François Vatable (late 15th century – 16 March 1547) was a French humanist scholar, a
hellenist and
hebraist
A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...
.
Life
Born in
Gamaches,
Picardy
Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France.
Hist ...
, he was for a time rector of
Bramet in
Valois. In 1530
Francis I of France
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 on ...
appointed him as one of his Royal Lecturers in what afterwards became known as the
Collège de France
The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...
. Vatable got the chair of Hebrew. At a later date a royal grant conferred upon Vatable the title of Abbot of
Bellozane, with the benefices attached thereto. Vatable is regarded as the restorer of Hebrew scholarship in France, and his lectures in Paris attracted a large audience including Jews. He was known by his immense erudition, his gift of communication, his talent as a teacher and the support of his listeners. His work is not very extensive, but very admired.
[Gabriel-Henri Gaillard, ''Histoire de François Ie roi de France, dit le Grand'roi et le père des Lettres'', vol. VII, Paris, 1769, p. 312]
Vatable died in Paris.
Work
250px,
Vatablus published no works of his own, but in his early years (1518 onwards as an assistant to
Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples
Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples ( Latinized as Jacobus Faber Stapulensis; c. 1455 – c. 1536) was a French theologian and a leading figure in French humanism. He was a precursor of the Protestant movement in France. The "d'Étaples" was not part of ...
) he procured new Latin translations and editions from the Greek works by ''The Philosopher'', as
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...
was known. These works were inquiries in physics, human and animal nature, psychology, astronomy, and meteorology (''Physica, De caelo, De anima, De generatione et corruptione,
Meteorologica
''Meteorology'' (Greek: ; Latin: ''Meteorologica'' or ''Meteora'') is a treatise by Aristotle. The text discusses what Aristotle believed to have been all the affections common to air and water, and the kinds and parts of the earth and the affec ...
'', and the so-called ''
Parva naturalia'' (minor tracts on physical phenomena)). These became standard textbooks of Universities throughout Europe.
As a
Royal lecturer he actively participated in the edition of a better text of the different Books of the Bible. He procured Hebrew editions for scholarly use (published by
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 ...
, or in English Robert Stephens). To the edition of the
Minor Prophets he added the commentary of the famous Jewish Rabbi
David Kimhi ''Cervera Bible'', David Qimhi's Grammar Treatise
David Kimhi ( he, ר׳ דָּוִד קִמְחִי, also Kimchi or Qimḥi) (1160–1235), also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RaDaK () (Rabbi David Kimhi), was a medieval rabbi, biblical comm ...
. From the lecture notes taken by Vatable's pupils,
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 ...
also drew material for the ''
scholia
Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of t ...
'' which he added to his edition of the Latin Bible in two columns, juxtaposing the new Latin translation of the Zurich Bible by
Leo Jud
Leo Jud (; also Leo Juda, Leo Judä, Leo Judas, Leonis Judae, Ionnes Iuda, Leo Keller; 1482 – 19 June 1542), known to his contemporaries as Meister Leu, was a Swiss reformer who worked with Huldrych Zwingli in Zürich.
Biography
Jud was bor ...
to the standard Latin text of the
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
. Afterwards the
Sorbonne doctors sharply inveighed against the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
tendencies of some of the notes in Estienne's Bible. By then Vatable had already died. The notes in Estienne's Bible are a model of clear, concise literary, and critical exegesis. The
Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...
theologians, with the authorization of the
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...
, issued a new thoroughly-revised edition of them in their Latin Bible of 1584.
From the edition of 1729 which
Jacques Paul Migne republished in his ''Scripturae sacrae cursus completus'' (1841), the scholia on the ''
Book of Esdras'' and ''
Book of Nehemiah
The Book of Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible, largely takes the form of a first-person memoir concerning the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile by Nehemiah, a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court, and the dedi ...
.'' The notes on the
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
, published separately in 1545 were re-edited (and augmented) in Estienne's ''Liber Psalmorum Davidis'' (1557), published in Geneva. These were reprinted together with remarks of
Hugo Grotius
Hugo Grotius (; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot () and Hugo de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright.
A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delft ...
, by Vogel, under the misleading title: ''Francisci Vatabli annotationes in Psalmos'' (1767).
See also
*
Jacques Dubois
Jacques Dubois ( Latinised as Jacobus Sylvius; 1478 – 14 January 1555) was a French anatomist. Dubois was the first to describe venous valves, although their function was later discovered by William Harvey. He was the brother of Franciscus S ...
, his student
*
Minuscule 398 – one of his manuscripts
Notes
References
*
Further reading
*Sainte-Marthe, ''Gallorum doctrina illustrium elogia'' (Paris, 1598);
*Hurter, ''Nomenclator literarius'';
*
Calmet
Antoine Augustin Calmet, O.S.B. (26 February 167225 October 1757), a French Benedictine monk, was born at Ménil-la-Horgne, then in the Duchy of Bar, part of the Holy Roman Empire (now the French department of Meuse, located in the region of ...
, ''Bibliothèque sacree'', IV (Paris, 1730);
*Dupin, ''Table universelle des auteurs ecclesiastiques'', I (Paris, 1704);
*Feller, ''Dictionnaire historique'', VIII (Paris, 1822), 311;
*Lichtenberger, ''Encyclopedie des sciences religieuses'', XII (Paris, 1877–82), 307;
*Simon, ''Hist. crit. du Vieux Testament'', III (Paris, 1680), 15;
*Haneberg, ''Gesch. der bibl. Offenb''. (4th ed., Ratisbon, 1876), 849.
*Dick Wursten, 'François Vatable, so much more than a ‘name’', ''Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et Renaissance'' – vol. 73/3 (2011), pp. 557–591.
External links
''Catholic Encyclopedia'' article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vatable, Francois
15th-century births
1547 deaths
People from Somme (department)
French scholars
French Renaissance humanists
French Hebraists