On Huguenot fiction, I doubt that you'll find a Huguenot prose romance from the 16th or early 17th century, but many wrote poetry, of course. The closest thing I can think of to fiction per se is Theodore Beza's Abraham Sacrifiant. First printed in 1550, it was translated to English by Arthur Golding and printed by Thomas Vaultrollier in 1575 as The Tragedy of Abraham's Sacrifice. Beza reframes the Old Testament story as one of exile and faith (which is why,  I argue, Golding and Vautrollier sought to print it in the wake of the Wars of Religion in France--Golding and Vautrollier teamed up on two other pro-Huguenot pamphlets around this time). While the borrowing from the Bible may not be the kind of fiction you're referring to, it is pretty creative (ie much more elaborate than a Medieval Cycle dramatizing the Old Testament). Beza has the devil appear dressed as a friar (is that where Marlowe got the idea to have Mephistopheles appear as a monk?). Etc. You might also look to Simon Mealor's essay on Huguenot pastoral in the collection Archipelagic Identities (Ashgate 2004).

Best,
Scott







________________________________________
From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List on behalf of Roger Kuin
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 4:24 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Huguenots and fiction

(apologies for X-posting)

I have a suspicion that Huguenots did not write fiction (I don't consider Du Bartas' Semaines fiction), but would like to be sure whether this is true. Also, if any of the original Reformers wrote specifically against fiction.
Any expertise gratefully received.

Roger Kuin