Rhetoric, Ambivalence, and Dissension in Renaissance Catholic Europe During the Sixteenth Century

In contrast to the prevalent interpretation that understands Renaissance rhetoric as an inherently ethical practice, this article presents three case studies—Erasmian rhetoric, Jesuit rhetoric, and French discussions during the Wars of Religion—in which rhetoric was interpreted as an ambivalent power. In the aftermath of the Reformation, all these traditions not only emphasized rhetoric as an ambivalent force with potential to create both discord and concord, but adjusted their understanding of the specificities of rhetoric—its scope and relationship to other arts—accordingly. The article also suggests that seventeenth-century anti-rhetorical discourse draws on this tradition.