An Introduction to 16th-century French Literature and Thought

About this book

The age of Shakespeare, Cervantes, Erasmus, Luther, and Machiavelli also produced in France some of Europe's greatest literature and thought: Montaigne's Essays, Rabelais' comic fictions, Ronsard's poetry, and Calvin's theology. These and numerous other extraordinary writings emerged from and contributed to cultural upheavals: the movement usually known as the Renaissance, which sought to revive ancient Greek and Roman culture for present-day purposes; religious reform, including the previously unthinkable rejection of Catholicism by many in the Reformation, culminating in decades of civil war in France; and the transformation of the French language into an instrument for advanced abstract thought. This book introduces this vibrant literature and thought via an apparent paradox.