Charles de Saint-Évremond

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Charles Marguetel de Saint-Denis de Saint-Évremond , Seigneur de Saint-Évremond, (born April 1, 1613 in Saint-Denis-le-Guast near Coutances , Normandy , † September 29, 1703 in London ) was a French military writer , Moralist and free thinker. He occupies a transitional position between Michel de Montaigne and the French Enlightenment .

Charles de Saint-Évremond, portrait by Godfrey Kneller , 1680s

Life

Saint-Évremond went to the Collège de Clermont of the Jesuits in Paris, studied in Caen and law at the Collège d'Harcourt in Paris. Soon afterwards he became a soldier and fought under Marshal of Bassompierre in Italy in 1629 , became a captain after the conquest of Landrecies in 1637, took part in the Battle of Rocroi , the Battle of Nördlingen and the siege of Lleida (Lérida). In between he learned Spanish and Italian, read Montaigne and, during a stay in Paris in 1639, became a student of Pierre Gassendi and a follower of Epicureanism . In Paris he frequented literary salons such as that of Ninon de Lenclos , of which he was a lover. Saint-Évremond was temporarily close to the great Condé , but was relieved of his command by this in 1648 when he satirically expressed himself about him. In the Fronde he stood by the king and was most recently field marshal (Maréchal de Camp) before falling as part of the overthrow of Nicolas Fouquet . Contributing to this was a letter from Saint-Évremond, discovered by chance, in which he criticized Mazarin's policy in the Peace of the Pyrenees . To avoid arrest, he fled via the Netherlands to England in 1662, where he received a pension from Charles II . Because of his manners and wit, he was welcome at the court of Charles II, belonged to the circle of Hortense Mancini , a niece of Cardinal Jules Mazarin , who was in London from 1670, and corresponded with Ninon de Lenclos. During a stay in the Netherlands from 1665 to 1670, he met Spinoza in 1666 . He reached a great age and is buried in Poets Corner at Westminster Abbey . He wrote mainly for his friends and did not allow any publication of his works during his lifetime (there were, however, pirated prints), but commissioned Des Maizeaux to do so after his death and they appeared in London in two volumes in 1705.

His main work is the satirical Conversation du maréchal du Hocquincourt avec le père Canaye (around 1663), the latter having a Jesuit teacher from de Èvremond as a model, and the correspondence with Ninon de Lenclos (published 1752). Another satire is Retraite de M. le duc de Longeville (1649). His Reflexions sur les divers genies du peuple romain (1663) influenced Montesquieu . He also wrote plays such as the comedy verse Les Académistes (1643) and Sir Politick Would-be (around 1664, in the English style after Volpone by Ben Jonson ), essays and literary criticism.

Painting by Jacques Parmentier 1701, National Portrait Gallery

Fonts

  • Robert Finch, Eugène Joliat (ed.): Les Opéra. Droz, Geneva 1979
  • René Ternois (Ed.): Œuvres en prose. Didier, Paris 1962
  • Louis d'Espinay Ételan, Paolo Carile u. a. (Ed.): La Comédie des académistes. Nizet, Paris 1976
  • David Bensoussan (Ed.): Entretiens sur toutes choses. Desjonquères, Paris 1998
  • Jean-Pierre Jackson (Ed.): Écrits philosophiques. Alive, Paris 1996
  • Reflections on the divers génies du peuple romain in the divers temps de la république. Jovene, Naples 1982
  • Conversations et autres écrits philosophiques. Aveline, Paris 1926
  • René Ternois (Ed.): Lettres. Didier, Paris 1967
  • Maximes et œuvres diverse. Éditions du Monde Moderne, Paris 1900–1965
  • Pensées d'Épicure précédées d'un Essai sur la morale d'Épicure. Payot, Paris 1900

German translation:

  • Karl Federn (Ed.): Writings and letters of the Lord of Saint Evremond and the memoirs of the Duchess of Mazarin. 2 volumes, Georg Müller, Munich 1912

literature

  • Quentin Hope Saint Evremond and his friends. Droz, Geneva 1999
  • Suzanne Guellouz (Ed.): Saint-Évremond au miroir du temps. Actes du colloque du tricentenaire de sa mort, Caen - Saint-Lô (9-11 October 2003). Narr, Tübingen 2005
  • Soûad Guellouz (Ed.): Entre baroque et lumières. Saint-Évremond (1614-1703). Colloque de Cerisy-la-Salle (September 25-27, 1998). Presses universitaires de Caen, Caen 2000
  • Michael Jaspers: Saint-Evremond as a forerunner of the Enlightenment. Winter, Heidelberg 2002 (dissertation Münster)

Web links

Commons : Charles de Saint-Évremond  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biographical information in Encyclopedia Britannica 1911
  2. ↑ z. B. Discours on Epicure. Barbin, Paris 1684, Gallica , Oeuvres meslées de S. Evremont. Barbin, Paris 1693, Gallica
personal data
SURNAME Saint-Évremond, Charles de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Saint-Évremond, Charles Marguetel de Saint-Denis de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French military and writer
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1613
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint-Denis-le-Guast near Coutances , Normandy
DATE OF DEATH September 29, 1703
Place of death London