Pierre Matthieu (1563–1621) was a French writer, poet, historian and dramatist.
Biography
Pierre Matthieu was born at
Pesmes
Pesmes () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France.
See also
*Communes of the Haute-Saône department
The following is a list of the 539 communes in the French department of Hau ...
in the
Haute-Saône
Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.Doubs
Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Valence, received his doctorat in 1586 and became a lawyer at the Présidial Court of
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
.
Although he had expressed his attachment to the
House of Guise
The House of Guise (pronunciation: ɥiz Dutch: ''Wieze, German: Wiese'') was a prominent French noble family, that was involved heavily in the French Wars of Religion. The House of Guise was the founding house of the Principality of Joinvil ...
and the Catholic League, he was among those chosen and sent by the inhabitants of Lyon to King
Henry IV of France
Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...
in February 1594 to assure the new king of their fidelity. With the king having visited the city the year before, Matthieu was put in charge of organizing the ceremonies of the royal reception. Subsequently, he moved to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...
and, with the protection of Pierre Jeannin, he became historiograph. He was esteemed by the royal court and enjoyed special access to Henry IV.
He fell ill accompanying
Louis XIII
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 crown ...
at the siege of
Montauban
Montauban (, ; oc, Montalban ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, region of Occitania, Southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, ...
and died in Toulouse at the age of 58.
Works
Pierre Matthieu wrote five tragedies:
* ''Clytemnestre'' (1578) - the story of
Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra (; grc-gre, Κλυταιμνήστρα, ''Klytaimnḗstrā'', ), in Greek mythology, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and the twin sister of Helen of Troy. In Aeschylus' '' Oresteia'', she murders Agamemnon – said by E ...
* ''Esther'' (1581) - the story of
Esther
Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...
* ''Vashti'' (1589) - the story of
Vashti
Vashti ( he, , translit=Vaštī; ; ) was a queen of Persia and the first wife of Persian king Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther, a book included within the Tanakh and the Old Testament which is read on the Jewish holiday of Purim. She was either e ...
* ''Aman, de la perfidie'' (1589) - the story of
Haman
Haman ( ; also known as Haman the Agagite or Haman the evil) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Persian empire under King Ahasuerus, commonly identified as Xerxes I ...
* ''La Guisiade'' (1589) - an attack of Henry III and justification of his assassination.
The five tragedies of Matthieu sought — despite their use of Biblical or ancient stories (other than ''La Guisade'') — to explore contemporary issues of 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 mi ...
and to justify the noble defense of religion; the tragedies' heroes were generally allegorical representations of Henry I, Duke of Guise.
As poet, he published ''Tablettes de la vie et de la mort'' and ''Quatrains de la vie et de la mort''.
His novels, ''La Magicienne'', ''Aelius Sejanus'' and ''La Femme Cathenoise'' were hostile to Concini and his wife.
He also wrote several works of history and royal historiography. For example:
* ''Histoire de Louis XI, Roy de France'' (1610)
* ''Histoire de France et des choses memorables advenues aux provinces estrangeres durant sept annees de paix du règne de Henri IV'' (1605)
* ''Historiopolitographia Sive Opus Historicopoliticum: In Qvo Res Toto Pene Orbe Hisce Proximis Annis gestae'' (1611)