La thèse porte sur la poésie de Marguerite de Navarre et Vittoria Colonna. Elle se concentre sur la codification de leurs poésies spirituelles et examine comment des formes littéraires traditionnelles sont combinées avec des idées religieuses nouvelles et transformées. Pour ce faire, la partie théorique de cette thèse développe une conception du code qui est ensuite appliquée aux poèmes des deux poètes. Dans une partie historique, la thèse explore l’évangélisme en Italie. Elle examine s’il existe en Italie un code évangélique comparable au code évangélique français. La thèse examine ensuite les sonnets spirituels de Vittoria Colonna. Ces poèmes sont édités et traduits en annexe. L’étude analyse également le poème "Le Balladin" de Clément Marot. Le corpus des textes analysés de Marguerite de Navarre comprend les rondeaux, les dizains ainsi que les chansons spirituelles. La thèse se focalise sur l’analyse de la codification et de l’interdépendance de la forme littéraire et de la pensée religieuse. / The thesis deals with the poetry of Marguerite of Navarre and Vittoria Colonna. It focuses on the codification of their spiritual poetry and examines how traditional literary forms are combined with new religious ideas and how they are transformed. To do this, the theoretical part of this thesis develops a conception of code that is then applied to the poems of the two poets. In a historical part, the thesis explores evangelism in Italy. It examines whether there is an evangelical code in Italy comparable to the French evangelical code. The thesis then examines the spiritual sonnets of Vittoria Colonna. These poems are edited and translated in an appendix. The study also analyses Clément Marot's poem "Le Balladin". The corpus of texts by Marguerite of Navarre includes the rondeaux, the dizains and the chansons spirituelles. The thesis focuses on the analysis of the codification and of the interdependence of literary form and religious thought.

This dissertation examines the spiritual poetry of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) in light of three distinct but related contexts: Italian Evangelism of the Catholic Reformation, the Italian lauda tradition, and Renaissance Augustinianism. After reviewing the reception and critical history of Michelangelo’s poetry, chapter one presents the anthropological approach of the present study as an effective means of illuminating the poet’s spiritual verses by considering what they may have meant – collectively and individually – to the poet himself. Chapter two analyzes Michelangelo’s lyrics inspired by Vittoria Colonna with respect to the Spirituali of the Ecclesia viterbiensis in general and to the Beneficio di Cristo and personal letters of Vittoria Colonna in particular. It shows that the portrayal of Vittoria Colonna in this poetry as an instrument of grace effecting Michelangelo’s spiritual refashioning, rebirth, and renewal reflects a theology of the Holy Spirit that was dear to the Italian Evangelical community and central to their self-perception. The third chapter presents the Italian lauda tradition and its mystical verses addressing Christ and the Holy Spirit as an inspiration for Michelangelo who, in a later spiritual sonnet, borrowed directly from one of Lorenzo de’ Medici’s laude. This chapter shows how Michelangelo’s verse is informed by a long, popular Christian tradition in the vernacular. The discussion in chapter four centres on Dante’s Commedia and on the Augustinian allegoreses that permeate Landino’s Comento to the grand epic. These two works, it is argued, constitute sources as important as Petrarch’s Canzoniere for Michelangelo’s Augustinian vision of a mystico-moral ascent through conversion. This dissertation concludes that for Michelangelo poetry became an instrument of spiritual devotion. His mystical verses reveal a Catholic intellectual versant in Italian rhetoric of the Catholic Reformation and a poet inspired by Paul, Augustine, and the Italian lauda tradition.

This dissertation examines the spiritual poetry of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) in light of three distinct but related contexts: Italian Evangelism of the Catholic Reformation, the Italian lauda tradition, and Renaissance Augustinianism. After reviewing the reception and critical history of Michelangelo’s poetry, chapter one presents the anthropological approach of the present study as an effective means of illuminating the poet’s spiritual verses by considering what they may have meant – collectively and individually – to the poet himself. Chapter two analyzes Michelangelo’s lyrics inspired by Vittoria Colonna with respect to the Spirituali of the Ecclesia viterbiensis in general and to the Beneficio di Cristo and personal letters of Vittoria Colonna in particular. It shows that the portrayal of Vittoria Colonna in this poetry as an instrument of grace effecting Michelangelo’s spiritual refashioning, rebirth, and renewal reflects a theology of the Holy Spirit that was dear to the Italian Evangelical community and central to their self-perception. The third chapter presents the Italian lauda tradition and its mystical verses addressing Christ and the Holy Spirit as an inspiration for Michelangelo who, in a later spiritual sonnet, borrowed directly from one of Lorenzo de’ Medici’s laude. This chapter shows how Michelangelo’s verse is informed by a long, popular Christian tradition in the vernacular. The discussion in chapter four centres on Dante’s Commedia and on the Augustinian allegoreses that permeate Landino’s Comento to the grand epic. These two works, it is argued, constitute sources as important as Petrarch’s Canzoniere for Michelangelo’s Augustinian vision of a mystico-moral ascent through conversion. This dissertation concludes that for Michelangelo poetry became an instrument of spiritual devotion. His mystical verses reveal a Catholic intellectual versant in Italian rhetoric of the Catholic Reformation and a poet inspired by Paul, Augustine, and the Italian lauda tradition.