Roman Censorship and the Shaping of Montaigne's Essays

Abstract

ABSTRACT

In 1581 Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) returned to his home after a long and sinuous journey to Rome, which led him across Europe for more than eighteen months. While in Rome, the essayist had met with Pope Gregory XIII and visited the Vatican Library. The Roman Censors representing the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (La Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede), otherwise known as the Roman Inquisition, reviewed the first edition of his newly published <italic>Essays<italic> under the direct supervision of Sisto Fabri, the Master of the Sacred Palace (Maestro del Sacro Palazzo). About one year later, in 1582, Montaigne published a second edition of his book, revised and augmented.

In this dissertation I discuss the textual changes and additions which appeared in this new edition as a direct result of Montaigne's trip to Rome, and particularly as a result of his interaction with the Roman censors. My analysis focuses on the material evidence pertaining to the process of censorship: both in the author's own account registered in his <italic>Journal de voyage<italic> (<italic>Travel Journal<italic>), published posthumously in 1774, and in the original list of objections complied by the Roman censors, a document made public only in 2000.

The complex reshaping of the <italic>Essays<italic> Montaigne undertook, from his return to his château (November 30, 1581) until his death (September 13, 1592), reveals the ongoing dialog he pursued with the Roman officials, a dialog that can be precisely reconstructed through an analysis of textual transformations in the 1582 edition, the 1588 Paris edition, the hand-written "allongeails" on the Bordeaux Copy, and the 1595 posthumous edition prepared by Marie de Gournay. For a dozen years Montaigne carried on a discussion with his absent censors by gradually building new textual arguments in response to them.