Voltaire and the Sirven affair (1762-1772) /

Voltaire's involvement with Sirven, has - for long - elicited laudatory judgements from French or Anglo-Saxon voices. If the former proclaimed that 'Voltaire avait une fois encore gagné' (as he had famously done with Calas), the latter have been even more fulsomely assertive : 'h...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Renwick, John (Author)
Format:	Book
Language:	English
Published:	Liverpool : Oxford : Liverpool University Press ; Voltaire Foundation, 2025.
Series:	Oxford University studies in the Enlightenment ; 2025:12.
Subjects:	Sirven, Pierre-Paul, > 1709-1777 > Trials, litigation, etc. Sirven, Pierre-Paul, > 1709-1777. Voltaire, > 1694-1778. Human rights > France > History > 18th century. Droits de l'homme (Droit international) > France > Histoire > 18e siècle. Human rights > History. France 1700-1799 1762-1772

Table of Contents:

Voltaire and the Sirven affair - why a study in English?
Introduction: Protestantism, political authority and toleration (1702-1762) - towards a lifting of the clouds
I. The origins of the affair (March 1760-March 1765)
Chapter 1. A Protestant family in hostile surroundings
Chapter 2. Voltaire, Protestantism and toleration
Chapter 3. Elisabeth, a troubled soul
II. Criminal justice and Voltaire in action (September 1766-January 1768)
Chapter 4. Legal and political defence of Sirven: the early stages
Chapter 5. The wait for the dépêches
Chapter 6. Voltaire's extrajudicial action: fanaticism, intolerance and the public
Chapter 7. Marmontel, Voltaire and the Bélisaire affair
III. Justice, politics and Enlightenment (March 1768-November 1771)
Chapter 8. Voltaire before the public
Chapter 9. Sirven confronts his judges
Chapter 10. Closing arguments
Chapter 11. La Croix carries the day
Afterword: Voltaire and the Sirven, 1765-1772
Appendix 1: Marianne Sirven to Jean-Pierre Ramond
Appendix 2: The demande de territoire
Appendix 3: Arrêt de la cour de parlement de Toulouse du 25 novembre 1771.