Un miroir du mépris : Guy Patin contre Théophraste Renaudot (1638-1648)
“A Mirror of Disdain: Guy Patin v. Théophraste Renaudot (1638-1648)”

Summary/Abstract: Between 1638 and 1648, the two Parisian physicians Théophraste Renaudot (1586-1653) and Guy Patin (1601-1672) were rival in every matter: empiricism v. dogmatism, paracelsim v. galenism, political pushfulness v. contempt for courtism, Montpellier’s University v. Paris’s medical Faculty… Doubtless stirred up by their past companionship, their duel provoked a profusion of lampoons, followed by lawsuits and snubs, in a mutual explosion of hate and contempt. In 1643, Richelieu and Louis XIII being dead, Patin could abuse his disarmed enemy with complete impunity; in disgrace at court, Renaudot had to admit his defeat. At the end of the nineteenth century began a posthumous battle between the two enemies: Patin for his caustic Lettres (republished in 1846), and Renaudot for having been the inventor of French journalism (La Gazette created in 1631). Public opinion set the journalist on a pedestal and gave him access to huge fame by giving his name to a literary award (1926).

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