Lutero nella Francia del lungo Ottocento: uno, nessuno e centomila

What was the relationship between France, or rather the French, and the figure of Luther during 19th century? More precisely, between Francophone writings (a great Savoyard thinker will be considered too) and the political interpretation of the work of the reforming monk? These are the questions I will try to answer by exploring the period ranging from the French Revolution to the years of the Great War: the so called “the long nineteenth century”. The reference to Pirandello means that sometimes Luther corresponds to one (when he is the nucleous of the interpretation) other times to no one (when Protestantism is spoken of without mentioning its name) more often to a hundred thousand (when his figure becomes the pretext to forging the most varied interpretations). On a methodological level: rather than presenting a long sequence of icy medallions, I preferred to isolate four cases that lend themselves to being bearers of gazes that are difficult to reconcile. In this perspective and along the time frame indicated, Luther is seen now as the father of all modern evils (J. de Maistre), now as the father of German freedom (J. Michelet), now as the father of his socialism (J. Jaurès) and, after the Great War, even as the father of feminism (M. Borély).