![]() ![]() Responding to humanity’s sins, God, furious, simply decides who dies and who lives, and that the bad survive, while the good die, is indeed marvelous. Rabelais knew this, which likely explains why he acknowledges the “rather marvelous” aspect of the particular “case” (the universal death of the good) or absence of such a “case” (the universal survival of the bad) that he is describing. 4 On this point, see Guylaine Pineau, “Soigner la peste sans défier la colère divine dans les traités (.)ģ Given that contemporary theologians interpreted the plague as an expression of divine fury, and thus a “marvel” sent by God, and that writers of plague treatises reminded their readers of this topos 3, any reflection on epidemics might fall within its confines.3 Thomas Le Forestier, Le Regime contre epidemie et pestilence, Rouen, Jacques Le Forestier, 1495, f.2Ģ The sense of the citation, “never did they fall ill”, or “never did any evil befall them” (or yet, the literal rendering, “never took they evil from it”), recalls the commonplace assertion in times of epidemic that the worst of society, here in question, always seem to survive, with the evident underlying sentiment that the best of society often tend to die. Dont vient cela messieurs? pensez y je vous pry. Car les curez vicaires, prescheurs, medicins, chirurgiens et apothecaires, qui alloient visiter, penser, guerir, prescher, et admonester les malades, estoient tous mors de l’infection et ces diables pilleurs et meurtriers oncques n’y prindrent mal. Combien que la peste y feust par la plus grande part des maisons, ilz entroient par tout, et ravissoient tout ce qu’estoyt dedans, et jamais nul n’en print dangier. Tant feirent et tracasserent en pillant et larronnant, qu’ilz arriverent à Seuillé : et detrousserent hommes et femmes, et prindrent ce qu’ilz peurent: rien ne leurs feut ny trop chaud ny trop pesant. Et ne trouverent personne quelzconques leur resistast, mais un chascun se mettoit à leur mercy. C’estoit un desordre incomparable de ce quilz faisoient. Adoncques sans ordre et mesure prindrent les champs les uns parmy les aultres, guastant et dissipans tout par ou ilz passoient, sans espargner ny pouvre ny riche, ny lieu sacré, ny prophane, emmenoient beufz, vaches, taureaux, veaulx, genisses, brebis, moutons, chevres et boucqs : poulles, chapons, poulletz, oyzons, jards, oyes, porcs, truyes, guorretz, abastans les noix, vendangeans les vignes, emportans les seps, croullans tous les fruicts des arbres. Italics are mine in this citation boldface is (.) ![]()
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