Sébastien Mamerot (between and 1440 – 1490) was a French clergyman, scholar, novelist, and translator.

Biography

Originally from

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...

, Mamerot served as clergyman and secretary to Louis de Laval, governor of

Dauphiné The Dauphiné ( , , ; or ; or ), formerly known in English as Dauphiny, is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was ...

(1448–1458),

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

(1465–1472) and

Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vien ...

(1483–1484), protégé and adviser to King Louis XI. In 1460, he became

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

. From July 1472 to August 1478, he was a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

and

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

at the Collegiate Church of Saint-Étienne in

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

. In 1466, he wrote '' Romuléon'', based on translating the original '' Romuleon'', a work commissioned by Louis de Laval. In 1472, Louis de Laval asked his clergyman and secretary, Mamerot, to write a chronicle of the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

. That work, entitled ''

Passages d'outremer The ''Passages d'outremer'' is a chronicle of the crusades written in Middle French by Sébastien Mamerot in 1473–1474. Drawing freely on legendary material, it covers the wars between Catholics and Muslims from the time of Charlemagne until 14 ...

'', was a collection of various stories, from the legendary conquest of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

to the

Battle of Nicopolis The Battle of Nicopolis took place on 25 September 1396 and resulted in the rout of an allied Crusader army (assisted by the Venetian navy) at the hands of an Ottoman force, raising the siege of the Danubian fortress of Nicopolis and le ...

in 1396 and Siege of Constantinople (1394–1402). Later on, another text was added to the beginning of the manuscript, a French translation of a letter written by

Sultan Bayezid II Bayezid II (; ; 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne to his son, Selim ...

to King Charles VIII, which was sent from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

on July 4, 1488. In 1488, based on his own impressions of a trip to the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

, he compiled the ''Compendieuse Description de la Terre de Promision''.

Works

*''Cronicques martiniennes'' (''Martinian Chronicles'') (1458), translation and extension of

Martin of Opava Martin of Opava, Order of Preachers, O.P. (died 1278) also known as Martin of Poland, was a 13th-century Dominican Order, Dominican friar, bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and chronicler. Life Known in Latin language, Latin as ''Frater Martinu ...

's universal chronicle written in 1277, which presents the history of popes and emperors. *''Histoire des neuf preus et des neuf preues'' (1460), a continuation of the

Nine Worthies The Nine Worthies are nine historical, scriptural, and legendary men of distinction who personify the ideals of chivalry established in the Middle Ages, whose lives were deemed a valuable study for aspirants to chivalric status. All were commonly ...

. *'' Romuléon'' (1466), translation into French of the Latin '' Romuleon'' by

Benvenuto Rambaldi da Imola Benvenuto Rambaldi da Imola, or simply and perhaps more accurately Benvenuto da Imola (; 1330 – 1388), was an Italian scholar and historian, a lecturer at Bologna. He is now best known for his commentary on Dante's ''Divine Comedy.'' Life ' ...

, a collection of stories about the history of Rome. *''Les trois grands'' (before 1472), a humanist tract comparing the three "greats",

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

and

. *''L'ordre des règnes et régnons de France'' (19 April 1474), a list of French kings and queens. *''Passages faiz oultre mer par les François contre les Turcqs et autres Sarrazins et Mores oultre marins'' (''Overseas campaigns of the French against the Turks, Saracens and Moors''), usually known simply as the ''

'' (circa 1474–1475), illustrated manuscript, which contains 66 miniatures, made by Jean Colombe. *''Compendieuse description de la terre de promision'' (''A Brief Description of the Promised Land'') (1488), written following the results of the author's pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mamerot, Sébastien 15th-century births 1490 deaths People from Soissons 15th-century French Roman Catholic priests 15th-century French translators 15th-century French novelists 15th-century writers in Latin Historians of the Crusades