Culture
Words by Michel Wlassikoff
The Ten Commandments by Robert Estienne, 1541
In his efforts to restore the Sacred Scriptures, Robert Estienne noticed university teachers altering the Decalogue to avoid addressing the issue of images. This prompted him to publish his Summa totius Sacrae Scripturæ with a corrected Decalogue from 1532, using pamphlets and placards to make the original text widely accessible despite opposition from the Paris Faculty of Theology.
In his efforts to restore the Sacred Scriptures, Robert Estienne noticed university teachers altering the Decalogue to avoid addressing the issue of images. This prompted him to publish his Summa totius Sacrae Scripturæ with a corrected Decalogue from 1532, using pamphlets and placards to make the original text widely accessible despite opposition from the Paris Faculty of Theology.
In his patient and constant work to restore the Sacred Scriptures and give them a form appropriate to the Renaissance, Robert Estienne noticed early on that university teachers were transforming the first two commandments of the Decalogue into a single one in their teaching, no doubt to avoid dealing with the problem of images, and dividing the last one in two to reach the figure of ten.
To restore the original text to as many people as possible, he placed his Summa totius Sacrae Scripturæ at the head of his Bibles from 1532, followed by a commented presentation of his version of the Decalogue. He also had placards printed in French, “in one sheet of large, beautiful lettering, to be attached to the walls” [Robert Estienne, Les censures des théologiens de Paris…, Geneva, 1552]. These placards were posted in colleges and even in the rooms where university theology professors gave their lectures… [Martin, Henri-Jean, La naissance du livre moderne, Mise en page et mise en texte du livre français (XIVe-XVIIe siècles), Paris, Éditions du cercle de la librairie, 2000. p. 291].
Estienne published this Summa on several occasions in both Latin and French. From 1543 onwards, he did so in small pamphlets of sixteen sheets each, which included the French version. The placards and pamphlets provoked a reaction from the Paris Faculty of Theology, which condemned them. Thanks to royal support, he was able to ignore these criticisms and continue distributing his Summa. However, after the death of François I, he had to leave Paris in 1552 to take refuge in Geneva. The composition of the opuscules is almost like a speaking device: Estienne’s typefaces, in different sizes, allow the text to be well sequenced and highlight the Ten Commandments.
Document: Robert Estienne, Sommaire des livres du Vieil & Nouveau testament (Le), Les dix parolles, ou commandemens de Dieu, 1542. In 8°. Bibliothèque de Genève.
