Jacques Moisant de Brieux
Encyclopedia
Jacques Moisant de Brieux (13 May 1611 – 20 May 1674) was a French poet
and historian
.
Born at Caen
(Normandy
) in an aristocratic Huguenot
family on 13 May 1611, Moisant de Brieux had Antoine Halley
as his first preceptor before continuing his studies in the best Protestant institutions of his time. At the Academy of Sedan
, he met the Duke of Montausier
, who was to become his friend and protector. At Leiden University
, he studied for two years under Professor Gerardus Vossius. He then went on to study in English libraries while attending courses taught by the best teachers of England.
Upon his return in France
, he became an attorney-at-law and held the office of Counselor at the Parliament of Metz. Forced to resign his office for health reasons, he returned to his hometown. Moisant very missed Caen, and he found there that cultivating the humanities provided him with an outlet for the ills he suffered.
He supported intellectual endeavors among his fellow Caen denizens by inviting into his Hôtel d'Escoville a group of educated people who were to become the Académie des Sciences, Arts et Belles-Lettres de Caen
, the first such academy to have been founded in France, after the French Academy.
Moisant held close ties with Jean Chapelain
, Samuel Bochart
, et Pierre-Daniel Huet. He himself wrote Latin poems, and such critics as Pierre Bayle
praised them. He also wrote four letters in Latin, respectively on the origins of the Academy of Caen, François de Malherbe
, the antiquities of Caen and Caen writers.
Moisant also was a successful author in French: he was an historian, a poet and a moralist. Jean Regnault de Segrais praised his Meditations, which are "not just for Calvinists but also for us, since there is nothing in them that touches upon points of contention."
Suffering from kidney stone
s, Moisant died at Caen, on 20 May 1674, only a few days after he had resigned himself to having them surgically removed.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
.
Born 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....
(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:...
) in an aristocratic Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
family on 13 May 1611, Moisant de Brieux had Antoine Halley
Antoine Halley
Antoine Halley was a French professor and poet.Halley was born at Bazenville near Bayeux. A professor of belles-lettres and Principal of the Collège du Bois, at the University of Caen, he succeeded Antoine Gosselin and distinguished himself from the age of twenty-two, by his eloquence and the...
as his first preceptor before continuing his studies in the best Protestant institutions of his time. At the Academy of Sedan
Academy of Sedan
The Academy of Sedan was a Huguenot academy in Sedan, founded in 1579 and suppressed in 1681. It was one of the main centres for the production of Reformed pastors in France for a hundred years.-History:...
, he met the Duke of Montausier
Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier
Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier was a French soldier and the governor of the dauphin, Louis le Grand Dauphin, the eldest son and heir of Louis XIV, King of France....
, who was to become his friend and protector. At Leiden University
Leiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
, he studied for two years under Professor Gerardus Vossius. He then went on to study in English libraries while attending courses taught by the best teachers of England.
Upon his return in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, he became an attorney-at-law and held the office of Counselor at the Parliament of Metz. Forced to resign his office for health reasons, he returned to his hometown. Moisant very missed Caen, and he found there that cultivating the humanities provided him with an outlet for the ills he suffered.
He supported intellectual endeavors among his fellow Caen denizens by inviting into his Hôtel d'Escoville a group of educated people who were to become the Académie des Sciences, Arts et Belles-Lettres de Caen
Académie des Sciences, Arts et Belles-Lettres de Caen
The Académie des Sciences, Arts et Belles-Lettres de Caen was founded in Caen by Jacques Moisant de Brieux in 1652.The Académie de Caen was the first academy of literature to be founded in France, after the French Academy...
, the first such academy to have been founded in France, after the French Academy.
Moisant held close ties with Jean Chapelain
Jean Chapelain
Jean Chapelain was a French poet and writer.-Biography:Chapelain was born in Paris. His father wanted him to become a notary; but his mother, who had known Pierre de Ronsard, had decided otherwise...
, Samuel Bochart
Samuel Bochart
Samuel Bochart was a French Protestant biblical scholar, a student of Thomas Erpenius and the teacher of Pierre Daniel Huet...
, et Pierre-Daniel Huet. He himself wrote Latin poems, and such critics as 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....
praised them. He also wrote four letters in Latin, respectively on the origins of the Academy of Caen, François de Malherbe
François de Malherbe
François 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...
, the antiquities of Caen and Caen writers.
Moisant also was a successful author in French: he was an historian, a poet and a moralist. Jean Regnault de Segrais praised his Meditations, which are "not just for Calvinists but also for us, since there is nothing in them that touches upon points of contention."
Suffering from kidney stone
Kidney stone
A kidney stone, also known as a renal calculus is a solid concretion or crystal aggregation formed in the kidneys from dietary minerals in the urine...
s, Moisant died at Caen, on 20 May 1674, only a few days after he had resigned himself to having them surgically removed.
Works
Heliconis statvs hodiernvs sev De amore svmmo qvo mvsas proseqvitvr avgvstissima eademqve ervditissima Svecorvm Princeps, elegia…, Caen, Jean Cavelier, 1651 Mosanti Briosii Poematvm pars altera : accesserunt quaedam, ad illustrissimum Sanclarum Turgotium ... & ad clarissimum Premontium Grandorgaeum, de Cadomensium rebus epistolae, Caen, Jean Cavelier, 1669 Iacobi Mosanti Briosij Epistolae, Caen, Jean Cavelier, 1670 Recueil de pièces en prose et en vers, Caen, Jean Cavalier, 1671 Les origines de quelques coutumes anciennes, et de plusieurs façons de parler triviales, avec un vieux manuscrit en vers, touchant L’origine des chevaliers bannerets, Caen, Jean Cavalier, 1672 Méditations morales et chrétiennes, Caen, Jean Cavalier, 1666 Les divertissements de Moisant de Brieux, Caen, Jean Cavalier, 1673 Œuvres choisies, Éd. René Delorme, Caen, Julien Travers, 1875Sources
- J. A. Galland, Essai sur l'histoire du protestantisme à Caen et en Basse-Normandie, de l'Édit de Nantes à la Révolution, Paris, Grassart, 1898, pp. 117–22.