Hypocrisy is a recurring concern in Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptaméron, part of the wider dynamic of dissimulation, pretence, and exposure explored in the storytelling project. This article discusses the contexts in which hypocrisy is revealed and debated in the Heptaméron. While clerical and feminine hypocrisies are familiar from medieval discussions of lecherous friars and unchaste women, Marguerite de Navarre’s evangelical emphasis presents hypocrisy more generically as an inevitable consequence of the Fall. Beyond general statements about the human condition, there emerges a more nuanced condemnation of hypocrisy that acknowledges relative positions of power and exploitation.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Butterworth, E., (2025), "Necessary Leaven: Hypocrisy and the Heptaméron", HSSCommons: (DOI: )

  Copy Citation | Export metadata as... | JSON | CSV | RO-Crate | BibTex | EndNote

1. Renaissance and Reformation

Original publication: Butterworth, Emily. "Necessary Leaven: Hypocrisy and the Heptaméron." Renaissance and Reformation 43 (3): 2020. 135-166. DOI: 10.33137/rr.v43i3.35304. This material has been re-published in an unmodified form on the Canadian HSS Commons with the permission of Iter Canada / Renaissance and Reformation. Copyright © the author(s). Their work is distributed by Renaissance and Reformation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. For details, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.