Political, Religious and Social Conflict in the States of Savoy, 1400-1700

Taking conflict as its collective theme, this book brings together the work of early modern specialists to offer a range of insights into the political, social and religious climate in Savoy between 1400 and 1700. The contributors focus on the broader context of early modern European history, making clear the sometimes overlooked political and historical significance of Savoy. The volume explores the diverse mechanisms whereby political, social and religious conflicts were articulated with reference to a wide range of primary sources, many of which are unpublished. The chapters offer important perspectives on subjects such as: the diplomatic relations between the court of Savoy and certain foreign powers during a time of European unrest; the role of propaganda; the construction of national and religious identities; and persecution and resistance, notably in relation to the Reformation and the Waldensians. The conclusions that are established advance a better understanding of the history of Savoy and of the broader conflicts shaping Europe in the early modern period.

Sarah Alyn Stacey is an Associate Professor in the Department of French at Trinity College Dublin, where she is also the founding director of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. In recognition of her research, she has been elected to fellowships at both the University of Dublin and the Académie de Savoie. She has served for many years on the executive council of the Society for Renaissance Studies and has also been a member of the executive committee of the Society for French Studies. She has published extensively on Savoy in the sixteenth century, notably on the poet Marc-Claude de Buttet, and is the author of a significant number of publications in other areas of French studies.

Contents: Sarah Alyn Stacey: Introduction - Toby Osborne: Language and Sovereignty: The Use of Titles and Savoy's Royal Declaration of 1632 - Fabrice Micallef: L'Impossible Désinformation: la diplomatie savoyarde et la présentation de la situation provençale en Italie et en Espagne, 1590-1592 - Blythe Alice Raviola: Sabaudian Propaganda and the Wars of Succession of Mantua and Monferrato, 1613-1631 - Sarah Alyn Stacey: Marc-Claude de Buttet's Apologie [...] pour la Savoie (1554): Conflicting Perceptions of the 1536 French Invasion of Savoy - Sarah Alyn Stacey: An Edition of the Apologie de Marc-Claude de Buttet pour la Savoie (1554) - Cornel Zwierlein: The Peace of Cavour in the European Context - Marina Benedetti: 'Documentary Adventures': The Waldensian Inquisition Manuscripts in Trinity College Dublin - Federico Bo: The Waldensian Manuscripts in Trinity College Dublin: The Sermons and Lectionary of MS Du 267 - Marco Battistoni: Waldensians, the Reformation and Abbatial Domains in Western Piedmont and in the Marquisate of Saluzzo in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries - Alessandro Celi: The Ban on Liturgical Practice in Antey and Torgnon, 1525-1530: New Perspectives on a Confessional Controversy - Antonella Amatuzzi: Les Libelles vaudois sur les Pâques piémontaises: des armes efficaces dans le conflit avec la cour de Savoie (1655) - Jill Fehleison: The Place of the Cross: The Pamphlet Battle between François de Sales and Antoine de La Faye - Elisabetta Lurgo: Monstrous Births, Prophecy and Heresy in Savoy and Piedmont: The 'Trattato dei monstri' by Guglielmo Baldessano.