Jean de La Ceppède ( – 1623) was a

French nobleman The French nobility () was an aristocratic social class in France from the Middle Ages until its abolition on 23 June 1790 during the French Revolution. From 1808 to 1815 during the First Empire the Emperor Napoléon bestowed titles that we ...

, judge, and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

from

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

. He was a Christian poet and wrote

Alexandrine Alexandrine is a name used for several distinct types of verse line with related metrical structures, most of which are ultimately derived from the classical French alexandrine. The line's name derives from its use in the Medieval French '' Ro ...

sonnet A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

s in

Middle French Middle French () is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the mid-14th to the early 17th centuries. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from the other co ...

during the Renaissance in France. He is best known for his ''Les Théorèmes sur le Sacré Mystère de Nostre Rédemption'', a

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is cal ...

of 515

s, published in two volumes in 1613 and 1622. Taken together, the sonnets are an

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

on the Passion and

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, while making many references and comparisons to figures from

Classical mythology Classical mythology, also known as Greco-Roman mythology or Greek and Roman mythology, is the collective body and study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans. Mythology, along with philosophy and political thought, is one of the m ...

and taking a

heuristic A heuristic or heuristic technique (''problem solving'', '' mental shortcut'', ''rule of thumb'') is any approach to problem solving that employs a pragmatic method that is not fully optimized, perfected, or rationalized, but is nevertheless ...

approach.

Early life

Jean de La Ceppède was born circa 1550 in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

.Jean de La Ceppède (1550?-1623)

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 ...

His father was Jean-Baptiste de La Ceppède and his mother, Claude de Bompar.Claude François Achard, ''Dictionnaire de la Provence et du Comté-Venaissin: Histoire des hommes illustres de la Provence'', J. Mossy, 1786, p. 16

/ref> According to

Keith Bosley Keith Anthony Bosley (16 September 1937 – 24 June 2018) was a British poet, translator, and Presenter (radio), radio broadcaster. Born in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, he studied French at university before starting his career at the BBC, where ...

, the de La Ceppède family was of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

heritage and may have been related to Saint Teresa of Avila, who was born a Cepeda.Bosley (1983), page 5. He received a Doctorate in Law.

Career

De La Ceppède became an Advisor to the Parlement of Aix-en-Provence on 22 October 1578. He advised Perrinet de Rouillas. He became the President of the Court of Audit in 1583, replacing Hughes de Bompar de Magnan. He became its First President on 14 July 1608, replacing Jean de Rollands de Réauville and, as the President of a Parliament Court, de La Ceppède was enrolled in the ranks of the Nobles of the Robe. Despite his devoutly

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

faith, de La Ceppède was a Politique and supported the claim of the

Calvinist 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 Protestantism, Continenta ...

Henri of Navarre under

Salic Law The Salic law ( or ; ), also called the was the ancient Frankish Civil law (legal system), civil law code compiled around AD 500 by Clovis I, Clovis, the first Frankish King. The name may refer to the Salii, or "Salian Franks", but this is deba ...

to the throne of France during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

. For this reason, de La Ceppède was arrested in 1589, after the Parlement of Aix-en-Provence fell to the armies of the militantly

anti-Protestant Anti-Protestantism is bias, hatred or distrust against some or all branches of Protestantism and/or its List of Christian denominations#Protestant, followers, especially when amplified in legal, political, ethic or military measures. Protesta ...

Catholic League. De La Ceppède attempted to escape disguised as a shoemaker, but was shot and recaptured. De La Ceppède was later released on the orders of a senior member of the League who held him in esteem. It was only in 1596 that

Marseilles Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean S ...

fell to the armies of the now-Catholic King Henri IV. De La Ceppède acquired the estate of Aygalades from Melchior de Fallet on 31 March 1599. As a result, he became known as the

Seigneur A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owned a seigneurie, seigneury, or lordship—a form of ...

(or "

Lord of the Manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

") of Ayglades. The estate was home to a community of

Carmelites The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

, and de La Ceppède funded the reconstruction of their chapel.

Literary career

During the

, de La Ceppède belonged to a Royalist literary circle which included the son of

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinisation of names, Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French Astrology, astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed Oracle, seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéti ...

. During the same period, he began writing the sonnets that appear in the ''Theorems''.

(1983), ''From the Theorems of Master Jean de La Ceppède: LXX Sonnets'', page 5. As

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

was increasingly reunified by the armies of King Henri IV, de La Ceppède published his first collection of poems, which was an

imitation Imitation (from Latin ''imitatio'', "a copying, imitation") is a behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of learning that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our cu ...

of the Seven Penitential Psalms. According to Keith Bosley, de La Ceppède's book was one of many peace offerings to the new King by the poets of

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, where support for the Catholic League had been overwhelming. Accord to a 2012 article about de La Ceppède by Christopher O. Blum, "It was in 1594, at the end of the

, that he published his first work, an imitation of the Penitential Psalms of

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

. In a dedicatory epistle that was an extended meditation upon theme of shipwreck, he declared his desire to 'dispose his soul and, with it, poor France' to look to the

Cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

for safety and to take 'the good

' as guide for 'this perilous navigation.' To

paraphrase A paraphrase () or rephrase is the rendering of the same text in different words without losing the meaning of the text itself. More often than not, a paraphrased text can convey its meaning better than the original words. In other words, it is a ...

or imitate the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

was a common undertaking in those days. De La Ceppède's efforts may be likened to those of some of the best-known poets of the period, including his friend Malherbe ( Psalm 146), the Castilian

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

Luis de Léon (

Psalm 130 Psalm 130 is the 130th psalm of the Book of Psalms, one of the penitential psalms and one of 15 psalms that begin with the words "A song of ascents" (Shir Hama'alot). The first verse is a call to God in deep sorrow, from "out of the depths" or ...

), and

George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devotio ...

( Psalm 23). The recitation of the seven penitential psalms ( Psalms 6, 33, 38, 51, 102,

130 130 may refer to: *130 (number), the natural number following 129 and preceding 131 *AD 130, a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar *130 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar *Kin Sang stop, MTR digital station code *130 Ele ...

, and 143) was then a popular

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

en practice, and de La Ceppède's imitations, each accompanied with a lengthy prayer, succeed in expressing the sentiments of a contrite and humble heart. The work also included a number of other poems, including twelve

s that he offered in the hope that 'they would give some consolation to Christian souls amidst the numerous evils that they suffer' and as an advanced offering from a more ambitious task upon which he was already laboring, the ''Theorems upon the Sacred Mystery of Our Redemption''."A Poet of the Passion of Christ
by Christopher O. Blum, Crisis Magazine, April 2, 2012. When it was published in 1613, de La Ceppède dedicated the first volume of the ''Theorems'' to the

queen mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also ...

Marie de Medici Marie de' Medici (; ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as regent ...

. He also sent a copy to Saint

Francis de Sales Francis de Sales, Congregation of the Oratory, C.O., Order of Minims, O.M. (; ; 21 August 156728 December 1622) was a Savoyard state, Savoyard Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Geneva and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He became n ...

, who had been a highly successful Catholic missionary among the

French Protestants Protestantism in France has existed in its various forms, starting with Calvinism and Lutheranism since the Protestant Reformation. John Calvin was a Frenchman, as were numerous other Protestant Reformers including William Farel, Pierre Viret and ...

of the

Chablais The Chablais (; ; ) was a province of the Duchy of Savoy. Its capital was Thonon-les-Bains. The Chablais was elevated to a duchy in 1311 by Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor. This region is currently divided into three territories, the '' Chablais s ...

and who was then the Roman Catholic

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of overwhelmingly

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 ...

. In response to de La Ceppède's frequent comparison of

to figures from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to th ...

, the Bishop wrote, " amdrawn by that learned piety which so happily makes you transform the

Pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

Muses In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

into Christian ones." When the second volume of the ''Theorems'' appeared in 1622, de La Ceppède dedicated it to King

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. ...

, in celebration of both the King's recent coming of age and his military victory against an uprising of the

Huguenots 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, ...

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

, which had been led by Henri, Duke of Rohan. According to Christopher Blum, "The ''Theorems'' is not only poetry, it is a splendid work of erudition, as each sonnet is provided with a commentary linking it to

scriptural Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

and patristic sources and, especially, to the '' Summa Theologiae'' of St.

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

. The work bears the mark of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

: the sonnet, that choice mode of expressing

romantic love Romance or romantic love is a feeling of love for, or a Interpersonal attraction, strong attraction towards another person, and the Courtship, courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant ...

, is here purged and elevated and put in the service of the epic tale of God's love for man. As de La Ceppède put it in his introduction—which can be read in

's admirable translation of seventy of the sonnets—the harlot Lady Poetry had been unstitched of 'her worldly habits' and shorn of her 'idolatrous, lying and lascivious hair' by the 'two-edged razor of profound meditation on the Passion and death of our Saviour.'"

Personal life

De La Ceppède married Madeleine de Brancas-Ceyreste, the daughter of Gaspard de Brancas-Forcalquier and Françoise d'Ancezune, and widow of Etienne de Mantin. The wedding took place on 30 April 1585. They had a daughter, Angélique, who married Henri de Simiane, Seigneur (or Lord) of La Coste. He married a second time, Anne de Faret, the daughter of Accurse de Faret, the

Squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Boys served a knight as an attendant, doing simple but important tasks such as saddling a horse or caring for the knight's weapons and armour. Terminology ''Squire'' ...

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

, on 11 February 1611.

Death

De La Ceppède died, loaded down with honors, at

in July 1623.

Legacy

In the year following Jean de La Ceppède's death, Cardinal de Richelieu became King

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

and, largely through the influence of

François de Malherbe François de Malherbe (, 1555 – 16 October 1628) was a French poet, critic, and translator. Life He was born in Le Locheur (near Caen, Normandie), to a family of standing, although the family's pedigree did not satisfy the heralds in terms o ...

, Baroque poetry was replaced by

Neo-Classicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

. To this day, the

French poetry French poetry () is a category of French literature. It may include Francophone literature, Francophone poetry composed outside France and poetry written in other languages of France. French prosody and poetics The modern French language does not ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

of the Renaissance is often looked down on and Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux's maxim, ''Enfin Malherbe vint'' ("Finally Malherbe arrived"), continues to be taken for granted. De La Ceppède's verses were accordingly consigned to oblivion until 1915, when they were unearthed by Fr. Henri Bremond and appeared in the first volume of his book ''Histoire littéraire du Sentiment religieux en France''. Since then, de La Ceppède's poetry has experienced a revival. It has appeared in multiple poetry anthologies and several scholarly works have been written about its author. Following his death in 1623, Jean de La Ceppède's former estate grew into a village called ',Emile Perrier, ''Un village provençal : les Aygalades'', Marseille, 1919 which is now part of the 15th arrondissement of

. In 1689, part of the estate was purchased by the

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

de Guillermy family, who built upon it the Bastide de la Guillermy, which is now the oldest building in the city.

References

External links

A Poet of the Passion of Christ
by Christopher O. Blum. '' Crisis Magazine'', April 2, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:La Cepede, Jean de 1623 deaths 16th-century French judges 17th-century French judges 16th-century French poets 17th-century French poets Baroque writers Early modern Christian devotional writers French Catholic poets French escapees French male poets French nobility French people of Spanish descent French people of the French Wars of Religion French Renaissance humanists Writers from Aix-en-Provence Writers from Avignon Writers from Marseille Sonneteers Year of birth uncertain