The Satire Ménippée (French pronunciation: [satiʁ menipe]) or La Satyre Ménippée de la vertu du Catholicon d'Espagne was a political and satirical work in prose and verse that mercilessly parodied the Catholic League and Spanish pretensions during the Wars of Religion in France, and championed the idea of an independent but Catholic France.
The title derives from the classical Greek and Roman literary genre "menippean satire", a form of carnivalesque literature in a free-form mixture of prose, verse and dialogue.
[1] The Satyre Ménippée was written in 1593 and published in Tours in 1594 during the Etats Généraux convened in Paris by the leader of the Catholic League, Charles, Duke of Mayenne.
The philosophy of the group around Pithou and Rapin, which formed the ideological motivation for Satire Ménippée, was that of the "Politiques" – moderate Catholics who privileged peace, conceived of a distinction between the State and Religion, and sought political accommodation with the Huguenots.
The work includes a description of a procession and all the forces of the League, a burlesque description of the opening of the États Généreaux, imaginary speeches by real personages such as the Duke of Mayenne, the legate of the Pope, and the cardinals Pelvé (attributed to Chrestien) and Aubray (attributed to Pithou), and a number of additional satires and epigrams.