Le pouvoir des Lumières et l’effroi onaniste : les cas de Christian VII de Danemark et Louis XVI de France

Abstract

In 1760, the publication, in French, of Dr Samuel Auguste Tissot’s book: L’Onanisme, traite des maladies produites par la masturbation spread rapidly all over Europe the idea that onanism was a threat to health. These theories become obsessive for the society of the Enlightenment and the kings who experience difficulties to procreate are often suspected of onanism. This is what this article proposes to demonstrate through the examples of Christian VII in Denmark and Louis XVI in France.