This dissertation studies the content of Catholic polemic printed in the city of Lyon from 1560 to 1594, a period ranging from the first hints of wider Protestant unrest to the submission of the city to Henry IV and the resumption of royal control. The time frame corresponds to an era of zealous Catholic activity in which combating Protestantism, or heresy as they usually labeled it, was a primary focus of the Lyonnaise Catholic Church and the presses which supported it. By studying the thematic content of these cheap print sources, I will provide a glimpse into the types of issues that appear most prominently in this particular type of print medium and trace how such issues change, or remain static, over time. Most important of these themes are the importance of concord or unity and the willingness of God to punish his followers for their sins and, frequently, mankind's unwillingness to reunify the church and create concord through force. This dissertation has grown into a commentary on this dynamic more than any other single issue and readers will detect tangential comments concerning the importance of unity and God's punishment throughout earlier chapters. Time and again, polemicists make clear that the only means to a lasting "peace" is to achieve religious unity by any means necessary. Only this purity within the faithful will ease God's hand and cure France of its ills. Sources were drawn from the principal libraries in Lyon and the Rhone valley, in addition to occasional pieces scattered in Paris and other libraries throughout France.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/195996 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Hartley, Brandon |
| Contributors | Karant-Nunn, Susan C, Karant-Nunn, Susan C, Milliman, Paul, Nader, Helen |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Electronic Dissertation |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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