À propos de la médisance, au XVIe siècle et au-delà

This essay examines the evolution of the concept of contempt, which is part of a vast lexicon in which each term relates to the idea of hatred and disgust. Those words are however inherent, as we can observe in Erasmus and Marie de Gournay’s works, among many other Renaissance authors, to speech actions that are a consequence of hatred and disdain. From the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 17th Century, many authors became aware of a brutal source of injustice, and which was often left unpunished, that is the indelible impacts of defamation, a verbal abuse reverberated as fama or slander, calumny, libel and many other synonyms, which fatally attacked honor and reputation – one’s most valued possession – with a slur that was often based on a lie or ignorance, and which rarely aimed at any charitable ends. Our article provides some definitions and aims at identifying the crucial stakes of the debate.