Agrippa D'Aubigné
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Théodore-Agrippa d'Aubigné (, 8 February 155229 April 1630) was a French
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
,
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, propagandist and chronicler. His
epic poem In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...
''Les Tragiques'' (1616) is widely regarded as his masterpiece. In a book about his Catholic contemporary Jean de La Ceppède, the English poet Keith Bosley called d'Aubigné "the epic poet of the Protestant cause," during the
French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...
. Bosley added, however, that after d'Aubigné's death, he "was forgotten until the
Romantics Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
rediscovered him."


Life

Born at the Château of Saint-Maury, near
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, in present-day
Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Chérente-Marine''; ) is a Departments of France, department in the French Regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, on the country's west coast. Named after the river Charente (river), Charen ...
, his father was Jean d'Aubigné, who was involved in the 1560
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
Amboise conspiracy to seize power by staging a palace coup, kidnapping King
Francis II of France Francis II (; 19 January 1544 – 5 December 1560) was List of French monarchs, King of France from 1559 to 1560. He was also List of Scottish consorts, King of Scotland as the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, from 1558 until his death in ...
, and arresting his Catholic advisors. After the defeat of the plot, d'Aubigné's father strengthened his
Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
sympathies by showing him, while they were passing through Amboise, the heads of the conspirators exposed on the scaffold, and instructing him not to spare his own head in avenging their deaths. According to the poet's own account he knew
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,
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and
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at six years of age, and he had translated the ''
Crito ''Crito'' ( or ; ) is a dialogue written by the ancient Greece, ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It depicts a conversation between Socrates and his wealthy friend Crito of Alopece regarding justice (''δικαιοσύνη''), injustice (''ἀ ...
'' of
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
before he was eleven. After a brief residence, d'Aubigné was forced to flee from Paris to avoid arrest, but was captured and threatened with execution. Escaping through the intervention of a friend, he went to Montargis. In his fourteenth year he was present at the siege of Orléans, at which his father was killed. In 1567 he made his escape from tutelage, and attached himself to the Huguenot army under Louis of Bourbon, Prince of Condé. Aubigné studied in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and
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(under the tutelage of Theodore Beza) and
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
before joining the Huguenot Henry of Navarre as both soldier and counsellor. After a furious battle at Casteljaloux, and suffering from fever from his wounds, he wrote ''Tragiques'' in 1577. He was in the battle of Coutras (1587), and at the Siege of Paris. His career at camp and court, however, was a somewhat chequered one, owing to the roughness of his manner and the keenness of his criticisms, which made him many enemies and severely tried the king's patience. In his tragédie-ballet ''Circe'' (1576) he did not hesitate to indulge in the most outspoken sarcasm against the king and other members of the royal family. Henry's accession to the throne of
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
required his conversion to the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and Aubigné left his service to tend to his own
Poitou Poitou ( , , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical ...
estates, even though more moderate Huguenots welcomed King Henry's decree of religious toleration, the
Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was an edict signed in April 1598 by Henry IV of France, King Henry IV and granted the minority Calvinism, Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantl ...
. However, d'Aubigné never entirely lost the favour of the King, who made him governor of Maillezais. d'Aubigné remained an uncompromising advocate of the Huguenot interests. The first two volumes of the work by which he is best known, his ''Histoire universelle depuis 1550 jusqu'à l'an 1601'', appeared in 1616 and 1618 respectively. When
Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (; ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as rege ...
became regent following King Henry's assassination in 1610, she embraced the
Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...
. The third volume was published in 1619, but, being still more free and personal in its attacks against the Monarchy than those which had preceded it, the book was banned and ordered to be burned by the executioner. Aubigné was outlawed in 1620 and fled to
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
where he lived for the rest of his life, though the Queen Mother arranged for a sentence of death to be recorded against him more than once for
high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...
. Aubigné devoted the period of his exile to study, and supervising the fortifications of
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and
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which were designed as a defence of the
Republic of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of forty-five Municipality, municipalities, and the seat of the governme ...
against the Crown of France. During the 1627–1628
Siege of La Rochelle The siege of La Rochelle (, or sometimes ) was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627–1628. The siege marked the height of Huguenot rebellions, the struggle between ...
, the poet's eldest son and heir, Constant d'Aubigné, leaked the plans of King
Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...
and the Duke of Buckingham to send an English fleet to aid the city's Huguenot rebels to Cardinal de Richelieu, the
Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...
to King
Louis XIII of France Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...
. As a result, Constant d'Aubigné was disowned and disinherited by his father.


Legacy

His daughter, Madame de Villette, was born in 1584 at Mursay to Suzanne de Lusignan de Lezay; at an early age, on 22 October 1610, she married Benjamin Valois de Vilette in Maillezais. Through Louise, the poet's grandson was Philippe, Marquis de Villette-Mursay, who became an Admiral in the
French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...
and whose children were, to his outrage, converted to Catholicism by their cousin Madame de Maintenon in 1681. Several years after being disowned by his father, Constant d'Aubigné was imprisoned by the Cardinal for corresponding with the English Court. During his imprisonment, Constant married Jeanne de Cardilhac, the daughter of his jailer. All of their children were baptized and raised in the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
at their mother's insistence. Constant d'Aubigné's daughter and the Poet's granddaughter,
Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon Françoise d'Aubigné (27 November 1635 – 15 April 1719), known first as Madame Scarron and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon (), was a French nobility, French noblewoman and the second wife of Louis XIV, Louis XIV of France from 1683 until ...
, became first the mistress and then the second wife to King
Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
. The poet's great-granddaughter Françoise Charlotte d'Aubigné married Adrien Maurice de Noailles, the heir to the
Duke of Noailles The title of Duke of Noailles is a French peerage created in 1663 for Anne de Noailles, Count of Ayen. History Noailles is the name of a prominent French noble family, derived from the castle of Noailles in the territory of Ayen, between Briv ...
, in 1698. Through Françoise, Agrippa d'Aubigné's descendants include Hélie, Duke of Noailles (born 1943), Adrienne de Noailles (1759–1807), who married the famous Marquis de Lafayette, and King
Philippe of Belgium Philippe (born 15 April 1960) is King of the Belgians. He is the eldest child of King Albert II and Queen Paola. He succeeded his father upon the former's abdication for health reasons on 21 July 2013. He married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 1 ...
(born 1960). The poet's younger son Theodore d'Aubigné (1613–1670) continued on the d'Aubigné line. The members of the d'Aubigné family who remained Protestant eventually emigrated in the late 1680s and avoided the Monarchy's crackdown on Huguenots who remained in France. Later, by 1715, many of them had settled near
Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church City is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is ...
, and had changed their name to Dabney. Since the rediscovery of d'Aubigné and his poetry by the Romantics, the Huguenot soldier-poet has been translated from
Middle French Middle French () is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the mid-14th to the early 17th centuries. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from the other co ...
to Polish by
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
-winning poet
Wisława Szymborska Maria Wisława Anna SzymborskaVioletta Szostagazeta.pl, 9 February 2012. ostęp 11 February 2012 (; 2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish people, Polish poet, essayist, translator, and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Liter ...
and has inspired the
English-language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
poet
Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...
.


Literary and historical works

* ''Histoire universelle'' (1616–1618) * ''Les Tragiques'' (1616) * ''Avantures du Baron de Faeneste'' * ''Confession catholique du sieur de Sancy'' * ''Sa Vie à Ses Enfants''


''Les Tragiques''

Written over some three decades, the alexandrine verse of this epic poem relies on multiple genres as well as stylistic familiarity with the work of the opposing, Catholic poets of the Pléiade, headed by
Pierre de Ronsard Pierre de Ronsard (; 11 September 1524 – 27 December 1585) was a French poet known in his generation as a "Prince des poètes, prince of poets". His works include ''Les Amours de Cassandre'' (1552)'','' ''Les Hymnes'' (1555-1556)'', Les Disco ...
. Divided into seven books, a number symbolic of the author's ultimate, apocalyptic intent, the ''Tragiques'' incorporates literary influence from classical sources, such as
tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...
and
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
, palpable in the first three books ("''Les Misères''", "''Les Princes''", and "''La Chambre Dorée''" respectively), before resorting to influence from genres like
ecclesiastical history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of the ...
,
martyrology A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by na ...
and
apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...
in the creation of the remaining books ("''Les Feux''", "''Les Fers''", "", and ""). In the first of two liminal paratexts, the introduction "Aux Lecteurs," Aubigné endorses the account (also found in his autobiographical '), that the inception of the ''Tragiques'' came to him as an ecstatic vision during a
near-death experience A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death, which researchers describe as having similar characteristics. When positive, which the great majority are, such experiences may encompa ...
. In the second, "L'Auteur À Son Livre," d'Aubigné adopts the metaphor of father as author to name the text that follows (''Les Tragiques'') as a more pious son than the less religious works of his youth (cf.: Le Printemps). The intent of the epic is subsequently spelled out as an attack against the Catholic poets of the Pléiade and their patrons in the midst of the religious wars.


See also

* Henri IV's white plume * Hardouin de Péréfixe de Beaumont


Notes


References

* Linden, Paul, ''Voice and Witnessing in Agrippa d'Aubigné's Les Tragiques''. Dissertation, Emory University, 2003. * Fragonard, Marie-Madeleine, ''La pensée religieuse d'Agrippa d'Aubigné et son expression.'' Bibliothèque littéraire de la Renaissance 53 (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2004). * Junod, Samuel, ''Agrippa d'Aubigné ou les misères du prophète'', (Geneva: Droz), 2008.


External links

*
Biography
* http://www.agrippadaubigne.org/
Les Tragiques
(French Ebook PDF format, layout and fonts inspired by 17th century publications) {{DEFAULTSORT:Aubigne, Agrippa d 1552 births 1630 deaths 16th-century French poets 17th-century French poets People from Charente-Maritime House of Aubigné Calvinist and Reformed poets Christian poets French knights French Protestants French military leaders French people of the French Wars of Religion French chroniclers Huguenots Writers from Nouvelle-Aquitaine 17th-century French male writers 17th-century French historians French male poets French male non-fiction writers French propagandists 16th-century memoirists Baroque writers