Jean Salmon Macrin (1490 – 20 October 1557) was a

Neo-Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...

poet of French nationality. His poetry sold massively well, and was thought of as quite influential during his lifetime; however his fame did not live on, and his poetry was never republished after the 16th century.

Life and works

Salmon Macrin was born in

Loudun Loudun (; ; Poitevin dialect, Poitevin: ''Loudin'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Vienne Departments of France, department and the Regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, western France. It is located south of the town of Chin ...

, and retained an intimate attachment to the countryside of his youth throughout his life. Patriotism and nostalgia for his 'patria' feature as prominent themes in his poetry. His father supported him in his poetic vocation, and in his teens he was sent to Paris to study under Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples. There he mastered Greek and Latin, and honed his poetic art alongside Quintianus Stoa. When his studies ended, he became secretary to Antoine Bohier, and later entered Court life as tutor to the sons of René de Savoie. After the death of the latter, Salmon Macrin remained in the service of his son Honorat. The poet found that Court life was not well-suited to his temperament, and he composed little during this period. It was his marriage to Guillone Boursault ('Gelonis') that reignited his passion for poetry, and his two most famous works (the 'Epithalamiorum liber' of 1528–1531 and the 'Carminum libri quattuor' of 1530) contained many poems dedicated to her. Salmon Macrin's poetry met with great success in his later years, and he enjoyed the favour of the king,

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

. Salmon Macrin boasted of having been the first to introduce

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...

and

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

into French poetry. His principal Neo-Latin models were the Italians

Pontano Giovanni Pontano (1426–1503), later known as Giovanni Gioviano ( la, Ioannes Iovianus Pontanus), was a humanist and poet from Cerreto di Spoleto, in central Italy. He was the leading figure of the Accademia Pontaniana after the death of Antonio ...

, Marullus,

Poliziano Agnolo (Angelo) Ambrogini (14 July 1454 – 24 September 1494), commonly known by his nickname Poliziano (; anglicized as Politian; Latin: '' Politianus''), was an Italian classical scholar and poet of the Florentine Renaissance. His scho ...

and

Sannazaro Jacopo Sannazaro (; 28 July 1458 – 6 August 1530) was an Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples. He wrote easily in Latin, in Italian and in Neapolitan, but is best remembered for his humanist classic ''Arcadia'', a masterwork tha ...

. He was widely known as the French

, and his works had a great influence on vernacular poetry, especially the Pléiade. Du Bellay, in his 'Amores Faustinae', mentions Macrin in his list of great contemporary love poets, alongside

, Marullus,

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...

Bèze Bèze () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France. It takes its name from the Bèze river, which rises in the commune. Population See also *Communes of the Côte-d'Or department The following is a list of the 698 co ...

, Tyard and Baïf. {{DEFAULTSORT:Salmon Macrin, Jean 1490 births 1557 deaths People from Loudun French poets Writers from Nouvelle-Aquitaine French male poets