François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac
Encyclopedia
François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac (August 4, 1604 – July 25, 1676) was a French
author
who was born in Paris
.
His father practised at the Paris bar, and his mother was a daughter of the great surgeon Ambroise Paré
. Francois Hédelin was educated for his father's profession, but, after practising some time at Nemours
, he abandoned law, took holy orders, and was appointed tutor to one of Richelieu's nephews, the duc de Fronsac. This patronage secured for him the abbey Aubignac and of Mainac. The death of the duc de Fronsac in 1646 put an end to hopes of further preferment, and the abbé d'Aubignac retired to Nemours, occupying himself with literature till his death.
He took an energetic share in the literary controversies of his time. Against Gilles Ménage
he wrote a Térence justifié (1656); he laid claim having originated the idea of the Carte de tendre of Mlle de Scudéry
's Clélié; and after being a professed admirer of Corneille
turned against him because he had neglected to mention the abbé in his Discours sur le poème dramatique. He was the author of four tragedies: La Cyminde (1642), La Pucelle d'Orléans (1642), Zénobie (1647) and Le Martyre de Sainte Catherine (1650). Zénobie was written with the intention of affording a model in which the strict rules of the drama, as understood by the theorists, were served.
In the choice of subjects for his plays, he seems to have been guided by a desire to illustrate the various kinds of tragedy--patriotic, antique and religious. The dramatic authors whom he was in the habit of criticizing were not slow to take advantage of the opportunity for retaliation offered by the production of these mediocre plays.
It is as a theorist that Aubignac still arrests attention. It has been proved that the credit of having been the first to play so large a part in the history of the French stage belongs to Jean Chapelain
; but the laws of dramatic method and construction generally were codified by d'Aubignac in his Pratique du théâtre. The book was only published in 1657, but had been begun at the desire of Richelieu as early as 1640.
His Conjectures académiques ou dissertation sur l'Iliade d'Homère, which was not published until nearly forty years after his death, threw doubts on the existence of Homer
, and anticipated in some sense the conclusions of Friedrich August Wolf
in his Prolegomena ad Homerum (1795).
The contents of the Pratique du théâtre are summarized by Ferdinand Brunetière
in his notice of Aubignac in the Grande Encyclopédie. See also G Saintsbury
, Hist. of Criticism, bk v., and Hippolyte Rigault, Histoire de la querelle des anciens et modernes (1859).
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:...
who was born in Paris
Paris
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 practised at the Paris bar, and his mother was a daughter of the great surgeon Ambroise Paré
Ambroise Paré
Ambroise Paré was a French surgeon. He was the great official royal surgeon for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III and is considered as one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology. He was a leader in surgical techniques and battlefield medicine, especially the...
. Francois Hédelin was educated for his father's profession, but, after practising some time at Nemours
Nemours
Nemours is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-Geography:Nemours is located on the Loing and its canal, c...
, he abandoned law, took holy orders, and was appointed tutor to one of Richelieu's nephews, the duc de Fronsac. This patronage secured for him the abbey Aubignac and of Mainac. The death of the duc de Fronsac in 1646 put an end to hopes of further preferment, and the abbé d'Aubignac retired to Nemours, occupying himself with literature till his death.
He took an energetic share in the literary controversies of his time. Against Gilles Ménage
Gilles Ménage
Gilles Ménage was a French scholar.He was born at Angers, the son of Guillaume Ménage, king's advocate at Angers, where Gilles was born....
he wrote a Térence justifié (1656); he laid claim having originated the idea of the Carte de tendre of Mlle de Scudéry
Madeleine de Scudéry
Madeleine de Scudéry , often known simply as Mademoiselle de Scudéry, was a French writer. She was the younger sister of author Georges de Scudéry.-Biography:...
's Clélié; and after being a professed admirer of Corneille
Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille was a French tragedian who was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine...
turned against him because he had neglected to mention the abbé in his Discours sur le poème dramatique. He was the author of four tragedies: La Cyminde (1642), La Pucelle d'Orléans (1642), Zénobie (1647) and Le Martyre de Sainte Catherine (1650). Zénobie was written with the intention of affording a model in which the strict rules of the drama, as understood by the theorists, were served.
In the choice of subjects for his plays, he seems to have been guided by a desire to illustrate the various kinds of tragedy--patriotic, antique and religious. The dramatic authors whom he was in the habit of criticizing were not slow to take advantage of the opportunity for retaliation offered by the production of these mediocre plays.
It is as a theorist that Aubignac still arrests attention. It has been proved that the credit of having been the first to play so large a part in the history of the French stage belongs to 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...
; but the laws of dramatic method and construction generally were codified by d'Aubignac in his Pratique du théâtre. The book was only published in 1657, but had been begun at the desire of Richelieu as early as 1640.
His Conjectures académiques ou dissertation sur l'Iliade d'Homère, which was not published until nearly forty years after his death, threw doubts on the existence of Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
, and anticipated in some sense the conclusions of Friedrich August Wolf
Friedrich August Wolf
Friedrich August Wolf was a German philologist and critic.He was born at Hainrode, a village not far from Nordhausen, Germany. His father was the village schoolmaster and organist...
in his Prolegomena ad Homerum (1795).
The contents of the Pratique du théâtre are summarized by Ferdinand Brunetière
Ferdinand Brunetière
Ferdinand Brunetière was a French writer and critic.-Early years:Brunetière was born in Toulon, Var, Provence. After school at Marseille, he studied in Paris at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. Desiring a teaching career, he entered for examination at the École Normale Supérieure, but failed, and the...
in his notice of Aubignac in the Grande Encyclopédie. See also G Saintsbury
George Saintsbury
George Edward Bateman Saintsbury , was an English writer, literary historian, scholar and critic.-Biography:...
, Hist. of Criticism, bk v., and Hippolyte Rigault, Histoire de la querelle des anciens et modernes (1859).