Le Roi dans la ville: anthologie des entrées royales dans les villes françaises de province (1615–1660) ed. by Marie-France Wagner, Daniel Vaillancourt (review)

Abstract

488 Reviews implications of 'libertinage'. It also takes into consideration the scientific approach to the body, in Descartes in particular, which puts it in opposition to the mind and reduces it to a 'machine' which must be controlled, a dichotomy which will form the basis of the 'passion vs. reason' discourse. Jeanneret points out, on several occasions, the inherent misogyny of the texts he presents, and it is perhaps to counteract this that the chapter entitled 'Le sexe intelligent' deals primarily with women, either real (Lenclos) or as heroines of erotic literature, and credits them with bringing body and spirit back together, arguing that for these 'libertines' following their desires meant sharpening the intellect and challenging the gender hierarchy of patriarchal society. Jeanneret's book is interesting and covers much ground, but the author is perhaps too quick to argue that it concerns a society 'aussi differente que possible de la latitude actuelle'. Although he mentions, in his introduction, the links between sexual freedom and politics in the context of May '68, it would have been interesting to examine any possible parallels between then and now, such as the way in which the developments of the Internet may be seen to mirror those of printing in terms of extended public access and the censorship issues this raises. Similarly, it seems misguided to dismiss the current worldwide religious climate on the grounds that 'Nous baignons aujourd'hui dans une culture molle et permissive.' The impact of religious conservatism on US legislation and the factthat some reading materials are still likely to be confiscated by customs, to name but two examples, suggest that the issues raised by Jeanneret's book are still relevant to contemporary society. University of Edinburgh Veronique Desnain Le Roi dans la ville: anthologie des entrees royales dans les villes francaises de province (1615-1660). Ed. by Marie-France Wagner and Daniel Vaillancourt. Paris: Champion. 2001. 334 pp. ISBN 2-7453-0424-0. This anthology nicely complements Marie-France Wagner's earlier collection of es? says on urban festival in early modern Europe, Les Arts du spectacle dans la ville (1404-1721) (Paris: Champion, 2001) (reviewed in MLR, 99, pp. 190-91). As the editors make clear in the introduction, only provincial entries have been selected here on the grounds that they are less well known than the entries into Paris, and they also raised differentkinds of issues. While sharing general formal characteristics with their Parisian counterparts, they testified to the towns' desire to maintain their privileges and liberties in the face of the French King's intention to map out his territories in order to strengthen his authority. This helps to explain why the entries disappeared after the reign of Louis XIII and the reinforcement of monarchical power under his successor. Royal progress was no longer seen as a means to govern the country, but addressed differentobjectives, more limited in scope and often related to foreign and military developments. Somewhat more questionable is the decision, partly due to publishing constraints, to reproduce extracts rather than the unabridged text (with the exception of Louis X111's entry into Troyes in 1629, which is seen as exemplary ofthe genre in both structural and aesthetic terms). However this distillation of the texts permits a thematic pre? sentation of the material that goes some way towards facilitating their understanding, since they are often rather dense. The selection is organized around three topics: the firstincludes excerpts that belong exclusively to the written commemoration, such as forewords, dedications, and laudatory verse; the second focuses on the participation of the city in the event, detailing the preparations, their cost, the part played by the various city officials,describing the order of the procession, or stressing the peaceful presence of the populace; the third reviews the ephemeral structures devised forthe occasion, be they triumphal arches, columns, fountains, or equestrian statues. MLRy 99.2, 2004 489 The whole enterprise is characterized by the thoroughness of its scholarship. The texts are meticulously edited with close reproduction ofseventeenth-century spellings and punctuation. Unfamiliar words and obscure references are explained in footnotes, always well judged in their scope. A detailed account ofthe royal tours ofthe provinces between the years 1615...