The Apology of Herodotus
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Apologie pour Herodote (1566, English: The Apology of Herodotus) is a protestant satire of catholicism by French printer and classical scholar Henri Estienne.
Its full title reads Introduction au Traité de la conformité des merveilles anciennes avec les modernes, ou Traité préparatif à l'apologie pour Hérodote (English: Introduction to the conformity of ancient wonders with modern ones; or,. A preparatory treatise for an apology for Herodotus).
The work contained "insidious attacks upon the monks and priests and Roman Catholic faith, comparing the fables of Herodotus with the teaching of Catholicism, and holding up the latter to ridicule." (Books Fatal to their Authors).
This work caused Henri Estienne to be burnt in effigy on the Place de Grève.
Amongst other things, it made fun of the Catholic obsession with relics:
- "A monk of St. Anthony having been at Jerusalem, saw there several relics, among which were a bit of the finger of the Holy Ghost, as sound and entire as it had ever been; the snout of the seraphim that appeared to St. Francis; one of the nails of a cherubim; one of the ribs of the verbum caro factum (the word made flesh); some rays of the star which appeared to the three kings in the east; a phial of St. Michael’s sweat when he was fighting against the devil; a hem of Joseph’s garment, which he wore when he cleaved wood, &c."--(tr. via Curiosities of Literature).
In French:
- Et en faisant un assez long discours de sa pérégrination, il dict entr'autres choses que le patriarche de Hiérusalem luy monstra outre plusieurs autres reliques, celles-ci : Un peu du doit du S. Esprit, aussi sain et aussi entier qu'il avoit jamais esté, et le museau du Séraphin qui apparut à S. François, et une des ongles du Chérubin, et une des costes du Verbum caro , et des habillemens de la saincte Foy catholique , et quelques rayons de Testoile qui apparut aux trois Rois en orient , et une phiole de la sueur de sainct Michel, quand il combatit le diable. Voilà quant aux reliques que ledict patriarche luy monstra. Mais voici celles qui ne luy furent seulement monstrées par luy, mais aussi doublées : Une des dens de saincte croix, et un peu du son des cloches du temple de Salomon : et la plume de Tange Gabriel, avec une des galoches de S. Guérard de gran-ville : et outre tout ceci des charbons sur lesquels fut rosti le bienheureux martyr monsieur S. Laurens. Et puis il dict : « Lesquelles choses j*apportay deçà dévotement » avec moy.
The text was mentioned by Voltaire in his Philosophical Dictionary:
- "When Henry Stephens entitled his comic rhapsody The Apology of Herodotus, we know that his design was not to justify the tales of this father of history ..." (tr. William F. Fleming)
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English translation
It was Englished as A World of Wonders by Richard Carew in 1607.
James Crossley first suggested that Carew might be the R C. who translated Henry Stephens's 'World of Wonders,' 1607 (Notes and Queries, 6th ser., viii. 247, 1877).
Reception
- [the work] aroused the indignation of the Parisian authorities. This work was supposed to contain insidious attacks upon the monks and priests and Roman Catholic faith, comparing the fables of Herodotus with the teaching of Catholicism, and holding up the latter to ridicule. At any rate, the book was condemned and its author burnt in effigy. M. Peignot asserts in his Dictionnaire Critique, Littéraire, et Bibliographique that it was this Henry Stephens who uttered the bon mot with regard to his never feeling so cold as when his effigy was being burnt and he himself was in the snowy mountains of the Auvergne. Other authorities attribute the saying to his father, as we have already narrated. --Books Fatal to their Authors by Peter Ditchfield
Full text[1]
References
- Introduction au Traité de la conformité des merveilles anciennes avec les modernes, ou Traité préparatif à l'apologie pour Hérodote, Genève, novembre 1566, 8° de 572 pages.
See also
