Sin and Salvation in Early Modern France: Three Women’s Stories

The texts available here in English for the first time open a window into the lives of three early modern Frenchwomen as they explore the common themes of family, memory, sin, and salvation. The Regrets of Marguerite d’Auge (1600), the Memoirs of Renée Burlamacchi (1623), and the Genealogy of Jeanne du Laurens (1631), taken from different genres of historical writings, raise important questions: Why and how did female authorship find its way into the historical record? How did these voices escape the censorship and prejudice against female publication? In a time of extreme religious conflict, how did these women convey their views on controversial issues such as primacy of grace, indulgences, and salvation without disrupting the gender expectations of the era?

“These quite disparate texts by three women writers, none well known (although in two cases, their husbands certainly are), offer rare and engaging historical perspectives. A serious and well-informed study preceding the translations features close textual readings as well as references to pertinent critical articles and approaches. Richly recounting the contexts of the different “texts on sin and salvation,” the introduction poses important questions regarding gender, literary genre, male-female relations in early modern France, attitudes toward sin and salvation, self-representation, and the depiction of history. This scholarly accomplishment will provide an impressive academic resource for a wide range of readers.”

-Cathy Yandell, W. I. and Hulda F. Daniell Professor of French Literature, Language, and Culture Chair, Department of French and Francophone Studies, Carleton College

COLETTE H. WINN, professor of French at Washington University in St. Louis, specializes in editing early modern writings by women.

NICHOLAS VAN HANDEL holds a BA in Linguistics and Romance Languages and Literatures from Washington University in St. Louis.

REVIEWS
Early Modern Women 12.2 (2018): 280–282. Reviewed by Anne R. Larsen.
Early Modern Women 13.1 (2018): 221–223. Reviewed by Brigitte Roussel.
Renaissance & Reformation 41.2 (2018): 173–174. Reviewed by by Vivek Ramakrishnan.
Renaissance Quarterly 71.3 (2018): 1148–1149. Reviewed by Gabriella Scarlatta.
The Sixteenth Century Journal 49.1 (2018): 239–241. Reviewed by Victoria N. Meyer.
Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 37.1 (2018): 197–199. Reviewed by Jane Couchman.