« A Caveat for Protestants » : La Saint-Barthélemy dans la presse britannique de loisirs du XVIIIe siècle

Abstract

In a general context of latent francophobia and anti-Catholicism, what memorial role did the British eighteenth-century leisure press play in relation to the Saint Bartholomew Day massacre? After an overview of the magazines which represented the 1572 Paris Massacre, this study aims to assess the originality of the descriptions of the massacre by placing them in a historiographical perspective. It also purports to scrutinize the reasons which lay behind the interest in the massacre. It thus uncovers the changing nature of the instrumentalisation of the event. It highlights that beyond persisting anti-Catholicism and francophobia, representations of the massacre in the British press reflect the secularization of the British society as well as its politicisation and commercialisation.

Keywords

• Paris Massacre
• British leisure press
• Eighteenth-century Britain
• Methodism
• anti-Catholicism
• Critical Review