The seventeenth‑century crimes of «lèse majesté divine» varied from heresy and apostasy to such petty offences as swearing and cursing. This study focuses on the borderline infringements that involved subversive words and gestures that caught the attention of the authorities, even though they could have been easily overlooked. A priest who made a lame joke about the altar, or a simple worker who played a lute instead of listening to the clerics, was accused of blasphemy and sacrilege.