In the Renaissance and early modern periods there were lively controversies over why things happen. Central to these debates was the troubling idea that things could simply happen by chance. This book offers a broad cultural and literary view of field of chance in this period.

Placing the conflict between chance and order at the center of early modern French culture, these essays cluster around four problems: Providence in Question, Aesthetics and Poetics of Chance, Law and Ethics of Chance, and Chance and its Remedies. By demonstrating the breadth and intensity of the early modern questioning of chance, they offer an illuminating new perspective on French culture in the period.

'Books as good as this one always leave you wanting more... It is to be hoped that others will now seize the opportunities offered by this rich and fascinating volume.' French Studies 'The book offers intriguing explorations of chance...' Sixteenth Century Journal '... this collection richly deserves a place in college and university libraries not just because it spans theology, æsthetics and poetics, ethics, politics and the law, but also because it is about how and why the early moderns told stories of shipwrecks, of being struck by lightning, of geographical higgledy-pigglediness, of tiles falling off roofs killing passers-by, and of love at first sight.' French History 'Ce volume met au jour des liens conceptuels (sublime et hasard, moment opportun et phénomène objectif, grâce et providence). Il éclaire à nouveaux frais des auteurs ou des textes dont les réflexions forment un enseignement pour un mieux vivre, car les questions du hasard et de l'instabilité du monde n'ont rien perdu de leur actualité. Enfin, ce volume stimule la curiosité de son lecteur.' Revue du Dix-Septième Siècle