Techniques of Bold Speaking, Safely, in Bossuet's "Sermon sur la prédication évangélique" (1662).

The article discusses how sermons were one of the few ways available to publicly present criticisms of the monarchy in seventeenth century France, focusing particularly on the 1662 published sermon entitled "Sermon sur la prédication évangélique" by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop and preacher to King Louis XIV of France. The author considers Bossuet's use of rhetoric and analyzes his techniques which allowed him to safely criticize the king. Other subjects include absolutism during the ancient regime of France, censors and censorship laws during the period, and the use of flattery as a rhetorical device.