«SATTRE MÉNIPPEÉ». - A French political pamphlet in the form of satire, whose title was taken from the homonymous work by Varro. It was first published in Tours in 1594.
The *S. M.* was not the work of a single author, but of a group of Parisian bourgeois led by an ecclesiastical counsellor to the Parliament, J. Gillot. All members of the group adhered to the party of the moderates and were therefore opponents of the League, which they considered an instrument of foreign interference in French affairs. The political aim of the pamphlet was national reconciliation under the authority of Henry IV. The satirical inspiration came from the Estates-General of 1593, where Spanish and Lorrain intrigue had emerged, along with the internal dissensions that undermined the League party. The essential part of the work, which is a lively mixture of verse and prose, consists of the speeches of orators to the said Estates-General. Of these orators, those of the 1st and 2nd Estate are depicted almost completely, framed within a harshly satirical portrayal of the political and social customs of the time. In the speech of the representative of the 3rd Estate, M. d'Aubray, the thesis of the pamphlet is resolved through the words of an intelligent and good-hearted man, who paints a vivid picture of the miseries of Paris and issues a warm appeal for national concord.
This satire surpassed in success every other French political-literary production of the 16th century, though not without arousing bitter political and moral criticism.