Bonaventure des Périers

Bonaventure des Périers (* approx. 1510, probably in Arnay-le-Duc / Bourgogne , † approx. 1543, probably in Lyon ) was a French author.

Almost nothing is known about the origins and youth of Bonaventure. Possibly coming from a small aristocratic family, he received an acceptable humanistic education. He was tangible for the first time in 1534/35, as a marginal figure in the team of young humanists who, under the direction of Pierre-Robert Olivétan in Neuchâtel, translated the Bible with Reformation intentions. He was then found working for the well-known humanist and printer Étienne Dolet in Lyon. Obviously he also frequented the city's intellectual circles, for he supported z. B. 1536 with a poem the poet Clément Marot, who had returned from exile, in his victorious feud with another court poet. In Lyon, too, and also in 1536, he met Margaret of Navarra , the highly educated older sister of King Francis I who was sympathetic to the Reformation . He managed to draw her attention with a poem and was accepted into her service as chamberlain and secretary.

His work for Margarete left him the leisure for his own works. The most important is that under pseudonym come out early 1538 Cymbalum mundi en français, contenant quatre dialogues poétiques continued antiques, joyeux et facétieux (= The timpani in the world, in French, the four rather old, fun and funny poetic dialogues contains ). In four chapters with a high proportion of character speeches, the booklet tells satirically about a visit by Jupiter's son Mercury to ancient Athens , where he is confronted with all kinds of strange people and their talk. This visibly reflects and ironizes the narrow-mindedness, fanaticism and egoism of both the Catholic and the Protestant theologians and spokesmen who are now at war with one another. (In the second chapter, for example, a certain Rhetulus (= Lutherus ) and Cubercus (= Bucerus , a well-known Strasbourg humanist of the time) believe they can find pieces of the Philosopher's Stone . In the last chapter, the only dialogue in the narrower sense two dogs about the gullibility with which people think of new ideas.)

The ostensibly humorous work, inspired by the ancient Greek satirist Lukian , appears on closer inspection to be the first literary expression of skepticism and religious free-thinking between the denominational fronts. It was condemned as heretical by the Sorbonne and banned by the Paris Parliament , albeit not on his own initiative, but because King Franz personally wanted it (who perhaps thought he knew the underlying motives of the work through his sister?). The printer has been locked up. Des Periers got away with the horror, but afterwards seems to have only been covertly patronized by Margarete. The reformer Jean Calvin later criticized the cymbalum in his Traité des scandales (1555). Incidentally, Des Périers' authorship is not entirely certain, although probable.

Further texts by him, especially poems, were published as a volume in 1544 by a friend (who mentions the author's death in the preface). It was not until 1558 that the booklet Nouvelles Récréations et joyeux devis (= New entertainments and funny speeches ) appeared, a collection of tales and novels typical of the time , which some literary historians consider his best work. Des Périers apparently began it at about the same time as Margarete began her collection of short stories L'Heptaméron .

No reliable information is known about the circumstances of his untimely death, but suicide is likely.

expenditure

• Peter Hampshire Nurse (Ed.): Bonaventure Des Périers?: Cymbalum mundi. 4th edition. Droz, Geneva 1999, ISBN 2-600-00395-9 (critical edition)

Web links

• Literature by and about Bonaventure des Périers in the catalog of the German National Library
• Article in Gert Pinkernell: "Names, titles and dates of French literature" (source)