Bartholomisirungen. Johann Fischart, l’atelier de Bernhard Jobin et les guerres civiles françaises (Strasbourg, 1575-1590)

Abstract

The French Wars of Religion sparked a wide range of reactions in the Holy Roman Empire. Many pamphlets, broadsheets and newspapers from both sides — Protestant and Catholic — were translated and published, particularly in Bernhard Jobin’s print shop in Strasbourg. Jobin also published Johann Fischart’s Geschichtklitterung, the first translation of Rabelais’s Gargantua, in 1575, followed by his publication of two expanded versions of the text in 1582 and in 1590. This article investigates two areas of research that have yet to be further explored. First, it offers a renewed interpretation of the Geschichtklitterung by better assessing the way in which Fischart integrates elements of contemporary French history into his translation. Second, it brings to light the existence of that little-known document on the reception, in the Holy Roman Empire, of the French Wars of Religion and of St Bartholomew’s Day in particular — which Fischart incorporated into the German language by coining the word Bartholomisirung. The article thus contributes to a fuller understanding of the reading, interpretation and use that were made of this massacre in the German-speaking countries, including in fictional texts.

Keywords

• St Bartholomew’s Day massacre
• German reception of the Wars of Religion
• Rabelais
• Fischart
• Jobin