Les cours parisiens d’Adam Mickiewicz et l’idée de religion universelle

The first half of nineteenth century in France brings the development of several currents of thought that are trying to find a solution to the problems affecting society in this period (pauperisation, crisis of traditional values, oppressed nations). Catholic traditionalists, Illuminati, utopian socialists and humanitarians often formulate the idea of a universal religion, derived from a primal revelation and evolving through the ages, or the idea of a new religion of the future. The aim of the article is to situate in that wider context Mickiewicz’s Paris Lectures and the convictions of the Polish poet on Slavic religion and Messianism. The text is divided into two parts, corresponding to the key aspects of the topic: the first part talks about the search for a revelation preceding the Judeo-Christian revelation, and the second one concerns the announcement of a new revelation, which completes and fulfills the former one.