La réception de l’héritage médiéval dans la première modernité: parcours et perspectives de recherche*

Most studies on the transition from the late Middle Ages to the Early modern period in France focus on the dynamics of the resurgence of bonae litterae between the 14th and the 16th centuries. Less extensive and less systematic research has been carried out on questions relating to the ways and means of survival of the medieval cultural heritage during the 16th and the 17th centuries, although several scholars have underlined the richness of this field. In the past decades, two facets of this subject have occasionally been approached: on the one hand, the circulation of medieval texts during the Early modern period and the longevity of particular formal aspects of medieval literature; on the other, the emergence of an historical interest for the “Gothic” roots of French institutions, literature and traditions. This paper aims to review the main surveys carried out in recent years on this ample yet scarcely explored subject, in order to point out the relevant critical approaches as well as the areas of interest and the topics deserving further investigation.