Bossuet face à La Vallière : la topique de la vanité, entre enjeux religieux et enjeux politiques

We will analyse the motives of vanity and of contempt of the world in Bossuet’s Careme du Louvre and Sermon pour la profession de La Valliere in both a topical and clearly enunciated perspective. The relationship between Louis XIV and La Valliere raises a religious and political issue: the motive of vanity is used by the preacher not only as a theological argument, but also as a political weapon. The motives of contempt of the world can’t do without the world itself: religious and political fields are constantly reflected on one other.