Bernard de la Monnoye
Encyclopedia
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, poet, philologue
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
and critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
, known chiefly by his carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
s Christmas in Bourgogne
Bourgogne
Burgundy is one of the 27 regions of France.The name comes from the Burgundians, an ancient Germanic people who settled in the area in early Middle-age. The region of Burgundy is both larger than the old Duchy of Burgundy and smaller than the area ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy, from the modern...
.
Biography
Bernard began his studies in Jesuit schools, and attracted attention by epigrams in LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and essays in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. By his father wish, he went to study law at Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
. There he gave way to his literary tastes by, during the harsh study of jurisprudence, gathering curiosities about the authors and books that he read. He began legal practice at the Dijon Parlament in 1662; but had little inclination for that profession, and, using his health as an excuse, left the bar and devoted himself entirely to the literary arts.
In the following years Bernard divided his time between reading books and frequenting the intellectual circles of Dijon, where he made his debut in poetry. In 1671 he won a contest of the French Academy with a poetic essay on "the abolition of the duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
", which was ardently praised by Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
, and years later by Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
. He went on to win the Academy's contest four more times. Rumors circulated that the organizers had asked him to refrain from entering the contest again, to give a chance to other authors.
To make a living, he took in 1672 a job at the Court of Finances, at which he kept for eight years. Not long afterwards he got married. During this time he produced copious verse, which made him moderately famous. He also composed many hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s in Latin, and translated into French the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
poem Gloss of Saint Therese. By 1687 he was admitted as a corresponding member of Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
's Accademia dei Ricovrati.
Among his best compositions of the time are a dozen of riddles in sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
format, some of which are considered to be better than anything of the sort that existed at the time; and three translations of exts about Burgundy wine
Burgundy wine
Burgundy wine is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône River, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here - those commonly referred to as "Burgundies" - are red wines made from Pinot Noir grapes or white wines made from...
, Champagne wine, and cider
Cider
Cider or cyder is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol content from 2% abv to 8.5% abv or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, such as Germany and America, cider may be termed "apple wine"...
. He also wrote, under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Gui Barozai, the Thirteen Christmas (1700), a collection of carols in the patois
Patois
Patois is any language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. It can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects, and other forms of native or local speech, but not commonly to jargon or slang, which are vocabulary-based forms of cant...
of Bourgogne; which were followed later that year by Sixteen More Christmas. These songs in simple language become immensely popular. The best known, which is still orchestrated and played today, is probably Guillô, pran ton tamborin, better known as "Patapan
Patapan
"Patapan" is a French Christmas carol in Burgundian dialect, later adapted into English. It was written by Bernard de La Monnoye and first published in Noël bourguignons in 1720...
", which begins as
| Guillô, pran ton tamborin ; | Guillaume, prends ton tambourin ; | William, take your drum, | |
| Toi, pran tai fleúte, Rôbin ! | Toi, prends ta flûte, Robin ! | You, take your flute, Robin! | |
| Au son de cé instruman, | Au son de ces instruments | To the sound of these instruments, | |
| Turelurelu, patapatapan, | Turelurelu, patapatapan, | Tu-re-lu-re-lu, pata-pata-pan, | |
| Au son de cé instruman | Au son de ces instruments | To the sound of these instruments | |
| Je diron Noei gaiman. | Je dirai Noël gaîment. | I will say Christmas cheerfully. |
Some priests saw in these carols a hidden attempt to mock the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, and the question got as far as being submitted to a committee of Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
professors, who prudently avoided the issue. Others disputed Bernards's mastery of the Bourgogne dialect, prompting him to write a Glossary of the most difficult terms.
la Monnoye eventually turned his attention to the more scholarly study of writes from classical antiquity. His correspondence with other scholars throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
spread his reputation as a philologist. He made many contributions to Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle was a French philosopher and writer best known for his seminal work the Historical and Critical Dictionary, published beginning in 1695....
's Dictionnaire.
Bernard moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1707. For several years he declined invitations to join the French Academy, but he was eventually admitted, by unanimous vote, in 1713.
In 1715 he got into trouble by having inserted some texts of his own in the Menagiana, an annotated edition of the works of Gilles Ménage which he was helping to edit. He got off on legal technicalities and thanks to the support of the Cardinal de Rohan
Armand Gaston Maximilien de Rohan
Armand de Rohan was a French churchman and politician. He became bishop of Strasbourg in 1704, Cardinal in 1712 then grand almoner of France in 1713 and member of the regency council in 1722....
.
Having lapsed on his contractual obligations, he had to file for bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and lost all his modest fortune, being forced to sell even the medals he had won from the Academy. At the same time he had to suffer the loss of his loved one. He survived thereon on modest but sufficient pensions granted by the Duke of Villeroy and by his publishers, and on the proceeds of the sale of his books. He left four children, three of whom embraced the religious life.
Publications
- Noël bourguignons de Gui Barozai, ai Dioni (Dijon), (1720), with glossary and music. In Louis DuboisLouis DuboisLouis DuBois was a Huguenot colonist in New Netherland who, with two of his sons and nine other refugees, founded the village of New Paltz, New York...
, Noëls et autres poésies bourguignonnes de La Monnoye (1817). - Menagiana (1715), 4 vols. La Monnoye appended to volume 4 some texs of his own:
- Lettre au président Bouhier sur le prétendu livre des Trois imposteurs.
- Dissertation sur le Moyen de parvenir.
- Autre Dissertation sur le Songe de PoliphileHypnerotomachia PoliphiliHypnerotomachia Poliphili , called in English Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream, is a romance said to be by Francesco Colonna and a famous example of early printing...
. - Dissertation sur la célèbre Epigramme latine de Pulci sur un hermaphroditeHermaphroditeIn biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
. - Remarques sur les Judgements des savants de BailletAdrien BailletAdrien Baillet was a French scholar and critic. He is now best known as a biographer of René Descartes.-Life:He was born in the village of Neuville near Beauvais, in Picardie...
.
- Drs Observations sur le Cymbalum mundi et sur les Contes de Bonaventure DesperriersBonaventure des PériersBonaventure des Périers was a French author.He was born of a noble family at Arnay-le-duc in Burgundy at the end of the fifteenth century....
. - Remarques sur le Poggiana of Pierre Lenfant, (1722).
- Préface et des Notes sur les Nuits of StraparoleGiovanni Francesco StraparolaGiovanni Francesco "Gianfrancesco" Straparola was an Italian writer and fairy tale collector from Caravaggio, Italy. He has been termed the progenitor of the literary form of the fairy tale in Europe...
. - Deux Préfaces pour la Pancharis of Bonnefons.
- Notes sur la Bibliothèque choisie et sur les Opuscules de Colomiès.
- Dissertation sur le Passavant of Théodore de Bèze.
- Vie du poète SarrazinJean François SarrazinJean François Sarrazin , or Sarasin, was a French author.-Biography:Sarrazin was born at Hermanville, near Caen, the son of Roger Sarasin, treasurer-general at Caen....
, in volume 1 of the Mémoires de Albert-Henri de Sallengre. - a Lettre à l'abbé Conti sur les principaux auteurs français, in volume 7 of the Bibliothèque française.
- Vie de PyrrhoPyrrhoPyrrho , a Greek philosopher of classical antiquity, is credited as being the first Skeptic philosopher and the inspiration for the school known as Pyrrhonism, founded by Aenesidemus in the 1st century BC.- Life :Pyrrho was from Elis, on the Ionian Sea...
n, translated from the GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
text by Diogenes LaërtiusDiogenes LaertiusDiogenes Laertius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, but his surviving Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is one of the principal surviving sources for the history of Greek philosophy.-Life:Nothing is definitively known about his life...
. - Some fragments in Mémoires de littérature of Pierre Nicolas Desmolets, volumes 3 and 6.
- Lettre à Maittaire, contenant diverses remarques sur les Annales de l'imprimerie et sur la vie des Estienne (1712).
- Remarques sur les Bibliothèques de Lacroix Dumaine et DuverdierAntoine du VerdierAntoine du Verdier , lord of Vauprivast, was a French politician and writer. He was conseiller du roi and controller-general in Lyon, but is best known for his work as a bibliographer alongside his friend and contemporary François Grudé.-Publications:* Prosopographie, description des...
(1772).
La Monnoye left as unpublished manuscripts the Observations sur l'Anacréon of Régnier-Desmarais
François-Séraphin Régnier-Desmarais
François-Séraphin Régnier-Desmarais was a French ecclesiastic, grammarian, diplomat and poet in French, Spanish and Latin. He also translated Alphonsus Rodriguez's The Practice of Christian Perfection and several works by Anacreon, Homer and Cicero....
, and the Remarques sur les vies des jurisconsultes, of Taisand; and as unfinished texts the farce de Patelin and a Commentaire sur Mellin de Saint-Gelais
Mellin de Saint-Gelais
Mellin de Saint-Gelais was a French poet of the Renaissance and Poet Laureate of Francis I of France.- Life :...
.
External links
- Notice biographique de l'Académie Française (in French)
- Patapan Version of Patapan in Bourgogne dialect, in RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
format.
- Guillo, pran ton tamborin !, in Bourgogne dialect. Chicago Early Music Consort Performance, December 9, 14, 2007 (Video OggOggOgg is a free, open container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The creators of the Ogg format state that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.The Ogg container format can multiplex...
/MPEG1/MPEG4)