La fabrication d’une identité catholique : stratégies de l’incipit dans la première Vie de Jeanne de Chantal (1642)

Abstract

'How to begin the life of a saint after the Counter-Reformation? The portrait of the most Catholic Bénigne Frémyot in the first Life of Jeanne de Chantal'Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot de Chantal (1572-1641) is one of the Counter-Reformation most important figures. Her Lives could be an excellent way to understand how political and religious contexts are reflected in the life-writing of a ‘‘candidate’’ to the sanctity (she is canonized in 1767, a century later). We will wonder how her life written by her first biographer (Françoise-Madeleine de Chaugy in 1642) presents relevant elements to think about what seems to be a new demand: the biographer has to prove ‘‘his saint’’ to be a Catholic, in a country where the Wars of Religion have removed its obviousness. Thus, the biographer uses the genealogy to begin his narrative. We will focus on the figure of Jeanne de Chantal’s father, Bénigne Frémyot, the Burgundy Parliament’s President, and especially on the narrative of his unfailing loyalty both to Catholic Church and to Henri IV in the midst of the religious conflict, reinforced by his opposition to the Catholic League.