Luc Racaut PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

fidelle, finablement ou tout blanc ou tout noir; car la foi nette et entiêre ne recoit lien
mixtionne'. 71 Tallon argues that Ceneau represented the old Scholastic tradition, in
opposition to Humanism, and was particularly adverse to the 'moyenneurs'. 72 This
polarization of issues is characteristic of propaganda as defined above.
Public opinion is known to us as the private sphere, either individual or
collective, where one makes a choice between several options available. For Catholic
authors, 'opinion' is simply synonymous with heresy, and indeed the Greek origin of
the word means 'choice'. Robert Ceneau and others abhor the 'middle ground',
specifically because it allows for the development of self-determination and choice.
Everything has to be black or white. By polarizing the issues in this way, these
authors were planning that their audience would stick to what they knew best, that is
the old religion, and close the dangerous debate initiated by the Reformers. This
standpoint has the unfortunate consequence of cutting out completely those who had
already converted. The works studied here address themselves to Catholics. They do
not seek to convince the heretics of their errors, and it is not until after the Edict of
Nantes that any such efforts were made. The aim of the authors of Catholic polemic
was 'containment' rather than `roll-back', to use Cold War rhetoric. It was not until
the Counter Reformation took hold in France, at the turn of the seventeenth century,
that Catholic writers pursued a more positive policy of conversion and Catholic
regeneration. It should be added that this change of tone in Catholic writings was the
result of pressure from both the Court of the Bourbon, and the influence of the
Council of Trent. It did not go without resistance, however, as a community of exiled
(former Leaguer) Catholic propagandists out of sympathy with Henri IV pursued
their agenda from the Spanish Netherlands.
Unlike the Reformers, the authors studied here did not seek to convince their
audience of the validity of change but, on the contrary, of the dangers of straying
from tradition. While the Reformers sought to motivate their audience towards
change, these authors appealed to the wisdom of remaining faithful to the old
71 Ceneau, Response catholique, sig. Ar.
72 Tallon, La France et le Concile de Trente, pp. 331, 432, 502-3.
236