Martyrs, pouvoir et pouvoirs du martyre dans The Acts and Monuments de John Foxe

During the reign of the Catholic Mary Tudor about 300 people were executed for their faith in England. In such circumstances it seems quite paradoxical to talk about the power of Protestantism : how can a victim exercise the slightest power ? Thanks to a rhetoric of inversion though the martyrs — and the recorder of their ordeal John Foxe — managed to change the apparent deafeat into a resounding victory, thus revealing the effective propagandist potentialities of martyrdom. Standing at a crossroads between the earthly and celestial spheres martyrs were submitted to contradictory demands made by both the temporal and spiritual powers. They nevertheless succeeded in treading the borderline between obedience and resistance providing reputable models to be followed for the fight for the establishment of true religion to continue.Fernandes Isabelle. Martyrs, pouvoir et pouvoirs du martyre dans The Acts and Monuments de John Foxe. In: Anglophonia/Caliban, n°17, 2005. Protestantisme(s) et autorité / Protestantism and authority. pp. 63-73