Guillaume Alexis
Encyclopedia
Guillaume Alexis was a French Benedictine monk and poet of the late 15th and early 16th centuries, nicknamed the "Good Monk". His abbey was that at Lire (La Vieille-Lyre
), in the diocese of Évreux, He became prior of Bussy
, in Perche. In 1486 he went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and died there, a victim of Ottoman persecution.
.
Jean de La Fontaine
admired his poetry.
La Vieille-Lyre
La Vieille-Lyre is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
), in the diocese of Évreux, He became prior of Bussy
Bussy
-Ohio:*Bussy, Cher, in the Cher département*Bussy, Oise, in the Oise département*Bussy-Albieux, in the Loire département*Bussy-en-Othe, in the Yonne département*Bussy-la-Pesle, Côte-d'Or, in the Côte-d'Or département...
, in Perche. In 1486 he went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and died there, a victim of Ottoman persecution.
Works
Guillaume Alexis was a poet of a very live style, who literary critics rank with the successors of Francois VillonFrançois Villon
François Villon was a French poet, thief, and vagabond. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballade des Pendus, written while in prison...
.
- Le Passe-temps de tout homme et de toute femme avec l'A, B, С des doubles (Paris, Antoine VérardAntoine VérardAntoine Vérard was a late 15th and early 16th century French publisher, bookmaker and bookseller.-Life:The colophon of a 1485 edition of the Catholicon abbreviatum, the first French-Latin dictionary, which dates to 1485, indicates that Antoine Vérard was based at the heart of the bookselling and...
), in verse, Latin translation of a text attributed to pope Innocent IIIPope Innocent IIIPope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
, describing the history of man's life from birth to death. - Le Grant Blason des faulces amours, (of which an edition dating to 1529 published in Lyon at the house of Claude Nourry). This poem, 126 stanzas in twelve verses, is a dialogue between a gentleman and a monk (supposed to be the author), the former defending love, the latter opposing it. The monk's arguments mainly consist of attacking women, in the tradition of the misogynist works denounced by Christine de PizanChristine de PizanChristine de Pizan was a Venetian-born late medieval author who challenged misogyny and stereotypes prevalent in the male-dominated medieval culture. As a poet, she was well known and highly regarded in her own day; she completed 41 works during her 30 year career , and can be regarded as...
in the introduction to The Book of the City of LadiesThe Book of the City of Ladiesthumb|400px|right|Picture from The Book of the City of LadiesThe Book of the City of Ladies , or Le Livre de la Cité des Dames, is perhaps Christine de Pizan's most famous literary work, and it is her second work of lengthy prose. Pizan uses the vernacular French language to compose the book, but...
. His arguments are so convincing that the gentleman ends up agreeing with the monk. The work was popular enough to be cited in another famous misogynist work of the time, Les Quinze Joies de mariageLes Quinze joies de mariageLes Quinze joies de mariage is an anonymous late 14th or early 15th century French satire in prose which presents a picture, full of sharpness and humour, of the rows and deceits which afflict the married state...
and to incite another author to edit a Contre blason, where the same arguments are this time defended by two women, a woman of the court and a nun. The latter has the last word. - Le Dialogue du Crucifix et du Pèlerin, according to the title written during a 1486 pilgrimage to Jerusalem and printed in Paris.
- Le Loyer des folles amours, et le Triomphe des Muses contre l'amour", following the "Quinze joies du mariage"
- Le Passe-temps du prieur de Bussy et de son frère le cordelier
- Le Miroir des Moines
- Le Martyrologe des fausses langues et le chapitre général d'icelles tenu au temple de Danger
- Quatre chants royaux qui se trouvent parmi les Palinodies
- Le Débat de l'homme et de la femme, written around 1461, went through at least seven separate editions between 1490 and 1530
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
admired his poetry.
Source
- Bibliothèque françoise, ou Histoire de la littérature françoise, Claude-Pierre Goujet, 1754, 1755, at the house of P. J. Mariette and H.-L. Guerin
External links
- Bibliographie partielle en ligne : Œuvres poétiques de Guillaume Alexis, prieur de Bucy, 1889, 1908, Firmin DidotFirmin DidotFirmin Didot was a French printer, engraver, and type founder. He invented the word "stereotype", which in printing refers to the metal printing plate created for the actual printing of pages , and used the process extensively, revolutionizing the book trade by his cheap editions...
. - Texte en ligne : Oraison très dévote