Théodore Claude Henri, vicomte Hersart de la Villemarqué (6 July 18158 December 1895) was a Breton

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and man of letters.

Biography

La Villemarqué was born in

Quimperlé Quimperlé (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department, region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern France. Geography Quimperlé is in the southeast of Finistère, 20 km t ...

Finistère Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

family, which counted among its members an Hersart who had followed Saint Louis to 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 ...

, and another who was a companion in arms of

Bertrand du Guesclin Bertrand du Guesclin (; 1320 – 13 July 1380), nicknamed "The Eagle of Brittany" or "The Black Dog of Brocéliande", was a Breton knight and an important military commander on the French side during the Hundred Years' War. From 1370 to his ...

. La Villemarqué devoted himself to the elucidation of the monuments of

Breton literature Breton literature may refer to literature in the Breton language (''Brezhoneg'') or the broader literary tradition of Brittany in the three other main languages of the area, namely, Latin, Gallo and French – all of which have had strong mutu ...

. Introduced in 1851 by Jakob Grimm as correspondent to the Academy of Berlin, he became in 1858 a member of the Academy of Inscriptions. He died at Castle Keransker near Quimperlé on 8 December 1895.

Works

His works include: ''Contes populaires des anciens Bretons'' (1842), to which was prefixed an essay on the origin of the romances of the

Round Table The Round Table (; ; ; ) is King Arthur's famed table (furniture), table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status, unlike co ...

; ''Essai sur l'histoire de la langue bretonne'' (1837); ''Poèmes des bardes bretons du sixième siècle'' (1850); ''La Légende celtique en Irlande, en Cambrie et en Bretagne'' (1859). The popular Breton songs published by him in 1839 as ''

Barzaz Breiz ''Barzaz Breiz'' (in modern spelling ''Barzhaz Breizh'', meaning "Ballads of Brittany": ''barzh'' is the equivalent of "bard" and ''Breizh'' means "Brittany") is a collection of Breton popular songs collected by Théodore Hersart de la Villemar ...

'' were considerably retouched. La Villemarqué's work has been superseded by the work of later scholars, but he has the merit of having done much to arouse popular interest in his subject.

Literature

On the subject of the doubtful authenticity of ''Barzaz Breiz'', see Luzel's Preface to his ''Chansons populaires de la Basse-Bretagne'', and, for a list of works on the subject, the ''

Revue Celtique A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during ...

'' (vol. V).

References

Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hersant de la Villemarque, Theodore 1815 births 1895 deaths People from Quimperlé French philologists French lexicographers Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Writers from Brittany Poets from Brittany Arthurian scholars Breton-language writers 19th-century French poets Knights of the Legion of Honour 19th-century lexicographers