Tortured Subjects: Pain, Truth, and the Body in Early Modern France. (Reviews).Lisa Silverman, Tortured Subjects: Pain, Truth, and the Body in Early Modern France For the administrative and social structures of early modern France, see . Early Modern France is that portion of French history that falls in the early modern period from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century (or from the French Renaissance to the eve of Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including , 2001. xv + 264 pp. $42 (cl), $20 (pbk). ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m : 0-226-75753-6 (cl), 0-226-75754-4 (pbk). After undergoing torture, and refusing to admit to the dubious charge of murdering his own son, the Protestant Jean Calas was broken on the wheel on March 12, 1762. Enraged en·rage tr.v. en·raged, en·rag·ing, en·rag·es To put into a rage; infuriate. [Middle English *enragen, from Old French enrager : en-, causative pref. by what he saw as religious intolerance and a miscarriage of justice A legal proceeding resulting in a prejudicial out-come. A miscarriage of justice arises when the decision of a court is inconsistent with the substantive rights of a party. , Voltaire made Calas' case one of the causes celebres of eighteenth-century public life, and a lightening rod for those who opposed not only religious intolerance, but also the entrenched en·trench also in·trench v. en·trenched, en·trench·ing, en·trench·es v.tr. 1. To provide with a trench, especially for the purpose of fortifying or defending. 2. judicial procedure that used testimony taken under torture and condemned individuals to death for it. In her new history of torture in early modern France, Lisa Silverman takes up the old topic of the Affaire Calas, but poses a fundamental question which has never been asked: why did torture -- a staple of Roman and canon law canon law, in the Roman Catholic Church, the body of law based on the legislation of the councils (both ecumenical and local) and the popes, as well as the bishops (for diocesan matters). , which had been considered a perfectly legitimate practice within the French legal system for hundreds of years -- suddenly become unacceptable in the mid-eighteenth century, a symbol of tyranny and a crime against human rights and reason? A remarkable cultural anthropologist, and a talented writer, the author takes us deep into the culture of torture, painting a rich tableau and showing it as part of a complex system of religious belief and social practice in Toulouse. Early modern judges saw pain through the lens of medieval Christianity. They believed that people would always be tainted by original sin. Thus the only way to bypass the corruption of humankind and reach truth and purity was through a quite literal imitatio christi. Only the pain of torture could elicit an unwilled testimony, both verbal and physical, for the body was thought to have a spontaneous language of its own expressed through tears, blushing and bleeding. By the mid-seventeenth century, however, the culture of lay piety that had been so influential in legal circles was on the wane, and with this change came a diminution in the number of torture cases. Post-Tridentine religious confraternities to which lawyers and judges Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835 Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political scientist, historian, and politician, is best known for Democracy in America (1835). A believer in democracy, he was concerned about the concentration of power in the hands of a centralized government. belonged, such as the Penitents Bleus, whose processions had once glorified glo·ri·fy tr.v. glo·ri·fied, glo·ri·fy·ing, glo·ri·fies 1. To give glory, honor, or high praise to; exalt. 2. suffering as an avenue to human redemption, eventually forsook their rituals of pain. 'While the cultural link between lay rituals of suffering and official attitudes towards torture seem plausible, this book does not present enough evidence to conclusively prove this claim. The author shows evidence of secularization in the culture of the confraternities, but where are the philosophical treatises that link the rejection of penitent pain to the legal profession? If the prolific French jurists The following lists are of prominent jurists, including judges, listed in alphabetical order by jurisdiction. See also list of lawyers. Antiquity
Whether or not it is possible to prove the influence of lay piety, there was indeed a great shift in the legal attitude towards torture during the eighteenth century. After the 1760s, judges stopped using torture. Was it a transformation in medical culture? The author claims that certain medical texts began showing increased concern about alleviating patient's pain. This coincided with Enlightenment beliefs that pain was an assault on the individual right to seek happiness. Not only was pain seen as negative, but the entire concept of the penitent imitatio christi lost its relevance as society looked to relieve rather than sacralize sa·cral·ize tr.v. sa·cra·lized, sa·cra·liz·ing, sa·cra·liz·es To make sacred. sa corporal pain and suffering. Professor Silverman thus suggests a close relationship between medical culture, law and secular politics as a basis for the Enlightenment, opening the door to a new field of study. This book is a thought-provoking meditation that opens the door to understanding the complex cultural and intellectual origins of the French rejection of torture. It deserve s to be read by scholars as well as lay readers. It should be assigned in seminars as a tool for understanding the abolition of torture, the rise of a culture of human rights, and the larger shift towards an increasingly secular Weltanschauung that occurred between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. |
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