Janus-faced poems, or: Marot's double speech
Two poems by Marot, both dating from the
time of his exile and both addressed to Renée de France (Duchess of
Ferrara, and famous/notorious for the francophone and Evangelical court she held
in Italy) exist in two versions: one overtly Evangelical, the other politically
and religiously correct: the Avant–naissance (a solemn chant celebrating
the imminent birth of Renée’s third child) and an Epistle to Renée, send from
Venice to Ferrara, which at first sight reports the beauties and vices of
Venice.The overtly Evangelical versions have some extras, including sharp
anti–papal passages and vehement attacks on the existing Church as such. That
these passages are absent in the official version is not much of a surprise,
since these edulcorated versions are known from the
Recueil offered in 1538 to the
Constable of France, Anne de
Montmorency, who was combative and intransigent in matters of religion. Whether
either version was known in Marot’s days cannot be said, except that the
official (i.e., purged) version of the Avant–naissance
appeared in print in 1547.[1]
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In the
Avant–naissance
the imminent birth of Renée’s
child heralds a new era (a typical topos referring embroidering on and
referring to Virgil’s aurea aetas).
This era will be an age of enlightenment (‘la grand lumière,’ vv. 4–5,
returning in the concluding line: v. 74). In one version this new light is
coming from two sources: the Renaissance of the Arts (vv. 19–28) and
the Reformation of the Church (vv. 51–60). The last is characterised
by the unveiling of the Truth (‘verité revellée’ v. 51) and the concordant
destruction of the papal tyranny (phrases like ‘beste sans raison’; ‘grand
enemy de ta noble maison’; ‘triple creste’ vv. 55–8 are passed in review).[2]
This passage was simply omitted in the version offered to Montmorency, who
was not a fan of the Pope either, but would never have accepted an equation
of the Pope with the Antichrist as presented in this passage.
-
Marot’s Epistle to Renée envoyée de Venize has a
similar twofold redaction, with an even more elaborate and explicit attack
on the corruption in/of the Church, a corruption originating once more in
Rome. In this epistle the splendours of Venice are evoked, but this literary
exercise mainly is a pretext to embark on a critique of the materialism,
lack of love for the neighbour (charity) and the general low moral standards
(acceptance of fornication) of the Venetians, based on their epicurism. This
harangue as such was a topos, but in the
longer version the root of evil is not sought in epicurism, but in the total
depravation of the Church and its worship.
The two versions of the texts speak for themselves if juxtaposed; and then
just read and compare. Since in critical editions this generally is not
possible (one has to construct the alternative text based on footnotes or
endnotes, or - in the best case: in an appendix), I decided to publish them
on the internet, where in matters of layout much more is possible than in
paperprint.
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