Pierre de Bourdeille (, – 15 July 1614), called the seigneur et abbé de Brantôme, was a French
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
,
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 ...
and
biographer
Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography.
Biographers
Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...
.
Life
Born at
Bourdeilles in the
Périgord
Périgord ( , ; ; oc, Peiregòrd / ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is div ...
, Brantôme was the third son of the baron François de Bourdeille and Anne de Vivonne. His mother and maternal grandmother, Louise de Daillon du Lude, were both attached to the court of
Marguerite of 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 Quee ...
. After Marguerite's death (1549), Brantôme went to
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 ...
and later to
Poitiers
Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglome ...
(1555) to finish his education. He was a nephew of
Jeanne de Dampierre
Jeanne de Dampierre, née ''de Vivonne'' ( 1511 - 6 April 1583 ) was a French court official. She served as '' Première dame d'honneur'' to the queen of France, Louise of Lorraine, from 1575 until 1583.
Life
Jeanne de Dampierre was the daught ...
, who belonged to the royal household and whom he cited as a source of information in his works.
He was given several
benefice
A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
s, the most important of which was the
lay abbacy
Lay abbot ( la, abbatocomes, abbas laicus, abbas miles, ) is a name used to designate a layman on whom a king or someone in authority bestowed an abbey as a reward for services rendered; he had charge of the estate belonging to it, and was entitle ...
of
Saint-Pierre de Brantôme, but had no inclination for an ecclesiastical career. He became a soldier and came into contact with many of the great leaders of the continental wars. He travelled in Italy; in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, where he accompanied
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 S ...
(then the widow of
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 ...
); in England, where he saw
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Eli ...
(1561, 1579); in
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
, where he took part in Don
García de Toledo's conquest of
Badis (1564); and in Spain and Portugal.
Brantôme fought on the galleys of the
Order of Malta
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...
, and accompanied his great friend, the French commander
Filippo di Piero Strozzi
Filippo di Piero Strozzi (French: ''Philippe Strozzi''; 1541 – 27 July 1582) was an Italian condottiero, a member of the Florentine family of the Strozzi. He fought mainly for France.
Biography
He was born in Florence to Piero Strozzi and La ...
, in the latter's
expedition to Terceira, in which Strozzi was killed (1582). During the
Wars of Religion
A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...
under
Charles IX, he fought for the
Catholics
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 ...
(including at the
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 ...
), but he allowed himself to be won over temporarily by the ideas of the
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 ...
reformers. Though he publicly separated himself from
Protestantism
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, it had a marked effect on his mind.
A fall from his horse compelled him to retire into private life about 1589, and he spent his last years in writing his ''Memoirs'' of the illustrious men and women whom he had known.
His life was the subject of the
historical drama film
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swa ...
''Dames galantes'' (1990) that focused on his relations with women. The lead role was played by
Richard Bohringer
Richard Bohringer (born 16 January 1942) is a French actor.
Personal life
Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier, to a French mother and a German father. He is the father of actress Romane Bohringer, and has three other children, Mathieu, Richa ...
.
Memoirs
De Bourdeille left distinct orders that his manuscript should be printed; a first edition appeared late (1665–1666) and not very complete. Later editions include:
*one in 15 volumes (1740)
*another by
Louis Jean Nicolas Monmerque (1780–1860) in 8 volumes (1821–1824), reproduced in
Buchon's ''Pantheon littéraire''
*that of the'' Bibliothèque elzevirienne'', begun (1858) by
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...
and L. Lacour, and finished, with vol. xiii., only in 1893
*and
Ludovic Lalanne
Ludovic Lalanne (23 April 1815, Paris – 16 May 1898, Paris) was a French historian and librarian. The engineer and politician Léon Lalanne (1811–1892) was his brother.
Biography
Lalanne was a student at the lycée Louis-le-Grand and late ...
's edition for the
Société de l'histoire de France
The Société de l'histoire de France (SHF) (English: ''Society of the History of France'') was established on 21 December 1833 at the instigation of the French minister of Public Instruction, François Guizot, in order to contribute to the renewa ...
(12 vols, 1864–1896).
De Bourdeille can hardly be regarded as a historian proper, and his ''Memoirs'' cannot be accepted as a very trustworthy source of information. But he writes in a quaint conversational way, pouring forth his thoughts, observations or facts without order or system, and with the greatest frankness.
His works give a picture of the general court-life of the time, with its unblushing and undisguised profligacy. There is not an ''homme illustre'' or a ''dame galante'' in all his gallery of portraits who has not engaged in
sexual immorality; and yet the whole is narrated with the most complete unconsciousness that there is anything objectionable in their conduct.
The work was published in 2 volumes by the
Golden Cockerel Press under the title ''The Lives of the Gallant Ladies'' in 1924 with woodcuts by
Robert Gibbings.
viaLibri
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Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brantome, Pierre De Bourdeille, Seigneur De
1540s births
1614 deaths
People from Dordogne
French memoirists
Occitan people
French people of the French Wars of Religion
16th-century French military personnel
17th-century French writers
17th-century French male writers
French male non-fiction writers
16th-century memoirists
17th-century memoirists