The origin of a mythical theme: the prehistory of the three impostors (up to the thirteenth century) -- The hunt for the author of a mythical treatise (fourteenth to sixteenth century) -- The European elites and religious imposture (seventeenth century) -- Debates on the origin of religions (second half of the seventeenth century) -- From the De tribus to the Trois imposteurs: discovery or invention of the Treatise (1680-1721) -- The treatise of the Three impostors: the contents of a blasphemy