PIERRE BOAISTUAU - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

catholique. The examination of the first added to the study of the notion of divine
monarchy in France, following a long literary tradition, and to the genre of mirror for
princes. As proved, the issue of the qualities and responsibilities of the ideal Christian
ruler was treated by writers such as Boaistuau from a humanist perspective, which
drew inspiration from Ancient Greek and Roman models and incorporated a system of
humanist values such as virtue and erudition. Written in support of the Crown,
Boaistuau’s Chelidonius Tigurinus demonstrated how these humanist influences could
be used for political purposes. At another level, examination of the text of Histoire
des persecutions revealed its relevance to the study of history in sixteenth-century
France, and in particular of works of ecclesiastical history. It also demonstrated how
Boaistuau used his historical narrative of the persecutions and heresies of the first
Church to shape his anti-Protestant rhetoric and strengthen the Catholic faith, which
in turn disclosed another use for humanist reseach: that of religious ends.
The analysis of Histoires prodigieuses cast light on another area which humanism
could be applied: that of natural philosophy. This was an aspect of Boaistuau’s book
examined for the first time, illustrating how it could contribute to the study of
wonder-books, interpretation of monstrous births and natural disasters, French
anatomy, the occult and books on the secrets of Nature, and contemporary trends such
as an early form of encyclopaedism. It also proved how the knowledge explosion and
new attitudes towards the classification of knowledge experienced at the time were
boosted by humanism, and how natural philosophy and theology co-existed in the
mindset of intellectuals, and could be inter-related. This work was another example of
the ways in which humanism could be used to serve other than scholarly purposes,
such as the examination of Man and Nature and the understanding of a rapidly
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