François-Timoléon de Choisy
Encyclopedia
François Timoléon, abbé de Choisy (2 October 1644 – 2 October 1724) was a French
author
.
. His father was attached to the household of the duke of Orléans, and his mother, who was on intimate terms with Anne of Austria
, was regularly called upon to amuse Louis XIV
. By a whim of his mother, the boy was dressed like a girl until he was eighteen, and, after appearing for a short time in man's costume, he resumed woman's dress on the advice--doubtless satirical--of Madame de La Fayette
. He delighted in the most extravagant toilettes until he was publicly rebuked by the duc de Montausier
, when he retired for some time to the provinces, using his disguise to assist his numerous intrigues.
He had been made an abbé
in his childhood, and poverty, induced by his extravagance, drove him to live on his benefice at Sainte-Seine in Burgundy, where he found among his neighbors a kindred spirit in Bussy-Rabutin
. He visited Rome in the suite of the cardinal de Bouillon
in 1676, and shortly afterwards a serious illness brought about a sudden and rather frivolous conversion to religion.
In 1685 he accompanied the Chevalier de Chaumont on a mission to Siam
. He was ordained priest, and received various ecclesiastical preferments, such as the priory of Saint-Benoît-du-Sault
in 1689. He was admitted to the Académie Française
in 1687.
He is remembered, however, by his gossiping Mémoires (1737), which contain striking and accurate pictures of his time and remarkably exact portraits of his contemporaries, although he has otherwise small pretensions to historical accuracy.
The Mémoires passed through many editions, and were edited in 1868 by M. de Lescure. Some admirable letters of Choisy are included in the correspondence of Bussy-Rabutin. Choisy is said to have burnt some of his indiscreet revelations, but left a considerable quantity of unpublished manuscript. Part of this material, giving an account of his adventures as a woman, was surreptitiously used in an anonymous Histoire de madame la comtesse de Barres (Antwerp, 1735) and again with much editing in the Vie de M. l'abbé de Choisy (Lausanne and Geneva, 1742), ascribed by Paul Lacroix
to Lenglet Dufresnoy; the text was finally edited (1870) by Lacroix as Aventures de l'abbé de Choisy. See also Sainte-Beuve
, Causeries du lundi, vol. iii.
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...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
Life
He was born in ParisParis
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...
. His father was attached to the household of the duke of Orléans, and his mother, who was on intimate terms with Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria was Queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish Infanta by birth...
, was regularly called upon to amuse Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
. By a whim of his mother, the boy was dressed like a girl until he was eighteen, and, after appearing for a short time in man's costume, he resumed woman's dress on the advice--doubtless satirical--of Madame de La Fayette
Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette
Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, comtesse de La Fayette , better known as Madame de La Fayette, was a French writer, the author of La Princesse de Clèves, France's first historical novel and one of the earliest novels in literature.- Life :Christened Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, she was...
. He delighted in the most extravagant toilettes until he was publicly rebuked by the duc de 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....
, when he retired for some time to the provinces, using his disguise to assist his numerous intrigues.
He had been made an abbé
Abbé
Abbé is the French word for abbot. It is the title for lower-ranking Catholic clergymen in France....
in his childhood, and poverty, induced by his extravagance, drove him to live on his benefice at Sainte-Seine in Burgundy, where he found among his neighbors a kindred spirit in Bussy-Rabutin
Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy
Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy , commonly known as Bussy-Rabutin, was a French memoirist. He was the cousin and frequent correspondent of Madame de Sévigné....
. He visited Rome in the suite of the cardinal de Bouillon
Cardinal de Bouillon
Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne was a French prelate and diplomat, known as the Cardinal de Bouillon.-Biography:...
in 1676, and shortly afterwards a serious illness brought about a sudden and rather frivolous conversion to religion.
In 1685 he accompanied the Chevalier de Chaumont on a mission to Siam
Ayutthaya kingdom
Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese , Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the walls of the...
. He was ordained priest, and received various ecclesiastical preferments, such as the priory of Saint-Benoît-du-Sault
Saint-Benoît-du-Sault
Saint-Benoît-du-Sault is a commune in the Indre department in central France.It is a medieval village , perched in a curve on a rocky butte overlooking the Portefeuille River in the former province of Berry....
in 1689. He was admitted to the Académie Française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
in 1687.
Works
He wrote a number of historical and religious works, of which the most notable are the following:- Quatre dialogues sur l'immortalité de l'âme ... (1684), written with the Abbé DangeauLouis de Courcillon de DangeauLouis de Courcillon, known as the abbé de Dangeau was a French churchman and grammarian, best known for being the first to describe the nasal vowels in the French language.-Works:...
and explaining his conversion - Traduction de l'Imitation de Jesus-Christ (1692)
- Histoire de France sous les regnes de Saint Louis ... de Charles V et Charles VI (5 vols, 1688-1695)
- Histoire de l'Eglise (11 vols., 1703-1723)
He is remembered, however, by his gossiping Mémoires (1737), which contain striking and accurate pictures of his time and remarkably exact portraits of his contemporaries, although he has otherwise small pretensions to historical accuracy.
The Mémoires passed through many editions, and were edited in 1868 by M. de Lescure. Some admirable letters of Choisy are included in the correspondence of Bussy-Rabutin. Choisy is said to have burnt some of his indiscreet revelations, but left a considerable quantity of unpublished manuscript. Part of this material, giving an account of his adventures as a woman, was surreptitiously used in an anonymous Histoire de madame la comtesse de Barres (Antwerp, 1735) and again with much editing in the Vie de M. l'abbé de Choisy (Lausanne and Geneva, 1742), ascribed by Paul Lacroix
Paul Lacroix
Paul Lacroix , French author and journalist, was born in Paris, the son of a novelist.He is best known under his pseudonym of P.L. Jacob, bibliophile, or Bibliophile Jacob, suggested by the constant interest he took in public libraries and books generally. Lacroix was an extremely prolific and...
to Lenglet Dufresnoy; the text was finally edited (1870) by Lacroix as Aventures de l'abbé de Choisy. See also Sainte-Beuve
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve was a literary critic and one of the major figures of French literary history.-Early years:...
, Causeries du lundi, vol. iii.