| Summary: | This paper questions the interactions between satire and sermon in the work of Pierre Viret, a much productive reformer in both genres. It is based on the analysis of four sermons which were delivered in Geneva in 1559, just after he was banished from Lausanne by the Bernese authorities, and transcribed by the secretary of Calvin, whose position he temporarily filled. The anti-Catholic controversy, replete with motives and techniques often to be found in satire, occupies an increasingly pervasive place in these sermons. This speech may appear to be a rallying cry, but it seems to be increasingly used as an attack on the corrupt practices of some reformed cities. The sermon thus seems to use the tools of satire for an internal criticism that satire normally does not accommodate. However, a 1561 reprint of Le Monde à l'Empire incorporated and developed the same sort of internal criticism, hinting at the retroactive influence of the sermon on satire.
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