Saint-Évremond, Charles de Marguetel de Saint-Denis, Seigneur de

Saint-Évremond, Charles de Marguetel de Saint-Denis, Seigneur de

▪ French author
born 1614?, Saint-Denis-le-Gast, France
died Sept. 20, 1703, London, Eng.

      French gentleman of letters and amateur moralist who stands as a transitional figure between Michel de Montaigne (d. 1592) and the 18th-century philosophes of the Enlightenment.

      Pursuing a military career in his early life, he won promotion for loyalty to King Louis XIV's minister Cardinal Mazarin (Mazarin, Jules, Cardinal) during the civil wars of the Fronde (1648–53). In 1661, however, a facetious letter of Saint-Évremond's deriding the late Mazarin's Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) was accidentally brought to light, and he fled from France to escape arrest. Welcomed to London by King Charles II, he spent the rest of his life there except for an interval in Holland (1665–70).

      Saint-Évremond wrote for his friends, not for publication; but a few of his pieces were leaked to the press in his lifetime. The 1705 edition of his works is largely superseded by a modern collection of his prose works and letters, published in 1962. His poems, mainly occasional pieces, are negligible; but Les Académiciens (1643), a comedy in verse, is still amusing, as is his prose comedy “in the English style,” Sir Politick Would-Be (c. 1664).

      Saint-Évremond's prose consists of letters and discourses ranging from hilarious satire (Retraite de M. le duc de Longueville, 1649; Conversation du Maréchal d'Hoquincourt avec le Père Canaye, c. 1663) to literary criticism, distinguished by antidogmatic common sense, on the various genres. It also includes a series of ethical writings, which plead for a prudently moderated hedonism and for religious toleration.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • SAINT-ÉVREMOND, CHARLES MARGUETEL DE SAINT-DENIS, SEIGNEUR DE —    a celebrated French wit and author; won distinction as a soldier, and rose to be a field marshal; his turn for satiric writing got him into trouble, and in 1661 he fled to England, where the rest of his life was spent; wrote charming letters… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Charles de Marguetel de Saint-Denis de Saint-Evremond — Charles de Saint Évremond Charles Marguetel de Saint Denis de Saint Évremond Charles de Saint Évremond, Jacques Parmentier, circa 1701 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Charles de Saint-Évremond — Portrait of Charles de Saint Évremond by Jacques Parmentier, circa 1701 Born 1 April 1613(1613 04 01) Saint Denis le Guast, near Coutances …   Wikipedia

  • Charles De Saint-Évremond — Charles Marguetel de Saint Denis de Saint Évremond Charles de Saint Évremond, Jacques Parmentier, circa 1701 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Charles de Saint-Evremond — Charles de Saint Évremond Charles Marguetel de Saint Denis de Saint Évremond Charles de Saint Évremond, Jacques Parmentier, circa 1701 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Charles de saint-évremond — Charles Marguetel de Saint Denis de Saint Évremond Charles de Saint Évremond, Jacques Parmentier, circa 1701 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Saint-Evremond — Charles de Saint Évremond Charles Marguetel de Saint Denis de Saint Évremond Charles de Saint Évremond, Jacques Parmentier, circa 1701 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Saint-Évremond — Charles de Saint Évremond Charles Marguetel de Saint Denis de Saint Évremond Charles de Saint Évremond, Jacques Parmentier, circa 1701 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Saint-Evremond — (spr. ßängt ĕwrömóng), Charles Marguetel de Saint Denis, Seigneur de, franz. Schriftsteller, geb. 1. April 1613 in St. Denis bei Coutances (Normandie), gest. 29. Sept. 1703 in London, ward bei den Jesuiten in Paris erzogen, studierte die Nechte,… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • St-Évremont — Charles de Saint Évremond Charles Marguetel de Saint Denis de Saint Évremond Charles de Saint Évremond, Jacques Parmentier, circa 1701 …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”