle demandait une réflexion préalable sur l'origine d'un genre dramatique qui s'est développé dans la péninsule ibérique tout au long de la Renaissance, époque à laquelle la question religieuse a fréquemment occupé le devant de la scène (crypto-judaïsme, Concile de Trente, Contreréforme, question des morisques). Toutefois, ce n'est pas seulement l'interrogation obsédante concernant l'origine des drames eucharistiques qui a guidé ces travaux, mais surtout le concept de théâtralité —on entend par là les signes inscrits dans le texte dramatique et possédant un potentiel de spectacularité—, afin de rechercher comment ce théâtre s'est progressivement doté des caractéristiques qui lui sont propres. C'est sur un corpus de trente-deux pièces d'origines et de style divers que nous avons construit une réflexion dont le premier point concerne l'espace dramatique et montre que les lieux infernaux et célestes acquièrent une importance croissante dans ce théâtre. L'analyse des dialogues et de leur enchaînement a permis ensuite de souligner la place prise par les figures d'"attaque" et de "mouvement-vers", suivant la terminologie vinaverienne. Par ailleurs, en nous inspirant de concepts sémiotiques relatifs aux structures "sémio-narratives de surface" comme le modèle actantiel de Greimas, nous avons montré les différentes stratégies discursives propres aux drames eucharistiques, afin de mieux pénétrer les mécanismes qui régissent les dialogues et caractérisent les liens entre les personnages de ce théâtre. L'évolution des éléments comiques a pu être mise en relief par une étude minutieuse des procédés langagiers, gestuels, ou encore des effets tirés de l'utilisation de personnages populaires. Enfin, une approche de l'allégorie (élément considéré comme fondamental dans l'auto sacramental), sous l'angle de la théâtralité, a souligné combien les développements successifs de cette figure dans le drame eucharistique du XVIe siècle l'ont doté d'une structure cohérente permettant des effets toujours plus spectaculaires. / Allthough17th century baroque Spanish sacramental plays have been thoroughly studied, the same cannot be said of 16th century Spanish Eucharistic dramas and even less so of the theme of specific theatricality in the modest Renaissance plays. The study of 16th century Eucharistic plays required prior thought on the origins of a dramatic genre which developed in the Iberian peninsula throughout the Renaissance years, a period when religion was frequently the main issue (The crypto-Judaism, Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation and the Moriscos). However, it is not just the obsessive questioning concerning the origins of Eucharistic dramas which guided these studies but above all the theatricality concept, by that we mean the signs containing a spectacularity potential within the dramatic text. This is essential in order to understand how this kind of theatre gradually acquired its own specific characteristics. We have worked on thirty-two original plays written in different styles. Our first point of interest was the dramatic space which shows that hellish and heavenly places acquire an increasing importance in this kind of theatre. The analysis of dialogues and of how they are linked together then allowed us to emphasize the space taken up by the “attack” and “movement-towards” figures (Michel Vinaver’s terminology). Additionally, by taking inspiration from semiotic concepts relative to “surface semio-narrative” patterns like the Greimas’ actancial model, we have shown different discursive strategies specific to Eucharistic dramas. This allowed us to study more thoroughly the mechanisms determining the dialogues and which characterize the links between the characters of this theatre. The evolution of comical elements has been highlighted by a detailed study of language and gestural techniques as well as a study of the effects produced by using typical theatre characters. Finally, an approach of the allegory in theatricality (element considered as fundamental in Spanish sacramental plays), has emphasized to which extent successive developments of this structure in 16th century Eucharistic drama have given a coherent structure to theatricality making the effects even more spectacular.