François Béroalde de Verville (27 April 1556 – 19–26 October 1626) was a

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...

novelist, poet and intellectual. He was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, the son of Matthieu Brouard (or Brouart), called "Béroalde", a professor of

Agrippa d'Aubigné Théodore-Agrippa d'Aubigné (, 8 February 155229 April 1630) was a French poet, soldier, propagandist and chronicler. His Epic poetry, epic poem ''Les Tragiques'' (1616) is widely regarded as his masterpiece. In a book about his Catholic contemp ...

and

Pierre de l'Estoile Pierre de L'Estoile (1546 – 8 October 1611) was a French diarist and collector. Life Born in Paris into a middle-class background, Pierre de l'Estoile was tutored by Mathieu Béroalde. He knew Agrippa d'Aubigné. He became a law student at Bou ...

and a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

; his mother, Marie Bletz, was the niece of the humanist and Hebrew scholar François Vatable (called "Watebled"). At the time of the

St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre The Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre () in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French Wars of Religion. Traditionally believed ...

, his family fled to

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

(1573), but Béroalde returned to Paris in 1581. During the

civil wars A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.James Fearon"Iraq' ...

, Béroalde abjured

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

and joined the factions around

Henri III of France Henry III (; ; ; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. As the fourth son of King Henry II of France, he wa ...

(he may also have served in the army). In 1589 he moved to

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

(the French

parlement Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the ''Parlement'' of Paris. Though both th ...

fled here from 1589-1594), and became ''chanoine'' (canon) of the cathedral chapter of Saint Gatien,

, where he remained until his death.

Works

Béroalde had close ties to the intellectual and creative milieus of the late 16th century and early 17th century (including

Pierre de L'Estoile Pierre de L'Estoile (1546 – 8 October 1611) was a French diarist and collector. Life Born in Paris into a middle-class background, Pierre de l'Estoile was tutored by Mathieu Béroalde. He knew Agrippa d'Aubigné. He became a law student at Bou ...

, Roland Brisset, Guy de Tours) and was under the protection of two ''conseillers du roi'' ( Pierre Brochard and René Crespin). His writings cover topics as varied as history, mathematics,

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...

alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

, medicine, painting, sculpture, love, silk... He wrote in both verse and prose, and in all manner of tones (satirical, moral, spiritual, philosophical, political). Béroalde represents a literature of transition from the Valois court (and the generation of "

La Pléiade La Pléiade () was a group of 16th-century French Renaissance poets whose principal members were Pierre de Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay and Jean-Antoine de Baïf. The name was a reference to another literary group, the original Alexandrian Pleia ...

") to the Bourbon court of Henri IV and the baroque, and (like his contemporary Nicolas de Montreux) he attempted to compete with the translation of foreign masterpieces by the creation of original works in French. His first works were contributions to a work on mathematics and mechanics (1578) and to a history of

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

s (1581). His numerous historical and philosophical works include: ''Les Recherches de la pierre philosophale'' on the

philosopher's stone The philosopher's stone is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold or silver; it was also known as "the tincture" and "the powder". Alchemists additionally believed that it could be used to mak ...

(1583); ''Dialogue de la vertu'' (1584); ''L'idée de la republique'' (1584); a translation of

Justus Lipsius Justus Lipsius (Joest Lips or Joost Lips; October 18, 1547 – March 23, 1606) was a Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatibl ...

(1592); ''De l'ame et de ses excellences'' (1593), ''De la sagesse'' (1593); ''La Pucelle d'Orleans'' on

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

(1599); a history of silk worms (1600); a history of

Herodias Herodias (; , ''Hērōidiás''; c. 15 BC – after AD 39) was a princess of the Herodian dynasty of Judea, Judaea during the time of the Roman Empire. Christian writings connect her with the Beheading of John the Baptist, execution of John the Ba ...

(1600); and a French edition with commentaries of Francesco Colonna's ''

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili ''Hypnerotomachia Poliphili'' (; ), called in English ''Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream'' or ''The Dream of Poliphilus'', is a book said to be by Francesco Colonna. It is a famous example of an incunable (a work of early printing). The wor ...

'' (1600). His poetry includes: ''Les Apprehensions spirituelles, poemes et autres oeuvres philosophiques'' (1583); love poems, ''Les Soupirs amoureux'' (1583); a contribution of verses to the translation of ''La Diane'' by

Jorge de Montemayor () (1520? – 26 February 1561) was a Portuguese novelist and poet, who wrote almost exclusively in Spanish. His most famous work is a pastoral prose romance, the ''Diana'' (1559). Biography He was born at Montemor-o-Velho (near Coimbra ...

(1592); spiritual poems, ''La Muse celeste'' (1593); and a translation of

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

Book of Lamentations The Book of Lamentations (, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible, it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillot ("Five Scroll ...

, ''Les Tenebres'' (1599). Béroalde published several long fiction works: ''Les Avantures de Floride, histoire françoise'' in 4 tomes (1593-1596), ''Le Cabinet de Minerve'' (1596), an unfinished novel ''Le Restablissement de Troye, avec lequel parmy les hazards des armes, se voyent les amours d’Æsionne'' (1597), ''Le Voyage des princes fortunes'' (1610), and ''Le Palais des curieux'' (1612). With their elaborate plots, multiple characters and adventurous situations, these adventure novels show the inspiration of the Hispano-Portuguese chivalric adventure novel (like Amadis of Gaul) and of the ancient Greek novel (like the work of

Heliodorus of Emesa Heliodorus Emesenus or Heliodorus of Emesa () is the author of the ancient Greek novel called the '' Aethiopica'' () or ''Theagenes and Chariclea'' (), which has been dated to the 220s or 370s AD. Identification He identifies himself at the end ...

Achilles Tatius Achilles Tatius (Greek: Ἀχιλλεὺς Τάτιος, ''Achilleus Tatios'') of Alexandria was a Roman-era Greek writer of the 2nd century AD whose fame is attached to his only surviving work, the ancient Greek novel, or ''romance'', '' The Ad ...

), but they also straddle the line between fiction and philosophical or encyclopedic writing, and frequently veer off into discussions of moral phenomena or in symbolic

ekphrasis Ekphrasis or ecphrasis (from the Greek) is a rhetorical device indicating the written description of a work of art. It is a vivid, often dramatic, verbal description of a visual work of art, either real or imagined. Thus, "an ekphrastic poem ...

(inspired by the ''Hypnerotomachia Poliphili'') of cabinets of curiosities, architecture and other elements. His most famous work is the playful, chaotic, baroque, sometimes obscene and almost unreadable ''Moyen de parvenir'' (first published around 1617) -- a parody of books of "table talk", of Rabelais and of

Michel de Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne ( ; ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), commonly known as Michel de Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the the essay ...

's " The Essays"—in which a host of famous individuals debate, discuss and joke (with often coarse humor) about historical and philosophical matters. Béroalde's corpus is vast and his works show a preoccupation with encyclopedic learning, the organization of knowledge and the difficulties of interpretation. Largely forgotten since the 17th century, Béroalde was rediscovered in the 19th century and has gained renewed critical appreciation in recent years.

References

* Neil Kenny. ''The Palace of Secrets: Béroalde de Verville and Renaissance Conceptions of Knowledge'' (New York : Oxford U., 1991) * Michel Simonin, ed. ''Dictionnaire des lettres françaises - Le XVIe siècle'' (Paris: Fayard, 2001)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beroalde de Verville, Francois 1556 births 1626 deaths 16th-century alchemists 16th-century French poets 16th-century French novelists 16th-century French male writers 17th-century alchemists 17th-century French novelists 17th-century French male writers French male poets French male novelists Writers from Paris Baroque writers