Mazarin, Information and Communication During the Fronde (1648–1653)

Abstract

The nature of Mazarin’s communication during the Fronde (1648–1653) raises the fundamental question of the relationship between power and society in the early modern period. Thus, we are forced to redefine the concept of the ‘public sphere’ beyond the Habermasian model of the rationality of public opinion. Given the strength of the plebeian public sphere as demonstrated by ‘Mazarinades’ and the protests of the Parisians, Mazarin was forced to try to regain control of public opinion. He had to adapt his communication to a hierarchical society and the fact that the way information circulated was largely based on differences in social class. His correspondence reveals a strategy based on the perception of different functional public spheres, differing in content, means of transmission, and combining tracts, handwritten and printed materials.