BOQUERON, CHIRIQUI, PANAMA

JOHN P. PRAGER, C.M. 1995

I. THE HISTORIC VINCENT
 

A. THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, RELIGIOUS SITUATION
OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY FRANCE

GOALS:To situate St. Vincent in his epoch in order to see how he interacted with the events of his time.

READINGS FOR THE TEACHER:

Bloch, M., French Rural History, (L.A.: Univ. de Cal., l966).

 Blunt, A., Art and Architecture in France:1500-1700,
(London:Penguin, l986).

 Braudel, F., The Identity of France, (N.Y.:Harper & Row,
l990).

 Burke, P., Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe, (N.Y,:
NYU, l978).

 Davis, N.Z., Society and Culture in Early Modern France, (Stanford: Standford Univ., l977).

 Ferte, J., Vie Religieuse dans les Campagnes Parisiennes:
1622-1695, (Paris: l962).

 Goubert, P., The Ancien Regime, (N.Y. Harper & Row,l973).

 --, The French Peasantry in the 17th. Century,
(Cambridge: Cambridge Univ., l986).

Ibáñez, J.M., "Entorno Histórico-Político de Vicente de Paúl," Vincentiana 28 (l984), p. 314-355.

 --, "La Sociedad en la que Vivió Vicente de Paúl," Vincentiana 31 (l987), p. 457- 484.

 --, "La Sociedad Rural en la Vocación de San Vicente de Paúl," en Vicente de Paúl y la Evangelización Rural
(Salamanca:CEME, l976), p. 19-36.

 --, Vicente de Paúl y Los Pobres de su Tiempo,
(Salamanca: Sigueme, l976), p. 28-113.

 Jacquier, J., La Crise Rurale en Ile-de-France,(Paris:
1972).

Kamen, H., El Siglo de Hierro,(Madrid:Alianza,l977).

 Kiernan, V., State and Society in Europe:1550-1650,(N.Y.:
St. Martin's, l980).

 Ladurie, E.L., The French Peasantry:1450-1660, (L.A.:
Univ. of California, l987).

 Maland, D., Culture and Society in 17th Century France,
(N.Y.: Scribner's, l970).

 Mandrou, R., Introduction to Modern France, (N.Y.:Harper
& Row, l975).

 Mousnier, R., Peasant Uprisings in Seventeenth CenturyFrance, Russia and China, (N.Y.:Harper and Row, l970).

 Munck, T., Seventeenth Century Europe:1598-1700,(N.Y.:
St. Martin's, l990).

 Nolan, B., "The Poor Country People of 17th Century France," Colloque No. 5 (l982), p.

Parker, G., Europe in Crisis:1598-1648, (Ithaca,N.Y.:
Cornell Univ., l979).

 Stoye, J., Europe Unfolding:1648-1688, (Ithaca, N.Y.:
Cornell Univ., l980).

 Taveneaux, R., Le Catholicisme dans La France Classique,
(Paris:l980), 2 vols.

Treasure, G., The Making of Modern Europe:1648-1780, (N.Y.: Methuen, l985).

READINGS FOR THE NOVICES:

Delumeau, J., Catholicism between Luther and Voltaire,
(Philadelphia:Westminster, l977),p.154-161 & 179-196.

 Dunn, R., The Age of Religious Wars:1559-1715, (N.Y.:W.W.
Norton, l979), p. 153-164.

 Tapie, V., France in the Age of Louis XIII and Richelieu,
(N.Y.:Praeger, l974), p.8-47.
 
 

A. The late Sixteenth and early Seventeenth Centuries were a period of weakness and instability for France.

B. The country was surrounded by enemies(The Hapsburgs) on all sides.

C. The work of Henry IV, Richelieu and Mazarin will be to change the balance of favor in France's favor.

D. They will use every means at their disposal(diplomacy,war, threats and alliances)to achieve this end. The result for the people is much suffering.
E. Some Catholics, the Devots, questioned this policy on political and religious grounds. They couldn't understand how Catholic France could support Protestant Germany against Catholic Spain. Among the adherents of the Devots were the Gondi, the Marillac and other friends of Vincent.
 

A. THE WARS OF RELIGION

i. This was a series of wars in the latter part of the 16thCentury. The causes of the struggles were complex, but the divisions fell along religious lines.

ii.The internal struggles ended when Henry IV, a protestant,converted to Catholicism and ascended the throne in 1594.

iii. Henry promulgated the Edict of Nantes in 1598, giving civil rights to the protestants.

 B. HENRY IV (1594-1610)

i.Henry, first of the Bourbon monarchs, came to the throne when the last of the Valois line died without children. He brought peace and security after fifty years of weakness and instability.

 ii.Many of the policies, implemented under Richelieu and Mazarin, were begun at this time: the first steps toward a strong central government, weakening of the nobility, and the anti-Hapbsburg foreign policy.

 iii.Henry was assasinated by an insane cleric before he had the chance to realize many of his projects.

 iv.Henry's first marriage to Marguerite de Valois was annulled so that he could marry Marie de Medici. The ex-queen parted on friendly terms and lived in a palace across the Seine from the Louvre. Vincent served as one of the chaplains to Marguerite de Valois shortly after his arrival in Paris.

 C. THE REGENCY OF MARIE DE MEDICI(1610-1617)

i.With Henry IV's untimely death, the government was confided to his wife during the minority of her son.

 ii.The regency was an utter disaster. Marie desired power, but had no wisdom with whch to excercise it.

 iii.She reversed many of Henry's policies either through weakness or stupidity.

iv.She invited her favorites from her native Italy and gave them positions of authority. This alienated the nobles and the people.

v.Among the favored families of Italian origin were the de Gondy. The Marillac family also held high positions under the regency.

D. LOUIS XIII AND CARDINAL RICHELIEU(1617-1643)

i.Louis XIII seized power in a palace coup. Many who had been favored under the regency(i.e.the Gondy) fell with their patron Marie.

 ii.Richelieu entered the government permanently in 1624. Until his death in 1642 he was the most powerful man in the country. His authority resided in his ability to influence the king. For that reason he eliminated anyone who threatened to occupy his place(Cinq-Mars, Mlle. Lafayette, Louis and Michel de Marillac). He placed his own people of confidence near the king and queen(i.e. his own niece, the friend of St. Vincent, the duchess d'Aiguillon).

 iii.The traditional analysis of Richelieu's policies is overly simple, but as an overview contains much truth.In this view, Richelieu tried to unite the kingdom around a strong monarch. To achieve this he had to:

a. weaken the power of the nobles
b. eliminate the political power of the Hugenots
c. destroy the Hapsburg domination of Europe.

 iv. Richelieu's attempts to implement these policies had terrible effects on the populace. Higher taxes, and above all, war caused much suffering.

v.Vincent had many and various contacts with Richelieu, Louis XIII and other members of the court. Although not always in agreement with the cardinal's political ends, Vincent received support for his projects. Many of the early works of the CM and the Daughters of Charity were a reponse to the misery caused by the political situation.

E.THE REGENCY OF ANNE OF AUSTRIA AND CARDINAL MAZARIN (1643-1661)

i. Against the wishes of Louis XIII and Richelieu, the queen, Anne of Austria, assumed the regency in the name of her young son, Louis XIV. The Italian Cardinal Mazarin became her prime minister.

 ii.Mazarin and the queen tried to continue the policies of the former government. However they offended many people, especially the nobles and minor officials. An attempt to raise taxes to continue the war with Spain resulted in a series of uprisings known as the Fronde.

iii.The history of the Fronde(1648-1652) is difficult to tell because it's very complicated. All sorts of people were involved for many different motives. Alliances were constantly shifting back and forth as the major figures changed sides for personal gain. During the four years of the Fronde the court alienated and then made peace with the Parlement,raised several armies to deal with rioting, left the capital and placed it under seige. The cardinal was forced to leave the country at one point, but returned in triumph.

 iv.Mazarin successfully brought to completion the plans of Richelieu and Henry IV by finally destroying the domination of Spain.

 v.St. Vincent had cordial relations with the queen but not with the prime minister. The saint entered the government as a member of the council for ecclesiastical affairs set up during the regency. Conflicts with Mazarin there and during the Fronde caused Vincent to be out of favor at the court for a time.
 

A. Theoretically Seventeenth Century France followed the old Medievil model of society, which divided the population in three classes: nobles, clergy and commoners. In fact the categories did not reflect reality because society was no longer feudal. The economic base of Europe was changing. Merchants and minor officals began to take a lead economically and politically.

 B Although some movement across class divisions was always a possibility-mainly for the wealthy-, France was a highly stratified society. The prevailing ideology tended to reinforce a situation in which the vast majority of the people(eighty per cent) had no voice in the economic or
political decisions that shaped their lives.

 C. The 17th Century experienced a great flowering in the arts and letters. The early part of the century saw the rise of Classicism, while the latter half witnessed the birth of Baroque. Many famous names were active: Mansart, Le Vau and Le Notre in architecture; Champaigne, de la Tour, Poussin and the Le Nain brothers in painting; Corneille, Moliere and Racine in literature and the theater; Pascal and Descartes in philosophy and mathematics. It was the era when modern science began to develop.

 D. It's difficult to judge the effects of the elite culture among the popular classes. Only ten per cent of the people could read and eighty percent lived in the rural areas, far from the centers of elite culture.

E. The world of the 17th Century was much more threatening and life was much harder than today. More than half the babies born died before age five and life expectancy was around forty. Any sickness could mean death. Faced with this reality, and having none of the resources of modern science, the inhabitant of the 17 th Century saw the world in terms different from our own. They believed more in the presence of God, but also in evil spirits. Their vision of the world, more reduced because of the lack of transport and means of communication, produced fear of anything strange.

 F. Women occupied the lowest place in the 17th Century.
 

A. France was an agricultural country. Even the few manufactured products came from the rural areas. The arrival of gold and silver from America and the new wave of trade started to change the economic base.

 B. The rivers were the only rapid means of transport. For this reason every region had to be self-sufficient. It was not possible to bring much in from outside. In times of crisis (war, plague, shortages) an area could not be easily supplied. The result: Hunger.

 C. Eighty per cent (80%) of the populaton lived in the rural areas. Only two million were independent peasants(those who were capable of overcoming any difficulty or surviving any problem. These were the ones who owned enough land to sufficiently feed their families and some animals. Saint Vincent's family probably belonged to the group of independent peasants.

 D. The vast majority of the population, almost 16 million or 80%, were dependent peasants (Those who did not have sufficient resources to survive difficulties and always lived on the edge of disaster. In other words, four out of every five french peasants lived in misery.

 E. The system of agriculture hurt the peasants. The ancient system of leaving a third of their land fallow every year to rest it was still in use. Because they had no animals there was no fertilizer. Crop yields were low because of these primitive techniques.

 F. The peasants only had six or eight acres. In good years they could harvest five hundred pounds of grains per acre. In bad years perhaps only two hundred pounds per acre. In order to feed themselves the peasants had to produce a ton of grain every year. Still they had to pay taxes to the crown, the local authorities and the Church with the harvest (At times half of their product). The majority of French peasan ts could not produce enough in these circumstances to feed themelves. It's important to remember that the 17th. Century was a time of high taxes, wars, cold winters and many bad harvest.
 

A. The 17th. Century was a time of crisis for the Church. No one catechized in the countryside. Many priests had no education. The lives of many clerics were a scandal.

 B. The Concordat of Bologna(1516) gave the king the right to name the bishops and other positions. They often used this right for political ends, naming unworthy candidates.

 C. The reforming decrees of the Council of Trent were not received officially in France until 1615.

 D. The Catholic Reform began with the attempts of a few to upgrade the life of the clergy and religious, preach popular missions, the spiritual renaissance.

 E. Jansenism began in the second half of the century.
 

NOTE: THE ABOVE SECTION PROBABLY CANNOT BE COVERED IN ONLY
ONE CLASS. IT'S BETTER TO DIVIDE THE MATERIAL IF POSSIBLE.
 
 

The following questions can be treated in small groups:

1.What politcal and economic trends affect ministry today?

2.What relacion does the socio-cultural situation have to christian life?

3.What values and disvalues are present in our culture?

4.The poor in the 17th. Century were the people of the rural areas. Who are the poor in our province?