Working with Erasmus's exploration of the sardonic laugh, this article begins with the placard of the notorious Affaire des placards of 17-18 October 1534. The aim is to uncover uses of polemical humour in pamphlets produced during the early years of religious conflict in France. Starting with Antoine Marcourt, the likely author of the placard, the article investigates Marcourt's first known satirical pamphlet, the Livre des marchans. This is followed by a study of Je'rome Hangest's response to the affaire. Hangest was not only the person designated by the Sorbonne to produce a response to the placards, but also one of the first Catholics to attempt to counteract the effects of Protestant propaganda in France. Finally, this article examines Marcourt's enigmatic co-religionist, Marie Dentie`re, whose work also contains illuminating examples of the sardonic laugh. In all of this, the goal is to uncover connections between humour and violence, as well as growing suspicions about the uses and dangers of laughter. As new, more vicious forms of satire are developed, suspicions about these also intensify, and, in an increasingly polarized society, there is little room left for laughter other than the sardonic laugh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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