From Penitence to Charity: The Practice of Piety in Counter-Reformation Paris

Barbara Diefendorf argues that Vincentian piety arose from the spirituality evoked by the late sixteenth century’s religious wars. These wars brought with them a fear of God’s judgment. This fear, coupled with disgust for the excesses of the unreformed Church, led to penitential piety, which emphasized extreme asceticism and Christ’s suffering on the cross. Later, there was a shift to the imitation of his life through service to the poor. Diefendorf examines female piety typified by Marie Du Drac and Barbe Aurillot, also known as Madame Acarie. Both practiced severe forms of mortification, nursed the poor, and worked in prisons. Both exemplified the political element of their era’s piety as ardent supporters of the Holy Union of the Catholic League, a Parisian faction prominent in the religious wars. The asceticism and influence of the Capuchin and Feuillant orders are discussed

Madame de Gondi: A Contemporary Seventeenth-Century Life

There are few sources of information about Madame de Gondi’s life, and the prevailing view has held that she was selfish, insecure, and neurotic. This sketch of her many virtues comes from a 1630 collection of women’s lives written by Brother Hilarion de Coste and appears to have been unknown to Pierre Coste and other scholars of Vincent de Paul’s relationship with Madame de Gondi. Brother Hilarion’s information came from oral and published sources, and he also knew Vincent, quoting him regarding one incident. This portrait of Madame de Gondi has particular authenticity. In accordance with contemporary expectations of women, Brother Hilarion praises her obedience to and dependence on her spiritual directors. He also cites her intelligence, which suggests that her submissiveness was, as Barbara Diefendorf says, “a deliberate conformity to an expected social role—and not an innate character trait.” Her care for her vassals and her management of her estates do not conform to her image as “clinging and demanding.” Reasons for the prevalence of this image are discussed in Diefendorf’s introduction

La charité dévote en Provence au XVIIe siècle

Les grandes lignes des ambitieux projets caritatifs du XVIIe siècle sont bien établies. Les historiens ont insisté à juste titre sur la fondation des hôpitaux généraux destinés à l’enfermement des pauvres, les tentatives simultanées pour discipliner et pour moraliser les déchus de la société, et le rôle important joué par la Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement dans la diffusion de ces attitudes envers les pauvres. L’origine et l’évolution des institutions de bienfaisance dans leurs contextes locaux ..

La Saint-Barthélémy et la bourgeoisie parisienne

Diefendorf Barbara. La Saint-Barthélémy et la bourgeoisie parisienne. In: Histoire, économie et société, 1998, 17ᵉ année, n°3. L'État comme fonctionnement socio-symbolique (1547-1635) sous la direction de Denis Crouzet. pp. 341-352