Charles de Saint-Évremond
Encyclopedia
Charles de Marguetel de Saint-Denis, seigneur de Saint-Évremond (1 April 1613 – 29 September 1703) was a French soldier, hedonist, essayist and literary critic. After 1661, he lived in exile, mainly in England, as a consequence of his attack on French policy at the time of the peace of the Pyrenees (1659). He is buried in Poets' Corner
, Westminster. He wrote for his friends and did not intend his work to be published, although a few of his pieces were leaked in his lifetime. The first full collection of his works was published in London in 1705, after his death.
, the seat of his family in Normandy
. He was a pupil of the Jesuits at the College de Clermont (now Lycée Louis-le-Grand), Paris; then a student at Caen
. For a time he studied law in Paris at the College d'Harcourt
(now Lycée Saint-Louis). He soon, however, took to arms, and in 1629 went with Marshal Bassompierre
to Italy. He served through great part of the Thirty Years' War
, distinguishing himself at the siege of Landrecies (1637), when he was made captain. During his campaigns he studied the works of Montaigne and the Spanish and Italian languages.
In 1639 he met Gassendi
in Paris, and became one of his disciples. He was present at Rocroi
, at Nördlingen
, and at Lerida. For a time he was personally attached to Condé
, but offended him by a satirical remark and was deprived of his command in the prince's guards in 1648. During the Fronde
, Saint-Évremond was a steady royalist. The duke of Candale (of whom he has left a very severe portrait) gave him a command in Guienne, and Saint-Évremond, who had reached the grade of maréchal de camp, is said to have saved 50,000 livres in less than three years. He was one of the numerous victims involved in the fall of Fouquet
. His letter to Marshal Créqui on the peace of the Pyrenees, which is said to have been discovered by Colbert
's agents at the seizure of Fouquet's papers, seems a very inadequate cause for his disgrace.
Saint-Évremond fled to Holland and to England, where he was kindly received by Charles II
and was pensioned. After James II
's flight to France Saint-Évremond was invited to return, but he declined. Hortense Mancini
, the most attractive of Mazarin's attractive group of nieces, came to England in 1670, and set up a salon for love-making, gambling and witty conversation, and here Saint-Évremond was for many years at home. He died on 29 September 1703 and was buried in Westminster Abbey
, where his monument still is in Poets' Corner
close to that of Prior
.
to publish his works after his death, and they were published in London (2 vols., 1705), and often reprinted. His masterpiece in irony is the so-called Conversation du maréchal d'Hocquincourt avec le père Canaye (the latter a Jesuit and Saint-Évremond's master at school), which has been frequently classed with the Lettres provinciales
.
His Œuvres meslées, edited from the manuscripts by Silvestre and Des Maizeaux, were printed by Jacob Tonson (London, 1705, 2 vols.; 2nd ed., 3 vols., 1709), with a notice by Des Maizeaux. His correspondence with Ninon de l'Enclos
, whose fast friend he was, was published in 1752; La Comédie des académistes, written in 1643, was printed in 1650. Modern editions of his works are by Hippeau (Paris, 1852), C Giraud (Paris, 1865), and a selection (1881) with a notice by M. de Lescure. Among his plays is one called Politick Would-be, modelled on a character from Ben Jonson
's Volpone
.
Poets' Corner
Poets' Corner is the name traditionally given to a section of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey because of the number of poets, playwrights, and writers buried and commemorated there. The most recent additions were a memorial floor stone unveiled in 2009 for the founders of the Royal Ballet...
, Westminster. He wrote for his friends and did not intend his work to be published, although a few of his pieces were leaked in his lifetime. The first full collection of his works was published in London in 1705, after his death.
Life
He was born at Saint-Denis-le-Guast, near CoutancesCoutances
Coutances is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.-History:Capital of the Unelli, a Gaulish tribe, the town took the name of Constantia in 298 during the reign of Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus...
, the seat of his family in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. He was a pupil of the Jesuits at the College de Clermont (now Lycée Louis-le-Grand), Paris; then a student at Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
. For a time he studied law in Paris at the College d'Harcourt
Lycée Saint-Louis
The lycée Saint-Louis is a higher education establishment located in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, in the Latin Quarter. It is the only public French lycée exclusively dedicated to classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles...
(now Lycée Saint-Louis). He soon, however, took to arms, and in 1629 went with Marshal Bassompierre
François de Bassompierre
François de Bassompierre was a French courtier.The son of Christophe de Bassompierre , he was born at the castle of Haroué in Lorraine...
to Italy. He served through great part of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, distinguishing himself at the siege of Landrecies (1637), when he was made captain. During his campaigns he studied the works of Montaigne and the Spanish and Italian languages.
In 1639 he met Gassendi
Pierre Gassendi
Pierre Gassendi was a French philosopher, priest, scientist, astronomer, and mathematician. With a church position in south-east France, he also spent much time in Paris, where he was a leader of a group of free-thinking intellectuals. He was also an active observational scientist, publishing the...
in Paris, and became one of his disciples. He was present at Rocroi
Battle of Rocroi
The Battle of Rocroi was fought on 19 May 1643, late in the Thirty Years' War. It resulted in a victory of the French army under the Duc d'Enghien, against the Spanish army under General Francisco de Melo.-Prelude:...
, at Nördlingen
Battle of Nördlingen (1645)
The second Battle of Nördlingen was fought on August 3, 1645 southeast of Nördlingen near the village of Alerheim...
, and at Lerida. For a time he was personally attached to Condé
Condé
-Places in France:*Condé, Indre, in the Indre département*Condé-en-Brie, in the Aisne département*Condé-Folie, in the Somme département*Condé-lès-Autry, in the Ardennes département*Condé-lès-Herpy, in the Ardennes département...
, but offended him by a satirical remark and was deprived of his command in the prince's guards in 1648. During the Fronde
Fronde
The Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling, which Parisian mobs used to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin....
, Saint-Évremond was a steady royalist. The duke of Candale (of whom he has left a very severe portrait) gave him a command in Guienne, and Saint-Évremond, who had reached the grade of maréchal de camp, is said to have saved 50,000 livres in less than three years. He was one of the numerous victims involved in the fall of Fouquet
Nicolas Fouquet
Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV...
. His letter to Marshal Créqui on the peace of the Pyrenees, which is said to have been discovered by Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
's agents at the seizure of Fouquet's papers, seems a very inadequate cause for his disgrace.
Saint-Évremond fled to Holland and to England, where he was kindly received by Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
and was pensioned. After James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
's flight to France Saint-Évremond was invited to return, but he declined. Hortense Mancini
Hortense Mancini
Hortense Mancini, duchesse Mazarin , was the favourite niece of Cardinal Mazarin, chief minister of France, and a mistress of Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland...
, the most attractive of Mazarin's attractive group of nieces, came to England in 1670, and set up a salon for love-making, gambling and witty conversation, and here Saint-Évremond was for many years at home. He died on 29 September 1703 and was buried in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, where his monument still is in Poets' Corner
Poets' Corner
Poets' Corner is the name traditionally given to a section of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey because of the number of poets, playwrights, and writers buried and commemorated there. The most recent additions were a memorial floor stone unveiled in 2009 for the founders of the Royal Ballet...
close to that of Prior
Matthew Prior
Matthew Prior was an English poet and diplomat.Prior was the son of a Nonconformist joiner at Wimborne Minster, East Dorset. His father moved to London, and sent him to Westminster School, under Dr. Busby. On his father's death, he left school, and was cared for by his uncle, a vintner in Channel...
.
Literary work
Saint-Évremond never authorised the printing of any of his works during his lifetime, though Barbin in 1668 published an unauthorised collection. But he empowered Des MaizeauxPierre des Maizeaux
Pierre des Maizeaux, also spelled Desmaizeaux was a French Huguenot writer exiled in London, best known as the translator and biographer of Pierre Bayle....
to publish his works after his death, and they were published in London (2 vols., 1705), and often reprinted. His masterpiece in irony is the so-called Conversation du maréchal d'Hocquincourt avec le père Canaye (the latter a Jesuit and Saint-Évremond's master at school), which has been frequently classed with the Lettres provinciales
Lettres provinciales
The Lettres provinciales are a series of eighteen letters written by French philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal under the pseudonym Louis de Montalte...
.
His Œuvres meslées, edited from the manuscripts by Silvestre and Des Maizeaux, were printed by Jacob Tonson (London, 1705, 2 vols.; 2nd ed., 3 vols., 1709), with a notice by Des Maizeaux. His correspondence with Ninon de l'Enclos
Ninon de l'Enclos
Anne "Ninon" de l'Enclos also spelled Ninon de Lenclos and Ninon de Lanclos was a French author, courtesan and patron of the arts.-Early life:...
, whose fast friend he was, was published in 1752; La Comédie des académistes, written in 1643, was printed in 1650. Modern editions of his works are by Hippeau (Paris, 1852), C Giraud (Paris, 1865), and a selection (1881) with a notice by M. de Lescure. Among his plays is one called Politick Would-be, modelled on a character from Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
's Volpone
Volpone
Volpone is a comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606, drawing on elements of city comedy, black comedy and beast fable...
.
Partial bibliography
- Œuvres mêlées (1643–1692),
- Les Académistes (1650)
- Retraite de M. le duc de Longueville en Normandie
- Lettre au marquis de Créqui sur la paix des Pyrénées (1659)
- Conversation du maréchal d’Hocquincourt avec le Père Canaye
- Réflexions sur les divers génies du peuple romain (1663)
- Seconde partie des œuvres meslées (1668),
- Sur nos comédies
- De quelques livres espagnols, italiens et français
- Réflexions sur la tragédie ancienne et moderne
- Défense de quelques pièces de Corneille
- Parallèle de M. le Prince et de M. de Turenne
- Discours sur Épicure
- Pensées sur l’honnêteté
- Considérations sur Hannibal
- L’idée de la femme qui ne se trouve point
- Dissertation sur la tragédie d’Alexandre
- Fragment d’une lettre écrite de La Haye
- De la seconde guerre punique
- De l’éloquence, tirée de Pétrone
- La matrone d’Éphèse
Publications
- Les Opéra, Éd. Robert Finch et Eugène Joliat, Genève, Droz, 1979
- Œuvres en prose, Éd. René Ternois, Paris, Didier, 1962
- La Comédie des académistes, Éd. Louis d'Espinay Ételan, Paolo Carile et al., Paris, Nizet, 1976
- Entretiens sur toutes choses, Éd. David Bensoussan, Paris, Desjonquères, 1998 ISBN 2843210100
- Écrits philosophiques, Éd. Jean-Pierre Jackson, Paris, Alive, 1996 ISBN 2911737016
- Réflexions sur les divers génies du peuple romain dans les divers temps de la république, Napoli, Jovene, 1982
- Conversations et autres écrits philosophiques, Paris, Aveline, 1926
- Lettres, Éd. intro. René Ternois, Paris, Didier, 1967
- Maximes et œuvres diverses, Paris, Éditions du Monde Moderne, 1900–1965
- Pensées d’Épicure précédées d'un Essai sur la morale d’Épicure Paris, Payot 1900
Online
- Charles de Marguetel de Saint-Denis, seigneur de Saint-Evremond (2007). In Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Retrieved 24 January 2007
- http://frenchphilosophes.weebly.com/saint-evremond.html
- Discours sur Épicure, Paris, C. Barbin, 1684
- Œuvres meslées de M. D. *** de S. Evremont Tome I Tome II Tome III Tome IV Tome V Tome VI Tome VII Tome VIII Tome IX Tome X Tome XI, Paris, C. Barbin, 1693
- Les académistes : comédie, Paris, Charavay frères, 1879
Paper
- Antoine Adam, Les libertins au XVIIe, Paris, Buchet/Chastel 1964
- Patrick Andrivet, Saint-Évremond et l'histoire romaine, Orléans, Paradigme, 1998 ISBN 2868781845
- H.T. Barnwell, Les idées morales et critiques de Saint-Évremond : essai d'analyse explicative, Paris, PUF, 1957
- Patrice Bouysse, Essai sur la jeunesse d'un moraliste : Saint-Évremond (1614–1661), Seattle, Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature, 1987
- Gustave Cohen, Le séjour de Saint-Évremond en Hollande, Paris, Champion, 1926
- Walter Daniels, Melville Saint-Évremond en Angleterre, Versailles, L. Luce, 1907
- Soûad Guellouz, Entre baroque et lumières : Saint-Évremond (1614–1703) : colloque de Cerisy-la-Salle (25–27 septembre 1998), Caen : Presses universitaires de Caen, 2000 ISBN 2841331113
- Suzanne Guellouz, Saint-Évremond au miroir du temps : actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort, Caen – Saint-Lô (9-11 octobre 2003), Tübingen, Narr, 2005 ISBN 3823361155
- Célestin Hippeau, Les écrivains normands au XVIIe : Du Perron, MalherbeFrançois de MalherbeFrançois de Malherbe was a French poet, critic, and translator.-Life:Born in Le-Locheur , his family was of some position, though it seems not to have been able to establish to the satisfaction of heralds the claims which it made to nobility older than the 16th century.He was the eldest son of...
, Bois-RobertFrançois le Métel de BoisrobertFrançois le Métel de Boisrobert was a French poet.-Biography:He was born at Caen, and trained as a lawyer, practising for some time at the bar at Rouen. About 1622 he went to Paris, and by the next year had established a footing at court, for he had a share in the ballet of the Bacchanales...
, Sarasin, P. Du Bosc, Saint-Évremond, Genève, Slatkine Reprints, 1970 - Mario Paul Lafargue, Saint-Évremond ; ou, Le PétronePetronePetrone is a surname, and may refer to:* Pedro Petrone , Uruguayan footballer* Penny Petrone , Canadian writer, educator, patron of the arts, and philanthropist* Rocco Petrone , American engineer...
du XVIIe, Paris, Société d'éditions extérieures et coloniales, 1945 - Gustave Merlet Saint-Évremond : étude historique morale et littéraire; suivie de fragments en vers et en prose, Paris, A. Sauton, 1870 Luigi de Nardis, Il cortegiano e l’eroe, studio su Saint-Évremond, Firenze, La Nuova Italia Editrice, 1964
- Léon Petit, La Fontaine et Évremond : ou, La tentation de l'Angleterre, Toulouse, Privat, 1953
- Jacques Prévot, Libertins du XVIIe, v. 2, Paris, Gallimard, 1998–2004 ISBN 2070115690
- Gottlob Reinhardt, Saint-Évremonds Urteile und Gedanken üer die alten Griechen und Römer, Saalfeld am Saale, 1900
- Léonard A.Rosmarin, Saint-Évremond : artiste de l'euphorie, Birmingham, Summa Publications, 1987 ISBN 0917786521
- Albert-Marie Schmidt, Saint-Évremond ; ou, L'humaniste impur, Paris, Éditions du Cavalier, 1932
- K. Spalatin, Saint-Évremond, Zagreb, Thèse de doctorat de l’Université de Zagreb, 1934
- Claude Taittinger, Saint-Évremond, ou, Le bon usage des plaisirs, Paris, Perrin, 1990 ISBN 2262007659