Marquis de Sade surrounding Matthew Lewis' "The Monk", Minerva Press released "The New Monk" as a supposed indictment of a wholly immoral book. It features the sadistic Mrs. Rod, whose boarding school for young women becomes a torture chamber equipped with its own "flogging-room". Ironically, "The New Monk" wound up increasing the level of cruelty, but as a parody of the genre, it illuminates the link between sadism and the Gothic novel. Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer, famous for his libertine sexuality.
Joseph-Alphonse-Omer de Valbelle Joseph-Alphonse-Omer de Valbelle Joseph-Alphonse-Omer de Valbelle (1729-1818) was a French aristocrat and military officer. Joseph-Alphonse-Omer de Valbelle was born on 18 June 1729 in Aix-en-Provence. His father was André Geoffroy de Valbelle and his mother, Marguerite-Delphine de Valbelle. He had a brother, Joseph-Ignage-Cosme de Valbelle, and a sister, Anne Alphonsine de Valbelle. He served as a mestre de camp in 1749, maréchal de camp in 1762, followed by Lieutenant general of Provence. After his brother's death in 1766, he inherited the marquisates of Tourves, Rians, Montfuron, Bressuire, the Baronetcies of Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise and Meyrargues, the Countom of Oraison, Valbelle, Sainte-Tulles, Cadarache,