Following the assassination of Henri IV in 1610, the regency of Marie de Medicis was a period of increasing censorship of literature in order to police factionalism, rebel noblemen, and public opinion during the minority reign of her son Louis XIII. Yet this same period of instability and suppression engendered a plethora of sexually explicit and irreverent poetry, as well as works of free-thinking that cast doubt on the dogma of Church and State. It was a golden age for so-called 'libertine' literature. Libertines and the Law examines the legal and rhetorical tactics used at trial by notorious subversive authors, including Giulio Cesare Vanini, Jean Fontanier and Theophile de Viau. Their trials are contextualised with a detailed conceptual history of libertinism, as well as an analysis of literary censorship and the mechanics of the criminal justice system in early-Bourton France. Drawing on rarely explored archival sources, newly-discovered evidence and legal manuals, Libertines and the Law provides new insights into the censorship of French literature and thought from the perspectives of both the defendants and the magistrates. Through a diverse corpus including poetry, philosophical texts, religious polemics, Jewish teachings and private memoirs, it offers fresh perspectives on this crucial period in literary, legal and intellectual history.

Book Information
ISBN 9780197267004
Author Adam Horsley
Format Hardback
Page Count 400
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 156g