Luc Racaut PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

Wars of Religion conjure up the image of an inquisitor rather than a 'prophet of the
apocalypse'.
Crouzet was successful in putting eschatological anguish on the
historiographical map of the French Wars of Religion, but whether it was as central
as he makes it is a matter for serious consideration. Our own fears of a global
ecological disaster on the eve of a new millennium should convince us that no
historical argument can be built on the specificity of any period of history in respects
of millenarianism. One could argue that apocalypticism has been part of human
culture ever since men realised they were mortal: it is a lot easier to contemplate the
end of all things than it is to contemplate one's own.
From the point of view of the authors I have outlined above, Crouzet is
problematic since he specifically argues against a rationalization of religious
violence. No rational explanation can be found (according to Crouzet) since those
who took part in the massacres felt vindicated by God and motivated by the belief
that the end was at hand. The work of Natalie Davis is built on the premise that
religion is basically a social phenomenon and that religious rituals are ultimately
concerned with this world. According to this school of thought, religion is
inseparable from the community of believers and violence can be seen as justifiable
in the defence of its boundaries from the pollution of heresy. 21 Crouzet specifically
rejects this Durkheimian school of thought and the utilitarianism and functionalism
associated with it, as negating the specificity of religious violence which is conferred
by its otherworldliness. Another major point of disagreement lies in the interpretation
of the ritual aspects of religious violence which, to Crouzet, are prophetic. According
to Crouzet, the failure to acknowledge the specificity of religious violence
invalidates the work of his predecessors, like Janine Garrisson and Natalie Davis:
Ii n'y aurait donc ni primitivisme, ni fonctionalisme, dans le
systeme d'une violence qui, en consequence, ne pourrait étre
analysee que dans le champ specifique du Sacre du XVIe siècle.
21 N. Z. Davis, 'The sacred & the body social in Sixteenth-Century Lyon', P&P, 90
(1981), 40-70, p. 63; Culture and Society, p. 157.
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