Claude Paradin (1573), was a French writer, collector of

emblems An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and ''symbol'' are often used in ...

or "devises", historian, and genealogist.

Biography

Paradin was born in Cuiseaux ( Saône-et-Loire), spending his adult life as

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

of the

Collegiate Church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...

in Beaujeu, between

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as ...

and Lyons.

Publications

His ''Devises Heroïques'' published in French in Lyons in 1551 by

Jean de Tournes Jean de Tournes (1504 – 1564) was a French printer, book publisher and bookseller, and the founder of a long-lasting family printing business. From 1559 he was the , printer to the French king. Life Jean de Tournes was born in Lyon in ...

was an influential printed collection of 118 emblems or "devises" and included an attached motto. These ''

emblemata Usually known simply as the ''Emblemata'', the first emblem book appeared in Augsburg (Germany) in 1531 under the title ''Viri Clarissimi D. Andreae Alciati Iurisconsultiss. Mediol. Ad D. Chonradum Peutingerum Augustanum, Iurisconsultum Emblemat ...

'' became commonly used as markers or models of royal, aristocratic or moral ownership as well as decorative pattern books applied in a variety of crafts including, heraldry, masonry, sculpture, painting, woodcuts or textiles. The 1551 edition was followed in 1557 by an expanded edition, now with 182 "devises" as well as providing a brief explanation of the universal significance of the symbol and how it represents the individual who chose it or to whom the symbol was attributed in the Renaissance as well as the motto. The new wood blocks for the 1557 edition may be by

Bernard Salomon Bernard Salomon, (1506–1561) was a French painter, draftsman and engraver. Little is known of the life of Bernard Salomon (also known as the Little Bernard B. Gallus or Gallo). His family may have been belt-makers in Lyon. He was commissioned ...

who worked closely with

Paradin's other publications included ''Quadrins Historiques de la Bible'', (1553) and the ''Alliances Genealogiques des Rois et Princes de Gaulle'' (1561), dedicated to Catherine de' Medici.

Publication history and international significance

Publication of Paradin's ''Devises Heroïques'' was taken over by

Christophe Plantin Christophe Plantin ( nl, Christoffel Plantijn; – 1 July 1589) was a French Renaissance humanist and book printer and publisher who resided and worked in Antwerp. Life Plantin was born in France, probably in Saint-Avertin, near the city of ...

in Antwerp from 1561, with the addition of 37 "devises" and the inclusion of a Latin translation of the combined text order to provide for a wider reading public. Plantain's wood cuts still survive in the

Plantin-Moretus Museum The Plantin-Moretus Museum ( nl, Plantin-Moretusmuseum) is a printing museum in Antwerp, Belgium which focuses on the work of the 16th-century printers Christophe Plantin and Jan Moretus. It is located in their former residence and printing esta ...

in Antwerp. It was published in a Dutch Translation in Antwerp in 1563 and in an English translation in London in 1591 and in further French revisions in Paris in the 17th century and a commentary by Adrien d'Amboise.

Mary Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Sco ...

held at

Tutbury Castle Tutbury Castle is a largely ruined medieval castle at Tutbury, Staffordshire, England, in the ownership of the Duchy of Lancaster and hence currently of King Charles III. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. People who have stayed in the castle ...

and

Bess of Hardwick Elizabeth Cavendish, later Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury ( Hardwick; c. 1527 13 February 1608), known as Bess of Hardwick, of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, was a notable figure of Elizabethan English society. By a series of well-made ...

(then Elizabeth Shrewsbury, the wife of Mary's custodian George Shrewsbury) knew and used Paradin's emblems in the design of embroidered hangings. The emblem ''Ingenii Largitor'' ("Bestower of Wit") from Paradin's ''Devises Heroïques'' is the basis for the centrepiece of the Shrewsbury hanging (circa 1569) on loan to

Oxburgh Hall Oxburgh Hall is a moated country house in Oxborough, Norfolk, England. The hall was built for Sir Edmund Bedingfeld who obtained a licence to crenellate in 1482. The Bedingfelds gained the manor of Oxborough through marriage in the early 15th ...

as part of the

Oxburgh Hangings The Oxburgh Hangings are needlework bed hangings that are held in Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, England, made by Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick, during the period of Mary's captivity in England. Embroidery and the queen The hangings were ...

. The design shows a raven drinking from a large cup and the initials ES and GS for Elizabeth and George Shrewsbury. The emblem illustrates the fable, found in the Natural History of

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

, of the thirsty bird, who, unable to reach water, filled a bowl with pebbles to raise the water level until he could drink.Pliny the Elder, Natural History, edited and translated by H Rackham, Loeb Classical Library, Books 8-11. Harvard University Press, Cambridge Massacheusetts, London England, first published 1940, Second Edition 1983, ; Book X. LX. 123-LX1. 126, pp 372, 373. “Certain persons have thought it worth recording that a raven was seen during a drought dropping stones into a monumental urn in which some rainwater still remained but so that the bird was unable to reach it; in this way as it was afraid to go down into the urn, the bird by piling up stones in the manner described raised the water high enough to supply itself with a drink.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paradin, Claude 1510 births 1573 deaths 16th-century French writers 16th-century male writers French male non-fiction writers People from Rhône (department) 16th-century French historians French genealogists Heraldists