Antoine Augereau (1485-1534) was a Renaissance printer, bookseller and

punchcutter Punchcutting is a craft used in traditional typography to cut letter punches in steel as the first stage of making metal type. Steel punches in the shape of the letter would be used to stamp matrices into copper, which were locked into a mould sh ...

in Paris. He was one of the first French punchcutters to produce

Roman type In Latin script typography, roman is one of the three main kinds of historical type, alongside blackletter and italic. Roman type was modelled from a European scribal manuscript style of the 15th century, based on the pairing of inscriptional ...

, at a time where other French printers were mostly using

blackletter Blackletter (sometimes black letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for the Danish, Norweg ...

. He worked for

Robert Estienne The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, who was one of the earliest Parisian printers to print Roman type, in the style of

Aldus Manutius Aldus Pius Manutius (; it, Aldo Pio Manuzio; 6 February 1515) was an Italian printer and humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preserv ...

. He was a contemporary of other eminent French printers, such as

Simon de Colines Simon de Colines (c. 14801546) was a Parisian printer and one of the first printers of the French Renaissance. He was active in Paris as a printer and worked exclusively for the University of Paris from 1520 to 1546. In addition to his work as a ...

and

Geoffroy Tory Geoffroy Tory (also Geofroy, Latin "Godofredus Torinus") was born in Bourges around 1480 and died in Paris before 14 October 1533. He was a French humanist and an engraver, best known for adding accents on letters in French. His life's work ha ...

, while

Claude Garamond Claude Garamont (–1561), known commonly as Claude Garamond, was a French type designer, publisher and punch-cutter based in Paris. Garamond worked as an engraver of punches, the masters used to stamp matrices, the moulds used to cast metal ty ...

, whose roman type became the most influential in Europe, apprenticed with him around the year 1510.

Biography

His print-shop located on Rue Saint-Jacques, was only in businesses for three years, between 1532 and 1534. In 1533 he published anonymously Queen

Marguerite de Navarre Marguerite de Navarre (french: Marguerite d'Angoulême, ''Marguerite d'Alençon''; 11 April 149221 December 1549), also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Margaret of Navarre, was a princess of France, Duchess of Alençon and Berry, and Queen ...

's ''

Miroir de l'âme pécheresse ''Miroir de l’âme pécheresse'' ("Mirror of the Sinful Soul") is a 1531 poem by Margaret of Valois-Angoulême, Marguerite d'Angoulême. It was translated by the future Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth I in 1548 as ''A Godly Meditation of the Soul' ...

'' ("The Mirror of the Sinful Soul"), a work of mystical

Christian poetry Christian poetry is any poetry that contains Christian teachings, themes, or references. The influence of Christianity on poetry has been great in any area that Christianity has taken hold. Christian poems often directly reference the Bible, while ...

that was immediately condemned by the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

's Faculty of Theology and forwarded to the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for censorship. Under orders from

King Francis I Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

, Marguerite's brother, the Sorbonne retracted their condemnation of ''Miroir'', alleging that their scrutiny was only due to the anonymous nature of its publication. This emboldened Augereau, who published two more editions of the poem that same yearand with the identity of the author clearly stated. Each successive edition contained more and more

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

content, with the third edition also containing a verse translation of

Psalm 6 Psalm 6 is the sixth psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure". In Latin, it is known as "Domine ne in furore tuo arguas me". Th ...

by royal poet

Clément Marot Clément Marot (23 November 1496 – 12 September 1544) was a French Renaissance poet. Biography Youth Marot was born at Cahors, the capital of the province of Quercy, some time during the winter of 1496–1497. His father, Jean Marot (c.&n ...

, at a time when the

Hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

of the

Catholic Church in France , native_name_lang = fr , image = 060806-France-Paris-Notre Dame.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris , abbreviation = , type ...

opposed the

translation of the Bible The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. all of the Bible has been translated into 724 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,617 languages, and ...

into

Middle French Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from t ...

. Already arrested and released in 1533 on suspicion of heresy because of his pro-evangelical publications, Augereau was among the first to be arrested in December 1534 as part of the anti-

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

backlash that followed the public humiliation of the King in the

Affair of the Placards The Affair of the Placards (french: Affaire des Placards) was an incident in which anti-Catholic posters appeared in public places in Paris and in four major provincial cities, Blois, Rouen, Tours and Orléans, in the night of the 17 to 18 Octob ...

. On 24 December 1534, Augereau was executed for heresy and publishing anti-Catholic books.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Augereau, Antoine 1485 births 1534 deaths Printers from Paris 16th-century executions by France People executed by the Ancien Régime in France 16th-century printers 16th-century Protestant martyrs 16th-century French businesspeople People executed for heresy