Prudence, cautèle et dissimulation : le double discours des élites politiques durant la guerre de Quatre-vingts ans
(2017) Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire — Vol. 94, p. 883-920 (2017)
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- (en) Prudence, Slyness and Dissimulation: The double discourse of the political elite during the Eighty Years War In 16th and 17th-century political discourse, prudence is the central virtue of the ruler concerned about serving the State and the common good. By opposition, slyness, the precaution one uses to serve particular interests, is a trait shared by tyrants. Between those two concepts, simulation and dissimulation have an ambivalent status: whereas they are considered by the governing elite as a prudent ruler’s diplomatic tool, moral authors generally associate them with slyness. During the Eighty Years’ War, those concepts are abundantly discussed by pamphleteers, often members of the political elite themselves. Whereas they themselves make use of simulation and dissimulation which are, according to them, essential to govern virtuously, they condemn these in writings directed to the rest of the population. This article will thus attempt to put forward the reasons of this double speech.
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Dohet, C. (2017). Prudence, cautèle et dissimulation : le double discours des élites politiques durant la guerre de Quatre-vingts ans. Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire, 94, 883-920. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/22164 (Original work published 2017)