Satire Ménippée


The Satire Ménippée or La Satyre Ménippée de la vertu du Catholicon d'Espagne was a political and satirical work in prose and verse which criticized the excesses of the Catholic League and Spanish pretensions during the Wars of Religion in France and defended the idea of an independent but Catholic France. The title derives from the classical Roman literary genre "menippean satire" which included a mixture of prose and verse.
The work was written during the Etats Généraux which were convened by Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne in Paris in the hopes of electing himself to the French throne. The work was conceived by Pierre le Roy during discussions with friends in Paris at the home of Jacques Gillot. The work was written by Nicolas Rapin, Jean Passerat and Florent Chrestien, and edited/revised by Pierre Pithou.
The philosophy of the group around Pithou and Rapin and the Satire Ménippée is that of the "Politiques", moderate Catholics who privileged peace, conceived of a distinction between the State and Religion, and sought political accommodation with the Huguenots. By the end of the civil wars, the "politiques" were the favored target of attack of the Catholic League.
The work includes several remarkable passages, including a description of a procession and all the forces of the League, the public orations of the Duke of Mayenne, of the legate of the Pope, and of the cardinals Pelvé and Aubray. The writers paint the miseries of the nation and the blindness of their detractors, and they encourage an alliance of the people and the monarchy to save the nation.
Notably, Diderot's Encyclopédie praises the work for its "singularity" and notes its usefulness to Henry IV.