Кто глаголет устами младенца? Дети и религиозное насилие во Франции. Рец. на кн.: Crouzet D. Les enfants bourreaux au temps des guerres de Religion. — Paris : Albin Michel, 2020. — 336 p.

Abstract

This essay contains reflections on a\xa0new book by renowned historian Denis Crouzet on children’s violence, and, more broadly, on the\xa0image of\xa0children during the\xa0French Wars of\xa0Religion. In the\xa0book under review, the\xa0novelty lies in\xa0the\xa0fact that the\xa0images of\xa0‘innocent infants’ make part of\xa0a\xa0separate plot. Just as novel are Denis Crouzet’s reflections on the\xa0‘sources of\xa0inspiration’ of\xa0the\xa0young French persecutors of\xa0heretics. The\xa0author indicates the\xa0anthropological correspondences inherent in\xa0the\xa0culture of\xa0both Italian and French cities, such as the\xa0carnivalesque inversion of\xa0the\xa0‘world inside out’ and the\xa0social function of\xa0youth associations taking part in\xa0the\xa0‘charivari’ rites. Denis Crouzet pays attention to sources that are novel to him, like children’s Christmas chants, mystery plays, and ‘miracles’. While impersonating the\xa0Innocents persecuted by Herod but also angels carrying retaliation to this villain, urban children learnt what and how to do in\xa0the\xa0face of\xa0a\xa0carnival challenge. The ways to leave the\xa0eschatological activism are of\xa0particular interest. After 1572, the\xa0gangs of\xa0executioners-children left the\xa0scene. Only the\xa0murder of\xa0the\xa0Guises on\xa0Christmas Day, 1588, threw crowds of\xa0children into the\xa0streets of\xa0Paris. Now they were described differently, however,\xa0— as a\xa0disciplined mass, occupied not with outrages but with prayers. The\xa0author speaks of\xa0‘Catholic consciousness’, but that was already a\xa0different reformed Catholicism, departing further and further from the\xa0old ‘corporate Catholicism’. The\xa0religious political activity of\xa0children would become a\xa0thing of\xa0the\xa0past, however. The\xa0image of\xa0an\xa0innocent child would once more be in\xa0demand only after the\xa0Revolution, when, this time in\xa0a\xa0desacralised context, children became the\xa0embodiment of\xa0the\xa0French nation.