La truculence et son revers. Illustration et défense du jurement dans les Miracles de Gautier de Coinci

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Colorful Language and its Counterpart. Illustration and Defense of “Oaths” in the Miracles of Gautier de CoinciIt seems that, whether Saracen or Christian, people swore a great deal in the thirteenth century, sometimes using extreme language. Gautier, who was a good observer of human nature and something between a sermon writer and a moralist, seems to quote these “oaths” with secret pleasure because of the inventiveness of such linguistic excess. Incidentally, in the same century, a preacher convinced people that they could atone for this common sin by opening their purse to support a just cause. In fact, an angry swearword describing the anatomy of a saint or of Christ in detail led unacceptably to images of the dissection, dismemberment, and massacre of the sacred body. Fortunately, reserve and discretion tended to accompany an oath pronounced when evoking Our Lady. Otherwise the terrible wrath of God would have descended upon the sinner.