Del 0 - Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment

Voltaire and the Sirven affair (1762-1772)

Häftad, Engelska, 2025

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Voltaire’s involvement with Sirven, has - for long – elicited laudatory judgements from French or Anglo-Saxon voices. If the former proclaimed that ‘Voltaire avait une fois encore gagné’ (as he had famously done with Calas), the latter have been even more fulsomely assertive : ‘he secured a complete victory’; ‘Sirven was in one important respect the most successful of Voltaire’s human rights campaigns’. Such confidence seems strange, however, given that the topic has not received the coverage that it deserved in France, while - in the English-speaking world - it has merited not one single monograph. This study attempts to rectify such curious overstatements, and to propose conclusions that are more consonant with a good understanding of such a complex affair which was, however, emphatically not ‘Calas bis’.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2025-12-12
Mått156 x 234 x undefined mm
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
SerieOxford University Studies in the Enlightenment
Antal sidor312
FörlagLiverpool University Press
ISBN9781836245292

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John Renwick, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the John Orr Professor of French (Edinburgh University, 1980-2006), long collaborated with the Voltaire Foundation (1970-2022), producing for the OCV numerous editions. In parallel he worked to secure a re-evaluation of Jean-François Marmontel (1723-1799) : in March 2021, he was awarded the Prix littéraire Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes de la Francophonie for his ‘pioneering rehabilitation’ of Jean-François Marmontel; in July 2021, he was awarded the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Senior Career Medal (the Sir Walter Scott Medal) for his ‘monumental and ground-breaking’ contribution to the critical edition of the OCV’ and his key role in the ‘resurrection of the highly significant figure, Jean-François Marmontel’.

Chronology (1760-1772)ForewordPart I: The backgroundChapter 1i. Protestantism and central authority 1702-1761/1762. Towards a lifting of the cloudsChapter 2Caussade and Toulouse 1761-1762i. How the chance arrest of François Rochette led to a generalised panic in Caussadeii. Toulouse and the climate in which Huguenots found themselvesChapter 3Voltaire, Protestantism, and toleration, 1716-1762Part II: The Sirven affairChapter IA Protestant family in hostile surroundingsi. The Sirven family. Elisabeth a troubled soul: March 1760 - December 1761ii. An investigation into the cause of Elisabeth's death becomes a criminal investigation (4 January 1762 - 20 January 1762)iii. The investigation continues in Mazamet (21 January 1762 - 6 May 1764)Chapter 2The early stages 1762-1765i. The Sirvens in Switzerland (April/June 1762) and Voltaire's silence on their plight until 1 March 1765ii. The campaign for a revision of the trial (March - August 1765) beginsChapter 3Beaumont marks time and Voltaire steps in, 1765-1766i. Beaumont's defence of Sirven (April 1765 - April 1766) comes to a halt. Voltaire, fearing further delays, rejoins the fray (May 1766)ii. The Avis au public sur les parricides imputés aux Calas et aux SirvenChapter 4Beaumont and Cassen finally produce the arguments in favour of Sirven, 1766-1767i. Waiting for Elie de Beaumont, (September 1766 - Fenruary 1767)ii. Mémoire à consulter, et consultation pour Pierre-Paul Sirveniii. The Consultationiv. Cassen's Mémoire pour Pierre-Paul Sirven, feudiste, ou commissaire à terrier à Castes, sa femme, ses filles, demandeurs en évocation, Paris, 1767Chapter 5More delays 1767-1768Waiting now for Chardon and, above all, for the Conseil des dépêches (March 1767 - March 1768)Chapter 6Activity on behalf of Sirven comes to a halt. Voltaire takes alternative action.The Sirven case in limbo (March 1767 - January 1768). The problem of fanaticism and intolerance remains for Voltaire very much a public issue. His writings of 1767-1768, plus 'Voltaire and the Affaire de Bélisaire' (February 1767 - January 1768)Chapter 7The campaign for Sirven fails. Voltaire's response: disengagement, but immediate re-engagementi. Pierre-Paul Sirven in the doldrums (March 1768 - January 1769)ii. Despite, or because of, the failute of the évocation, fanaticism and toleration are still very much an issue: Voltaire and Les Guèbres, ou la tolérance (March 1768 - January 1769)iii. Les Guèbres, censorship and performance: high expectations dashed (March - May 1769)iv. The vain appeal to diverse publics (May - November 1769)v. The 'Discours historique et critique': September 1769. Voltaire's last standChapter 8Sirven confronts his original judges. Mazamet March 1769 - November 1769i. Pierre-Paul Sirven, on home territory, prepares his rehabilitation (March 1769 - 31 August 1769)ii. Pierre-Paul Sirven faces the legal processes once more (31 August - 16 November 1769)Chapter 9Last stages, November 1769 - November 1770From the unsatisfactory verdict in Mazamet to La Croix's appeal to the Parlement de Toulouse (November 1769 - November 1770)Chapter 10La Croix's final victorious argumentsLa Croix's memorandum is lodged; Sirven is finally exonerated (late December 1770 - 25 November 1771)AfterwordVoltaire and Sirven, 1765-1772Bibliography