Le rôle du comique dans trois moralités polémiques au temps des guerres de religion (milieu du 16eme siècle)

Abstract

In the 16th century, the social and political upheavals brought about by the Reformation also resonated on the French scene. This article analyses three ‘polemical’ morality plays as influential vectors of «threat communication» in the context of the French Wars of Religion. Catholic theatre is nowadays less known and less studied than the many ‘Protestant’ plays that polemicized against the Roman Church. By analysing three anti-Protestant plays, this contribution aims to put into perspective the Catholic response to the growing influence of reformist currents in the city of Rouen in the mid-16th century. L’Eglise et le Commun builds a threatening scenario of an elusive enemy in its own ranks while Hérésie, Simonie, Force, Scandale, Procès et l’Eglise and Le Maître d’Ecole show and condemn in a more concrete way the actions of the denominational opponent. Surprisingly, some of the plays contain many comic elements, while laughter does not seem, at first glance, to be the appropriate response to a threat. The article aims to highlight the functions of laughter in the «threat communication» of the anti-protestant morality plays.