Rêves mystiques à la cour de Victor-Amédée II de Savoie (1666-1732)

Abstract

At the end of the 17th century mystic discourse is forced to take concealed refuge, confined behind the walls of monasteries. At the same moment, however, the domains of the Duchy of Savoy offer typical case studies. This article analyzes the spiritual mothers who surrounded Victor Amadeus II. While one finds in their vibrant and visionary mysticism a taste for prophecy carried to the extreme, one also sometimes notes an independence with regard to the ecclesiastical institution, which characterized the protagonists during the heyday of feminine prophecy at the end of the Middle Ages. The direct and almost exclusive link between these visionary women and the ducal family and their refusal to submit to episcopal authority are the extreme expression of the implicit contradiction in female prophetism.