Who Goes There? To Live and Survive during the Wars of Religion, 1562-1598

This article reflects on the ordeals a community experienced when trust suddenly disintegrated and it was confronted by the presence real or imagined of an "internal enemy" ready to strike anywhere and at anyone. This enemy was even more frightening and damaging because it was concealed within the apathy, banality, routine, and comfort of daily life. In such a society, encountering the other and presenting the self became matters of life and death, rather than merely means of protecting social honor. What skills were called upon to flush out "suspects" or were necessary to flee a city massacring its inhabitants? The Wars of Religion (1562-98) can help us to think about a society confronted with the eruption of sudden violence that, like terrorism, comes from within the community.