Antoine de Nervèze
Encyclopedia
Antoine de Nervèze was a French nobleman and writer of novels, translations, letters and moral works at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries.
; he became the secretary of Henri II de Bourbon, prince de Condé (until c.1606), and then passed into the service of king Henry IV of France
as "secrétaire de la chambre du roi". Nervèze had close ties to fellow writers Philippe Desportes
, Jean Bertaut
and Scévole de Saint-Marthe; he was called the king of orators ("le roy des orateurs") by François Maynard
and, in a satirical poem, was called (with Nicolas des Escuteaux
) the "mignon des dames". Nervèze was one of the most prolific writers of his generation and became for many an arbiter of linguistic style and taste.
Nervèze is representative of a younger generation following on the literary developments of French novelists Nicolas de Montreux
and Béroalde de Verville
, and he is often associated – along with authors Nicolas des Escuteaux
and François du Souhait
– with the sentimental novels (or "amours") published during the reign of Henry IV. Nervèze wrote ten novels, of which one is a reworking of a story taken from Ariosto's Orlando furioso
and one is a reworking of Tasso
's Jerusalem Delivered
. Nervèze dedicated his novels to high-ranking members of the nobility around the king: Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully
; Queen Marie de Médicis; the marquis de Rosny; the vicomte d'Aubeterre.
Nervèze's first novels were published in 1598, but they were most likely written earlier and had perhaps circulated in manuscript form for years. His first "amours" are short works of tragic love that are close to the tragic tales of Italian Matteo Bandello
; his later "Léandre" novels show the influence of chivalric adventure novels (like Amadis of Gaul). Most of Nervèze's novels proclaim their veracity and take place in the recent past during the civil wars in France
, although the story of Palmelie and Lirisis takes place under François II of France and Charles IX of France
, and the story of Lidior occurs around 1600 during the conflict between the Dutch provinces and the Spanish Netherlands. His collected novels were published several times in anthologized form, and the number of editions seems to indicate commercial success.
Along with his novels, Nervèze wrote numerous works of moral philosophy, and his moral and religious philosophy is evident in most of his works, including the novels. His Catholicism is mixed with elements of stoicism and he idealized the chastity and purity of his characters (who frequently seek out retreat in convents to assuage their woes) and his novel Les amours de Polydore et de Virgin[i]e celebrates divine love as a cure for the ravages of earthly love.
In the first decades of the 17th century, Nervèze, Des Escuteaux and their colleagues were seen by their detractors (such as Charles Sorel) as ridiculous purveyors of rhetorical and metaphorical excess, but their works represent an important stage in the development of the novel in France (leading to L'Astrée by Honoré d'Urfé
and, later, to Madeleine de Scudéry
and Madame de Lafayette), in the development of etiquette and a moralized sense of nobility (the conception of the "honnête homme") and in the evolution of the French language (prefiguring the "Précieuses
").
Biography
He was most likely born in GasconyGascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
; he became the secretary of Henri II de Bourbon, prince de Condé (until c.1606), and then passed into the service of king Henry IV of France
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
as "secrétaire de la chambre du roi". Nervèze had close ties to fellow writers Philippe Desportes
Philippe Desportes
Philippe Desportes was a French poet.-Biography:Philippe Desportes was born in Chartres. While serving as secretary to the bishop of Le Puy he visited Italy, where he learned Italian poetry. This experience became a good account. On his return to France he attached himself to the duke of Anjou,...
, Jean Bertaut
Jean Bertaut
Jean Bertaut , French poet, was born at Caen.He figures with Philippe Desportes in the disdainful couplet of Boileau on Ronsard:"Ce poëte orgueilleux, trébuché de si haut,Rendit plus retenus Desportes et Bertaut."...
and Scévole de Saint-Marthe; he was called the king of orators ("le roy des orateurs") by François Maynard
François Maynard
François Maynard, sometimes seen as "de Maynard" was a French poet who spent much of his life in Toulouse.-Life and works:...
and, in a satirical poem, was called (with Nicolas des Escuteaux
Nicolas des Escuteaux
Nicolas des Escuteaux was a French novelist from the early 17th century.-Life:He was born into a noble family in the region around Loudun...
) the "mignon des dames". Nervèze was one of the most prolific writers of his generation and became for many an arbiter of linguistic style and taste.
Nervèze is representative of a younger generation following on the literary developments of French novelists Nicolas de Montreux
Nicolas de Montreux
Nicolas de Montreux was a French nobleman, novelist, poet, translator and dramatist.Born in province of Maine, he was the son of a maître des requêtes and may have become a priest around 1585. In 1591 he came under the protection of the Duke of Mercœur and participated in the civil wars on the...
and Béroalde de Verville
Béroalde de Verville
François Béroalde de Verville was a French Renaissance novelist, poet and intellectual. He was the son of Matthieu Brouard , called "Béroalde", a professor of Agrippa d'Aubigné and Pierre de l'Estoile and a Huguenot; his mother, Marie Bletz, was the niece of the humanist and Hebrew scholar...
, and he is often associated – along with authors Nicolas des Escuteaux
Nicolas des Escuteaux
Nicolas des Escuteaux was a French novelist from the early 17th century.-Life:He was born into a noble family in the region around Loudun...
and François du Souhait
François du Souhait
François du Souhait was a French language author of the late 16th and early 17th century from the Duchy of Lorraine .- Life :François du Souhait was born to a noble family in the Champagne region...
– with the sentimental novels (or "amours") published during the reign of Henry IV. Nervèze wrote ten novels, of which one is a reworking of a story taken from Ariosto's Orlando furioso
Orlando Furioso
Orlando Furioso is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form until 1532...
and one is a reworking of Tasso
Tasso
-People:*Torquato Tasso, the famous Italian 16th-century poet, author of Gerusalemme liberata**Tasso, Lament and Triumph, a symphonic poem by Franz Liszt based on the poet*Bernardo Tasso, his father, also a poet...
's Jerusalem Delivered
Jerusalem Delivered
Jerusalem Delivered is an epic poem by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso first published in 1581, which tells a largely mythified version of the First Crusade in which Catholic knights, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, battle Muslims in order to take Jerusalem...
. Nervèze dedicated his novels to high-ranking members of the nobility around the king: Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully
Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully
Maximilien de Béthune, first Duke of Sully was the doughty soldier, French minister, staunch Huguenot and faithful right-hand man who assisted Henry IV of France in the rule of France.-Early years:...
; Queen Marie de Médicis; the marquis de Rosny; the vicomte d'Aubeterre.
Nervèze's first novels were published in 1598, but they were most likely written earlier and had perhaps circulated in manuscript form for years. His first "amours" are short works of tragic love that are close to the tragic tales of Italian Matteo Bandello
Matteo Bandello
-Biography:Matteo Bandello was born at Castelnuovo Scrivia, near Tortona , c. 1480 or 1485. He received a good education, and entered the church, but does not seem to have been very interested in theology. For many years he lived at Mantua, and superintended the education of the celebrated Lucrezia...
; his later "Léandre" novels show the influence of chivalric adventure novels (like Amadis of Gaul). Most of Nervèze's novels proclaim their veracity and take place in the recent past during the civil wars in France
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...
, although the story of Palmelie and Lirisis takes place under François II of France and Charles IX of France
Charles IX of France
Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...
, and the story of Lidior occurs around 1600 during the conflict between the Dutch provinces and the Spanish Netherlands. His collected novels were published several times in anthologized form, and the number of editions seems to indicate commercial success.
Along with his novels, Nervèze wrote numerous works of moral philosophy, and his moral and religious philosophy is evident in most of his works, including the novels. His Catholicism is mixed with elements of stoicism and he idealized the chastity and purity of his characters (who frequently seek out retreat in convents to assuage their woes) and his novel Les amours de Polydore et de Virgin[i]e celebrates divine love as a cure for the ravages of earthly love.
In the first decades of the 17th century, Nervèze, Des Escuteaux and their colleagues were seen by their detractors (such as Charles Sorel) as ridiculous purveyors of rhetorical and metaphorical excess, but their works represent an important stage in the development of the novel in France (leading to L'Astrée by Honoré d'Urfé
Honoré d'Urfé
Honoré d'Urfé, marquis de Valromey, comte de Châteauneuf was a French novelist and miscellaneous writer.- Life :...
and, later, to Madeleine 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:...
and Madame de Lafayette), in the development of etiquette and a moralized sense of nobility (the conception of the "honnête homme") and in the evolution of the French language (prefiguring the "Précieuses
Précieuses
The French literary style called préciosité arose in the 17th century from the lively conversations and playful word games of les précieuses , the witty and educated intellectual ladies who frequented the salon of Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet; her Chambre bleue offered a...
").
Novels
- Les chastes et infortunées amours du baron de l'Espine et de Lucrèce de La Prade (1598, 1598, 1610)
- Les amours de Filandre [Philandre] & de Marizee (1598, 1599, 1603)
- Hierusalem assiegee, où est descrite la delivrance de Sophronie & d'Olinde, ensemble les amours d'Hermine & de Tancrede (1599, 1601, 1603) - taken from Torquato TassoTorquato TassoTorquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem...
- Les amours d'Olympe et de Birene (Paris, 1599), (Lyon, 1605) - taken from Ariosto
- Les hasards amoureux de Palmelie et de Lirisis (1600, 1601, 1603)
- Les religieuses amours de Florigene & de Meleagre (Paris, 1600), (Paris, 1602)
- Le triomphe de la constance, où sont descrites les amours de Cloridon & de Melliflore. (1601, 1602, 1605)
- Deux histoires : la première tragique, sur la mort d'une jeune damoyselle exécutée dans la ville de Padoue, la seconde de la délivrance d'un jeune gentilhomme françois, escolier, condamné à la mort, en la ville de Salamanque, en Espagne (1609)
- Les Amours diverses. Divisees en sept histoires (1605, 1606, 1608, 1612, 1615) - anthology of the preceding works
- La victoire de l'amour divin, sous les amours de Polydore et de Virgin[i]e (1608)
- Les advantures guerrieres et amoureuses de Léandre (1608, 1612)
- Suite des advantures guerrieres et amoureuses de Léandre (1609, 1612)
- Les Amours diverses. Divisees en neuf histoires (1609)
- Les avantures de Lidior (1610, 1612)
- Les Amours diverses. Divisees en dix histoires (1611)
Other works
- Méditations tres devotes en forme de prieres (1599)
- Les Epistres morales du sieur de Nervèze (1598)
- L'academie des modernes poetes françois (1599)
- L'exercice devot de la courtisane repentie (1601)
- La Joie de la France sur la naissance du prince Dauphin (1601)
- Les Larmes et martyre de S. Pierre (Paris, 1601)
- Méditations sur les mysteres de la Sepmaine saincte (1603)
- Le jardin sacré de l'âme solitaire (Paris, 1602)
- Lettre consolatoire envoyee à Mme la duchesse de Mercœur sur le trespas de Mgr le duc de Mercœur (1602)
- Les Essais poétiques (1605)
- Receuil de traictez spirituels (1605) - includes many of the previous works
- Les Poemes spirituels (1606)
- Discours sur le malheur que le Roy et la Royne ont failly en pasant l'eau au pont de Neuilly... (1606)
- Les Estrenes du sieur de Nervèze au Roy (1608)
- Histoire de la vie et trespas de... Charles de Lorraine (1608)
- Lettre consolatoire à Mme la duchesse de Montpensier sur le trespas de Mgr de Montpensier (1608)
- Consolation envoyee à M. de Sainct-Luc, sur la mort de Mme. de Sainct-Luc (1609)
- Receuil de divers cartels (1609)
- Discours consolatoire à la France... sur le trespas de Alphonse Dornano (1610)
- Discours funebre à l'honneur de la memoire de tres clement, invincible et triomphant Henri IIII... (1610)
- Les Oeuvres morales du sieur de Nervèze (1610) - includes much of the preceding
- Le Songe de Lucidor... (1610) - Nervèze deplores the death of Henry IV
- Anniversaire de soupirs et regrets... (Paris, 1611)
- Vie du duc de Mayenne
- Les cinq premiers livres du procès d'amour (1630) - Encyclopedic/Historic poem on love