Grands Rhétoriqueurs
Encyclopedia
The Grands Rhétoriqueurs or simply the "Rhétoriqueurs" is the name given to a group of poets from 1460 to 1520 (or from the generation of François Villon
(no rhétoriqueur himself) to Clément Marot
) working in Northern France, Flanders
and the Duchy of Burgundy
whose ostentatious poetic production was dominated by (1) an extremely rich rhyme scheme and experimentation with assonance
and puns
and (2) experimentation with typography and the graphic use of letters, including the creation of verbal rebus
es. The group is also credited with promoting alternation between "masculine" rhymes (lines ending in a sound other than a mute "e") and "feminine" rhymes (lines ending in a mute "e").
Poets considered "Grands Rhétoriqueurs" include:
The following poets are sometimes also grouped with the rhétoriqueurs:
The expression "rhétoriqueurs" comes from the publication of several treatises on versification in French in the 15th century that used the term "rhetoric" in their titles, such as in Arts de seconde rhétorique ("Arts of Second Rhetoric", "first rhetoric" being prose and "second rhetoric" being verse), or "rhétorique vulgaire" ("vernacular" as opposed to "Latin" rhetoric). The implication in these poetic manuals was that rhyming was a form or branch of rhetoric
.
The "rhétoriqueurs", alike in rejecting any taint of the vulgar world outside noble court
s, were not a homogeneous group or organized literary movement, and there were great differences between each author's individual creative project. Nevertheless, these authors show great similarities in poetic invention and sound experimentation and represent a period of literary transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. The multiplicity of readings in certain texts has been compared to 15th century polyphonic music from the Burgundian School
and Franco-Flemish School
(such as the music of Ockeghem
), and their fascination with "copia
", verbal games and the difficulties of interpretation link them to such Renaissance figures as Erasmus and Rabelais.
The vital realism and pessimism of François Villon
, and his countercultural vagabond life, set him apart from the rhétoriqueurs. From the late 1540s on, many of the "rhétoriqueurs" were rejected by the French circle of poets around Pierre de Ronsard
(sometimes called La Pléiade
) who considered them representatives of an outdated medieval tradition. Some of this disdain may have also been tied to class and chauvinism: many of the "rhétoriqueurs" were non-noble poets and writers working for the court of the Duchy of Burgundy
, while Ronsard's circle was entirely French and dominated by nobles.
The "Grands Rhétoriqueurs" were utterly forgotten, until a revival of interest by specialists in the 19th and 20th centuries. Their verbal games and aural experimentation have been praised by contemporary literary groups, including the writers of the Oulipo
movement.
François 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...
(no rhétoriqueur himself) to Clément Marot
Clément Marot
Clément Marot was a French poet of the Renaissance period.-Youth:Marot was born at Cahors, the capital of the province of Quercy, some time during the winter of 1496-1497. His father, Jean Marot , whose more correct name appears to have been des Mares, Marais or Marets, was a Norman from the Caen...
) working in Northern France, Flanders
Burgundian Netherlands
In the history of the Low Countries, the Burgundian Netherlands refers to a number of Imperial and French fiefs ruled in personal union by the House of Valois-Burgundy and their Habsburg heirs in the period from 1384 to 1482...
and the Duchy of Burgundy
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...
whose ostentatious poetic production was dominated by (1) an extremely rich rhyme scheme and experimentation with assonance
Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences, and together with alliteration and consonance serves as one of the building blocks of verse. For example, in the phrase "Do you like blue?", the is repeated within the sentence and is...
and puns
Puns
Puns may refer to:*Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui, the Sahrawi political party* Pun, figure of speech* Phoenicians...
and (2) experimentation with typography and the graphic use of letters, including the creation of verbal rebus
Rebus
A rebus is an allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words. It was a favourite form of heraldic expression used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames, for example in its basic form 3 salmon fish to denote the name "Salmon"...
es. The group is also credited with promoting alternation between "masculine" rhymes (lines ending in a sound other than a mute "e") and "feminine" rhymes (lines ending in a mute "e").
Poets considered "Grands Rhétoriqueurs" include:
- Georges ChastellainGeorges ChastellainGeorges Chastellain , Burgundian chronicler and poet, was a native of Aalst in Flanders. In spite of excessive partiality to the Duke of Burgundy, Chastellain's historical works are valuable for the accurate information they contain. As a poet he was famous among his contemporaries...
(1415-1474) - Jean MolinetJean MolinetJean Molinet was a French poet, chronicler, and composer. He is best remembered for his prose translation of Roman de la rose.Born in Desvres, which is now part of France, he studied in Paris...
(1435-1507) - Jean MarotJean MarotJean Marot was a French poet and the father of French Renaissance poet Clément Marot. He is often grouped with the "Grands Rhétoriqueurs"....
(1450-1526) father of Clément Marot - Jean MeschinotJean MeschinotJean Meschinot was a Breton poet who wrote in French at the court of the dukes of Brittany. His birthplace was in the Mortiers domain, around 30km south of Nantes, capital of the duchy, and he came from the minor nobility...
(active from 1450-1490) - Jean Robertet (active from 1460-1500)
- Guillaume CrétinGuillaume Crétin-Life:He was treasurer of the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes, then cantor of the Sainte-Chapelle de Paris and ordinary almoner to Francis I of France....
(1461-1525) - Jean Lemaire de BelgesJean Lemaire de BelgesJean Lemaire de Belges was a Walloon poet and historian who lived primarily in France.He was born in Hainaut , the godson and possibly a nephew of Jean Molinet, and spent some time with him at Valenciennes, where the elder writer held a kind of academy of poetry. Lemaire in his first poems calls...
(1473-1516) - Jean Bouchet (1476-1555)
- André de La Vigne (active from 1485-1515)
- Octavien de Saint-Gelays (active from 1490-1505)
- Jean d'Auton (active from 1499-1528)
- Pierre Gringoire (active from 1500-1535)
The following poets are sometimes also grouped with the rhétoriqueurs:
- Guillaume Alexis (active from 1450-1490)
- Jeacques Millet (active from 1450-1466)
- Henri Baude (active from 1460-1495)
- Jean Castel (active from 1460-1480)
- Roger de Collerye (1470-1538)
- Jean Parmentier (active from 1515-1530)
The expression "rhétoriqueurs" comes from the publication of several treatises on versification in French in the 15th century that used the term "rhetoric" in their titles, such as in Arts de seconde rhétorique ("Arts of Second Rhetoric", "first rhetoric" being prose and "second rhetoric" being verse), or "rhétorique vulgaire" ("vernacular" as opposed to "Latin" rhetoric). The implication in these poetic manuals was that rhyming was a form or branch of rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
.
The "rhétoriqueurs", alike in rejecting any taint of the vulgar world outside noble court
Noble court
The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure...
s, were not a homogeneous group or organized literary movement, and there were great differences between each author's individual creative project. Nevertheless, these authors show great similarities in poetic invention and sound experimentation and represent a period of literary transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. The multiplicity of readings in certain texts has been compared to 15th century polyphonic music from the Burgundian School
Burgundian School
The Burgundian School is a term used to denote a group of composers active in the 15th century in what is now northern and eastern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, centered on the court of the Dukes of Burgundy. The main names associated with this school are Guillaume Dufay, Gilles Binchois,...
and Franco-Flemish School
Franco-Flemish School
In music, the Franco-Flemish School or more precisely the Netherlandish School refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, and to the composers who wrote it...
(such as the music of Ockeghem
Johannes Ockeghem
Johannes Ockeghem was the most famous composer of the Franco-Flemish School in the last half of the 15th century, and is often considered the most...
), and their fascination with "copia
Copia
Copia may refer to:* Copia , the ancient city also called Thurii* Copia , an ancient city in Boeotia.* copia, a Latin word for "abundance", especially used in rhetoric...
", verbal games and the difficulties of interpretation link them to such Renaissance figures as Erasmus and Rabelais.
The vital realism and pessimism of François Villon
François 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...
, and his countercultural vagabond life, set him apart from the rhétoriqueurs. From the late 1540s on, many of the "rhétoriqueurs" were rejected by the French circle of poets around Pierre de Ronsard
Pierre de Ronsard
Pierre de Ronsard was a French poet and "prince of poets" .-Early life:...
(sometimes called La Pléiade
La Pléiade
The Pléiade is the name given to a group of 16th-century French Renaissance poets whose principal members were Pierre de Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay and Jean-Antoine de Baïf. The name was a reference to another literary group, the original Alexandrian Pleiad of seven Alexandrian poets and...
) who considered them representatives of an outdated medieval tradition. Some of this disdain may have also been tied to class and chauvinism: many of the "rhétoriqueurs" were non-noble poets and writers working for the court of the Duchy of Burgundy
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...
, while Ronsard's circle was entirely French and dominated by nobles.
The "Grands Rhétoriqueurs" were utterly forgotten, until a revival of interest by specialists in the 19th and 20th centuries. Their verbal games and aural experimentation have been praised by contemporary literary groups, including the writers of the Oulipo
Oulipo
Oulipo is a loose gathering of French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais...
movement.