ABSTRACT
This chapter compares the Catholic Mystere du Viel Testament and Coignac's and Des Masures's plays in order to show how the Calvinist plays diverge from the Catholic model, both in terms of drama and theology. It provides in-depth analyses of the Calvinist tragedies and their paratextual dedicatory letters in order to argue that Coignac's and Des Masures's plays gesture towards militant and transcendent violence. The chapter also discusses violence that only a certain elect few have the authority to control and regulate. Calvinist tragedies about the Old Testament had Catholic precedents, notably the illustrious sixteenth-century Mistere du Viel Testament. The Mystere du Vieil Testament is the most famous and complete mystery from the sixteenth century that stages biblical stories from the Old Testament. Theological, symbolic, metaphorical, and polemical interpretations of the David and Goliath story are at work in Coignac's and Des Masures's tragedies.
