De la mule de Saintonge à l’ours du Béarn, ou comment on a « gasconnisé » Agrippa d’Aubigné

Agrippa d?Aubigné (1552-1630), born in Pons, Saintonge, was by no means a Gascon. Nevertheless, by the end of the 17th century, his Gascon origins were being invented, but quickly disproved by scholars (led by Pierre Bayle). This did not prevent this pseudo-biographer from returning regularly to the pen not only of commentators (who began to take a serious interest in him in the 18th century), but also of certain novelists and playwrights who, mainly in the 19th century, turned him into a fictional character. After looking back at this fanciful genealogy, I'd like to examine, with examples, this fantasized "Gasconicity", which allowed the author of Les Tragiques to be cast in the mold of an ethnotype in keeping with what we remember of his life and work. Here, it is not geographical origin that predetermines the representation of the individual