SOURCE: Conway, Megan. “Classicism and Christianity in Hélisenne de Crenne's Les Angoysses douloureuses qui procedent d'amours.” Journal of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association 18 (1997): 111-31.

In the following essay, Conway examines de Crenne's combining of the traditions of classical mythology and Christian doctrine in Les Angoysses douloureuses.

Although Renaissance philosophers and theologians like Marsilio Ficino strove mightily to show Plato and Plotinus compatible with Saint Paul, writers of popular prose and poetry suffered no such qualms. While it appears curious and often shocking to modern readers to find references to the apostles and Apollo in successive paragraphs, many Renaissance writers followed Dante's example in The Divine Comedy and saw nothing incongruous in embracing classical mythology while espousing Christian doctrine. A fascinating example of this combination of traditions is the popular French work of a female author of the early Renaissance—Hélisenne de Crenne's Les Angoysses...