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 ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...
,
soldier
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' deri ...
,
propagandist
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
and
chronicler
A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...
. His epic poem ''Les Tragiques'' (1616) is widely regarded as his masterpiece. In a book about his Catholic contemporary
Jean de La Ceppède
Jean de La Ceppède (c. 1550 – 1623) was a French nobleman, judge, and poet from Aix-en-Provence.
La Ceppède was a Christian poet and wrote Alexandrine sonnets in Middle French. He is best known for authoring ''Les Théorèmes sur le Sacré M ...
, English poet
Keith Bosley
Keith Anthony Bosley (16 September 1937 – 24 June 2018) was a British poet and translator.
Bosley was born in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, and grew up in Maidenhead, Berkshire. He was educated at Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow ...
has called d'Aubigné, "the epic poet of the Protestant cause," during the
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mil ...
. Bosley added, however, that after d'Aubigné's death, he, "was forgotten until the
Romantics rediscovered him."
[Keith Bosley (1983), ''From the Theorems of Master Jean de La Ceppède: LXX Sonnets'', page 4.]
Life
Born at the Aubigné
Château of Saint-Maury near
Pons
The pons (from Latin , "bridge") is part of the brainstem that in humans and other bipeds lies inferior to the midbrain, superior to the medulla oblongata and anterior to the cerebellum.
The pons is also called the pons Varolii ("bridge of Va ...
in the present day
Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square kil ...
. The Poet's father was
Jean d'Aubigné, who was involved in the 1560
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 ...
Amboise conspiracy
The Amboise conspiracy, also called Tumult of Amboise, was a failed attempt by a Huguenot faction in France to gain control over the young king Francis II and to reverse the policies of the current administration of Francis, Duke of Guise and C ...
to seize power by staging a
palace coup
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
, kidnapping King
Francis II of France
Francis II (french: François II; 19 January 1544 – 5 December 1560) was King of France from 1559 to 1560. He was also King consort of Scotland as a result of his marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, from 1558 until his death in 1560.
He ...
, and arresting his Catholic advisors. After the defeat of the plot, d'Aubigné's father strengthened his
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 C ...
sympathies by showing him, while they were passing through
Amboise
Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court.
Geography
Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about away ...
, 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
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
at six years of age, and he had translated the ''
Crito
''Crito'' ( or ; grc, Κρίτων ) is a dialogue that was written by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It depicts a conversation between Socrates and his wealthy friend Crito of Alopece regarding justice (''δικαιοσύνη''), ...
'' of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
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
Montargis () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, France.
Montargis is the seventh most populous commune in the Loiret, after Orléans and its suburbs. It is near a large forest, and contains light industry and farming, ...
. In his fourteenth year he was present at the
siege of Orléans
The siege of Orléans (12 October 1428 – 8 May 1429) was the watershed of the Hundred Years' War between France and England. The siege took place at the pinnacle of English power during the later stages of the war. The city held strategic an ...
, 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 and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
,
Orléans
Orléans (;["Orleans"](_blank)
(US) and [Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...]
(under the tutelage of
Theodore Beza
Theodore Beza ( la, Theodorus Beza; french: Théodore de Bèze or ''de Besze''; June 24, 1519 – October 13, 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformation ...
) and
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
before joining the Huguenot
Henry of Navarre as both soldier and counsellor. After a furious battle at
Casteljaloux
Casteljaloux (; oc, Castèlgelós) is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.
See also
*Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department
The following is a list of the 319 communes of the French department of Lot-et-Garo ...
, and suffering from fever from his wounds, he wrote his ''Tragiques'' in 1577. He was in the
battle of Coutras
The Battle of Coutras, fought on 20 October 1587, was a major engagement in the French Religious Wars between a Huguenot (Protestant) army under Henry of Navarre (the future Henry IV) and a royalist army led by Anne, Duke of Joyeuse. Henry of Nava ...
(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 primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
required his conversion to the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
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 c ...
estates, even though more moderate Huguenots welcomed King Henry's decree of religious toleration, the
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...
. 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 (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...
became regent following King Henry's assassination in 1610, she embraced the
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
. 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 ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...
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 diplo ...
. Aubigné devoted the period of his exile to study, and supervising the fortifications of
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
and
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
which were designed as a defence of the
Republic of Geneva
The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva (french: link=no, République et canton de Genève; frp, Rèpublica et canton de Geneva; german: Republik und Kanton Genf; it, Repubblica e Cantone di Ginevra; rm, Republica e ...
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 1627–28. The siege marked the height of the struggle between the Catholics and the Pr ...
, the poet's eldest son and heir,
Constant d'Aubigné
Constant d'Aubigné (158531 August 1647) was a French nobleman, son of Théodore-Agrippa d'Aubigné, the poet, soldier, propagandist and chronicler.
Life
Born into a Huguenot family, Constant led a less structured life, first embracing Protestant ...
, leaked the plans of King
Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after ...
and the
Duke of Buckingham
Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingham.
...
to send an English fleet to aid the city's Huguenot rebels to
Cardinal de Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...
, the
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...
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 crow ...
. As a result, Constant d'Aubigné was disowned and disinherited by his father.
Legacy
His daughter Louise Arthemise d'Aubigné,
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 (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
and whose children were, to his outrage, converted to Catholicism by their cousin
Madame de Maintenon Madame may refer to:
* Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French
* Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel
* ''Madame'' ( ...
in 1681.
Several years after being disowned by his father,
Constant d'Aubigné
Constant d'Aubigné (158531 August 1647) was a French nobleman, son of Théodore-Agrippa d'Aubigné, the poet, soldier, propagandist and chronicler.
Life
Born into a Huguenot family, Constant led a less structured life, first embracing Protestant ...
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 largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
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 noblewoman who secretly married King Louis XIV. Although she was never considered queen of France ...
, became first the
mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...
and then the second wife to King
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of ...
.
The poet's great-granddaughter
Françoise Charlotte d'Aubigné
Françoise Charlotte Amable d'Aubigné, Duchess of Noailles (5 May 1684 – 6 October 1739) was a French aristocrat, the wife of Adrien Maurice de Noailles, 3rd Duke of Noailles. She was the niece of Françoise d'Aubigné, Madame de Maintenon, an ...
married
Adrien Maurice de Noailles
Adrien is a given name and surname, and the French spelling for the name Adrian. It is also the masculine form of the feminine name Adrienne. It may refer to:
People Given name
* Adrien Auzout (1622–1691), French astronomer
* Adrien Baillet ...
, the heir to
the
Duke of Noailles
The title of Duke of Noailles was 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
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
, and King
Philippe of Belgium
Philippe or Filip ( nl, Filip Leopold Lodewijk Maria ; french: Philippe Léopold Louis Marie ; born 15 April 1960) is King of the Belgians. He is the eldest child of Albert II of Belgium, King Albert II and Queen Paola. He succeeded his father upo ...
(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 is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Washington metropolitan area.
Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Ch ...
, 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 (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 ...
to
Polish by
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
-winning poet
Wisława Szymborska
Maria Wisława Anna SzymborskaVioletta Szosta gazeta.pl, 9 February 2012. ostęp 2012-02-11 (; 2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish poet, essayist, translator, and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Prowent ( ...
.
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
Alexandrine is a name used for several distinct types of verse line with related metrical structures, most of which are ultimately derived from the classical French alexandrine. The line's name derives from its use in the Medieval French '' Roma ...
of this epic poem relies on multiple genres as well as stylistic familiarity with the work of the opposing, Catholic poets of the
Pléïade, headed by
Pierre de Ronsard
Pierre de Ronsard (; 11 September 1524 – 27 December 1585) was a French poet or, as his own generation in France called him, a " prince of poets".
Early life
Pierre de Ronsard was born at the Manoir de la Possonnière, in the village of ...
. 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
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
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 shaming o ...
, palpable in the first three books ("''Les Misères''," "''Les Princes''" and "''La Chambre Dorée''" respectively), before resorting to influence from genres like ecclesiastical history, martyrology and
apocalypse
Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...
in the creation of the remaining books ("," "" "" 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 claim share similar characteristics. When positive, such experiences may encompass a variety of sensations including detac ...
. In the second, "L'Auteur À Son Livre," 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 (c.f.: Le Printemps). The intent of the epic is subsequently spelled out as an attack against the Catholic poets of the Pléïade and their patrons in the midst of the religious wars.
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 male writers
17th-century French historians
French male poets
French male non-fiction writers
French propagandists
16th-century memoirists
Baroque writers