Guillaume Budé (; Latinized as Guilielmus Budaeus; January 26, 1467 – August 20, 1540) was a French scholar and humanist. He was involved in the founding of Collegium Trilingue, which later became the Collège de France. Budé was also the first keeper of the royal library at the Palace of Fontainebleau, which was later moved to Paris, where it became the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

. He was an ambassador to Rome and held several important judicial and civil administrative posts.

Life

Budé 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 ...

. He went to the

University of Orléans The University of Orléans () is a French university, in the Academy of Orléans and Tours. As of July 2015 it is a member of the regional university association Leonardo da Vinci consolidated University. History In 1230, when for a time the ...

to study

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, but for several years, having ample means, he led an idle and dissipated life. When about twenty-four years of age, he was seized with a sudden passion for study, and made rapid progress, particularly in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

. The work which gained him greatest reputation was his ''De Asse et Partibus Eius'' (1514), a treatise on ancient coins and measures. He was held in high esteem by Francis I, who was persuaded by him, and by Jean du Bellay, Bishop of Narbonne, to found the Collegium Trilingue (afterwards the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

) and the library at

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

, which was removed to Paris and was the origin of the

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

. He also induced Francis to refrain from prohibiting printing in France, which had been advised by the Sorbonne in 1533. Earlier, he had been sent by

Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

as ambassador to

Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Me ...

, and in 1522 was appointed ''

maître des requêtes A Master of Requests () is a counsel of the French ''Conseil d'État'' (Council of State), a high-level judicial officer of administrative law in France. The office has existed in one form or another since the Middle Ages. The occupational titl ...

'' and was several times '' prévôt des marchands''.

Death

Before his death in Paris, he requested to be buried at night, and his widow's open profession of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

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 ...

(where she retired after his death), caused him to be suspected of leanings towards

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 ...

. Sections of his correspondence with Erasmus also suggest this religious inclination. At the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, the members of his family were obliged to flee from France. Some took refuge in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where they worthily upheld the traditions of their house, while others settled in

Swedish Pomerania Swedish Pomerania (; ) was a dominions of Sweden, dominion under the Sweden, Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish-Swedish War, Polish War and the Thirty Years' War ...

under the name Budde or Buddeus (see Johann Franz Buddeus). Budé was also the author of ''Annotationes in XXIV. libros Pandectarum'' (1508), which, by the application of

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, had a great influence on the study of

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

, and of ''Commentarii linguae Graecae'' (1529), an extensive collection of lexicographical notes, which contributed greatly to the study of

Greek literature Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today. Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving wri ...

in France. ''Epistolae'' (1520, 8vo) is a collection that contains only a small part of the voluminous correspondence of Bude, written in Greek with remarkable purity. Budé corresponded with the most learned men of his time, amongst them

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

, who called him the "marvel of France", and

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...

. He wrote with equal facility in Greek and Latin.

Works

* Translations from

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

, from 1502 to 1505 * ''Annotationes in XXIV libros Pandectarum'', Paris, 1508 ** ''Annotationes in quattuor et viginti pendectarum libros''. Paris, Josse Bade, 1532 ** ** * ''De contemptu rerum fortuitarum libri tres'', Paris, 1520 * ''Epistolae'', in 8vo, 1520 * * ''Summaire ou Epitome du livre de Asse'', Paris, 1522 * ''De studio litterarum recte et commode instituendo'', Paris, 1527 * ''Commentarii linguae graecae'', Paris, 1529 ** ''Commentarii Linguae Græcae, Gulielmo Budaeo, consiliario Regio, supplicumque libellorum in Regia magistro, auctore. Ab eodem accuratè recogniti, atque amplius tertia parte aucti''. Ex officina Roberti Stephani typographi Regii, Parisiis, 1548 * ''De philologia'', Paris, 1530 * ''Libellorumque magistri in praetorio, altera aeditio annotationum in pandectas'', Paris, Josse Bade, 1532 * ''De Studio Literarum Recte Et Commode Instituendo. Item Eiusdem G. Budaei De Philologia Lib. II.'' Basileae, apud Ioan. Walderum, martio 1533 * ''De transitu Hellenismi ad Christianismum libri tres'', Paris, Robert Estienne, 1534 * ''De l'institution du prince'', in-folio, 1547 * ''Opera omnia'', 4 vol. in-folio, Basel, 1557

Family

Guillaume was the son of Jean Budé (d. 1502) and Catherine Le Picart. He married Roberte Le Lieur when she was about 15 years old. Their children included:Sylie Charton le Clech, ''Chancellerie et Culture'' (1993), 324 *Dreux Budé (d. 1547), married Marthe Paillart *François (d. 1550)

Notes

References

*Loys Leroy (or Regius), ''Vita G. Budaei'' (1540) *D. Rebitté, ''G. Budé, restaurateur des études grecques en France'' (1846) *E. de Budé, ''Vie de G. Budé'' (1884), who refutes the idea of his ancestor's Protestant views *D'Hozier, ''La Maison de Budé'' *L. Delaruelle, ''Études sur l'humanisme français'' (1907) *D. McNeil, ''Guillaume Budé and Humanism in the Reign of Francis I'' (1975)

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bude, Guillaume Writers from Paris 1467 births 1540 deaths 16th-century writers in Latin Christian humanists French Christians French Renaissance humanists French scholars French hellenists 16th-century French writers 16th-century French male writers 16th-century French lawyers Provost of the Merchants of Paris