Deppisch, Aaron
Congratulations on passing the viva voce examination
on 6 November 2014.
Dissertation topic: "The relationship between religion and state and the question of tolerance in the works of Jean Bodin, Étienne de la Boeties and Michel de Montaigne" (working title)
Contact address at the University of Würzburg:
Institute of Modern Languages and Literatures - Chair of Romance Studies II
Am Hubland
D-97074 Würzburg
Phone: +49 931 31-85684
Fax: +49 931 888-5679
Room: 5.O.22
First supervisor: Prof. Dr Brigitte Burrichter
Second supervisor:
Class in the Graduate School: "Philosophy, Languages, Arts"
Doctorate in the Graduate School since SS 2010.
Abstract:
The French Wars of Religion were the prelude to decades of confessional conflicts that devastated France and eventually spread to large parts of Europe. The lives of the political philosophers and jurists Jean Bodin, Étienne de la Boetie and Michel de Montaigne were also shaped by these religiously motivated conflicts. For this reason, the religious disputes left deep traces in their main philosophical works, which are still decisive for the intellectual history of Europe.
The jurist Jean Bodin worked as a royal advisor on the reorganisation of the state after the Wars of Religion. His main work "Six livres sur la République" is considered the theoretical foundation of absolutism. In this work, Bodin outlines for the first time the idea of control of religion by the state. His second, far less well-known book "Colloquium Heptaplomères" offers a more nuanced perspective. Seven people from different religions discuss the merits of their respective faiths. Large parts of the conversation also concern the topics relevant to this dissertation. The tolerant and cosmopolitan atmosphere of this book is unique for the 16th century.
Étienne de la Boetie was also a judge in the service of the French king. His work "Mémoire sur la pacification des troubles" can be seen as a consistent further development of Bodin's absolutist theory in the field of religious policy. In this work, de la Boetie offers proposals for resolving the religious conflict in France, which envisage the creation of a French national church independent of Rome. What is particularly surprising is that the new Gallican Church to be created was a symbiosis of Catholicism and Protestantism.
A close friend of Étienne de la Boeties was Michel de Montaigne, who held the important office of mayor of Bordeaux. However, Montaigne was not only a politician, but also the creator of a completely new genre of text, the Essais. The French Wars of Religion are an important theme of these Essais. Montaigne also showed a keen interest in neighbouring European countries. In his "Journal de Voyage", for example, he reports on the impressions he gained in Germany and Italy while travelling for several months.
The aim of the dissertation is to use the aforementioned works of the three authors to work out fundamental positions on the relationship between state and religion and the associated question of religious tolerance, as well as to demonstrate a fundamental paradigm shift in the relationship between state and religion in the early modern period. At the end of the work, the ideas of the individual authors are compared and the endurance of their ideas up to the present day is demonstrated.
