Libertine  

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This page Libertine is part of the Marquis de Sade seriesIllustration: Portrait fantaisiste du marquis de Sade (1866) by H. Biberstein
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This page Libertine is part of the Marquis de Sade series
Illustration: Portrait fantaisiste du marquis de Sade (1866) by H. Biberstein

"A remote and isolated retreat, as if silence, distance, and stillness were libertinage's potent vehicles."--The 120 Days of Sodom (1785|1904) by Marquis de Sade


"Boucher painted the book of libertinism, and Nerciat described the feel of it. Laclos wrote down its rules in vitriol and thereby destroyed it." --Eros Denied (1964) by Wayland Young

The Index Librorum Prohibitorum ("List of Prohibited Books") is a list of publications which the Catholic Church censored for being a danger to itself and the faith of its members. The various editions also contain the rules of the Church relating to the reading, selling and censorship of books. The aim of the list was to prevent the reading of immoral books or works containing theological errors and to prevent the corruption of the faithful.
Enlarge
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum ("List of Prohibited Books") is a list of publications which the Catholic Church censored for being a danger to itself and the faith of its members. The various editions also contain the rules of the Church relating to the reading, selling and censorship of books. The aim of the list was to prevent the reading of immoral books or works containing theological errors and to prevent the corruption of the faithful.
 This page Libertine is part of the publication bias list of the Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia, presented by Alfred Jarry.
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This page Libertine is part of the publication bias list of the Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia, presented by Alfred Jarry.

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Libertine (from Latin liber, meaning free) has come to mean one devoid of any restraints, especially one who ignores or even spurns religious norms, accepted morals, and forms of behavior sanctioned by the larger society. The philosophy gained new-found adherents in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in France and Britain. Notable among these were John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, the Marquis de Sade, and Aleister Crowley. "Libertine", like many words, is an evolving one, defined today as "a dissolute person; usually a person who is morally unrestrained". In modern times, libertinism has been associated with sado-masochism, nihilism, and free love.

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Etymology

Libertine is originally a negative term, derived by John Calvin, for opponents of his policies in Geneva, currently in Switzerland. This group, led by Ami Perrin, argued against Calvin's "insistence that church discipline should be enforced uniformly against all members of Genevan society". Perrin and his allies were elected to the town council in 1548, and "broadened their support base in Geneva by stirring up resentment among the older inhabitants against the increasing number of religious refugees who were fleeing France in even greater numbers". By 1555, Calvinists were firmly in place on the Genevan town council, so the Libertines, led by Perrin, responded with an "attempted coup against the government and called for the massacre of the French ... This was the last great political challenge Calvin had to face in Geneva.

As a literary genre

Les Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons, 1782), an epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, is a trenchant description of sexual libertinism. Wayland Young argues that "…the mere analysis of libertinism… carried out by a novelist with such a prodigious command of his medium… was enough to condemn it and play a large part in its destruction." (Young, 1966, 246) (See Libertine novel and the fictional character of the rake)

Pornography as subversive social commentary

satirotica

During the Enlightenment, many of the French free-thinkers began to exploit pornography as a medium of social criticism and satire. Libertine pornography was a subversive social commentary and often targeted the Catholic Church and general attitudes of sexual repression. The market for the mass-produced, inexpensive pamphlets soon became the bourgeoisie, making the upper class worry, as in England, that the morals of the lower class and weak-minded would be corrupted since women, slaves and the uneducated were seen as especially vulnerable during that time. The stories and illustrations (sold in the galleries of the Palais Royal, along with services of prostitutes) were often anti-clerical and full of misbehaving priests, monks and nuns, a tradition that in French pornography continued into the 20th century. In the period leading up to the French Revolution, pornography was also used as political commentary; Marie Antoinette was often targeted with fantasies involving orgies, lesbian activities and the paternity of her children, and rumors circulated about the supposed sexual inadequacies of Louis XVI. During and after the Revolution, the famous works of the Marquis de Sade were printed. They were often accompanied by illustrations and served as political commentary for their author.

List of libertines

A distinction needs to be made between the artistic libertine, for example Théophile de Viau and the scientific libertine, exemplified by contemporary Lucilio Vanini.

Related terms

See also

libertine novel, counterculture, freethought, heresy

Namesakes

The Libertine may also mean:




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Libertine" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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