Le Fanatisme, ou Mahomet is staged in Lille as an anti-prophet tragedy
In 1741 Voltaire’s tragedy Mahomet was performed at Lille (Paris 1742, then banned). In the causal graph this event weakens Protection of Minority Rights, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.
Read the full account
In 1741 Voltaire’s tragedy Mahomet was performed at Lille (Paris 1742, then banned). The play uses an Islamic founder as a mask for priestcraft and fraud.
Context
Later colonial uses of the play are reception, not 1741 Lille alone.
Voltaire is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.
Why it matters
A tragedy about fraud is not a mosque-closing statute. It is still a public stereotype.
It is still a public stereotype.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Voltaire
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.28 · verified
Dated act under Voltaire as author, investor, or campaigner. Printers, kings, and lawyers share labour.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactLe Fanatisme, ou Mahomet is staged in Lille as an anti-prophet tragedy
- weakensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
- strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
impact weight 0.35 · Effect from 9 August 1741 · verified
A tragedy about fraud is not a mosque-closing statute. It is still a public stereotype.
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.16 (weight 0.35 × strength 0.45)
Observed
29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalTwo readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).
20212023 Above normal = better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.16 (weight 0.35 × strength 0.45)
Observed
43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.
Normal is zero · any amount = worse
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.Cambridge Companion to VoltaireCambridge University Press · High credibility · verified
- 2.Gallica — Bibliothèque nationale de FranceBibliothèque nationale de France · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, and museums are not converted into extra lifetime acts. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself. Confidence is stated on the impact path. A later English edition is not a recovered autograph. If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here. Confidence is stated on the impact path.
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorVoltaire
- contributed toFactLe Fanatisme, ou Mahomet is staged in Lille as an anti-prophet tragedy
- weakensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
- strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). Le Fanatisme, ou Mahomet is staged in Lille as an anti-prophet tragedy. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/vo-mahomet-1741
https://factrail.ai/facts/vo-mahomet-1741
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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