Nicolas de Harlay, sieur de Sancy (1546-1629): L'antagoniste d'Agrippa d'Aubigne: Etude biographique et contexte pamphletaire & Discours sur l'occurrence de ses affaires. .

Gilbert Schrenck. Nicolas de Harlay, sieur de Sancy (1546-1629): L'antagoniste d'Agrippa d'Aubigne: Etude biographique et contexte pamphletaire.

(Etudes et Essais sur la Renaissance, 26.) Paris: Editions Honore Champion, 2000. 288 pp. index. bibl. 250 FF. ISBN: 2-7453-0397-X.

Nicolas de Harlay, sieur de Sancy. Discours sur l'occurrence de ses affaires. Ed. Gilbert Schrenck. (Textes de la Renaissance, 3.36.) Paris: Editions Honore Champion, 2000. 160 pp. index, bibl. 180 FF. ISBN: 2-7453-0396-1.

In this recent contribution to late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century French history, marking the transition from the reign of Henry III to that of Henry IV and beyond, to the regency of Marie de' Medici and the early reign of Louis XIII, Gilbert Schrenck, editor of Pierre de l'Estoile and Agrippa d'Aubigne, addresses yet another aspect of the political and ideological debates of this era. He takes on the rehabilitation of Nicolas de Harley sieur de Sancy, celebrated as the unregenerate apostate and antagonist of Agrippa d'Aubigne's Confession casholique du Sieur de Sancy, composed around 1600 and later published in 1660. Schrenck aims to show, in the light of numerous contemporary documents and Sancy's own writings, including unpublished correspondence and the Discours sur l'occurrence de ses affaires, of which Schrenck offers the first critical edition in a companion volume, the vital role played by Sancy in the era's political life. Schrenck's book presents itself as a biographical study, following a chronological order from Sancy's "annees de formation" as a member of one of the most influential, politically active, and well-placed noble families and parliamentary dynasties through his diplomatic and military services to the crown to his ultimate disgrace. Specifically, Schrenck wishes to show Sancy's contribution to the defense and strengthening of the monarchy, which, in Schrenck's view, surpassed in Sancy's values strict adherence to a particular theology.

Schrenck is not totally successful in this attempt. While the documentation is extensive, including contemporary correspondence, materials from the archives of the ministry of foreign affairs, reports of negotiations, memoirs, contemporary historical accounts, among others, and well-correlated in the notational apparatus, Sancy still comes across as a bit of an arriviste, rather than the ideological purist devoted to the crown Schrenck would have us believe Sancy to be. And Sancy's supposed participation in the St. Bartholomew massacres in Orleans still comes across as ambivalent at best. Schrenck does succeed, however, in showing us the utility to the crown of a supporter with strong Protestant ties who had studied in Strasbourg and Heidelberg, was well-versed in the law and politics, and was well-placed to lend and to obtain financial assistance.

In the companion volume, Harlay's Discours sur l'occurrence de ses affaires, Schrenck presents the first critical edition of this apologia cum memoir, written in 1611-12, immediately after the death of Henry IV and circulated among the members of a small circle of privileged individuals including the Queen Mother and regent Marie de' Medici, the young Louis XIII, the royal princes, and influential ministers. The list of original destinataires suggests the function of these "memoirs"--to serve as a requisitoire, that is, Sancy not only wishes to justify his past conduct, but also to receive reimbursement for the funds he spent in support of the crown. The text covers the years from 1589 to 1610, thus, a smaller slice of time than that covered in the biographical study of Schrenck, and retraces the time during which Sancy played an important role in the immediate entourage of both Henry III and Henry IV. The text thus demonstrates another function of the memoir at this time. It might also serve as a source of contemporary history vue de l'interieur cur or seen from the inside or as an example of what has been termed "histoire immediate" as it traces an historical span immediately preceding and up to the actual moment of writing and does so in such a way as to make the reader a participant observer in Sancy's actions. The text portrays the king's actions in a positive and heroic light and also notes the king's support and approval of Sancy's actions. Sancy stresses his concern for the monarchy and his monarchist ideology on numerous occasions. He links his service to the king with the good of the kingdom, "le bien de l'Estat" (102). Sancy is also concerned to cite the support of various witnesses for the points he makes or the events he describes, e.g. "les historiens escrivent le succez de ce siege et la prise de ceste place" (83) or "monsieur le mareschal de Brissac en peut rendre tesmoignage" (85). Schrenck coordinates in his notational apparatus related and largely corroborating testimony from contemporary his torians, memorialistes, and other records. An introduction, bibliography, and index of names and places completes the edition. Schrenck has chosen for his basic text one of the two extant early publications of the text, found in the BnF, reserve: Ln (27) 22 578, which has no indication of place, dare, or printer, together with its variants, especially that of a similar copy, BnF, reserve: Ln (27) 22 578 (A)

Thus, the critical edition which Schrenck presents is based on the earliest available text with its variants and with all of the subsequent important variants. It is a fine contribution to the history and debates of the era and gives us additional materials for literary and historical study.