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How the French Humanists of the Renaissance Learned Greek

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Linton C. Stevens
Linton C. Stevens*
Affiliation:
University of Alabama University, Ala.
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Extract

The history of Hellenism in the French Renaissance includes not only the leading intellectual figures of France, but also the record of an heroic and idealistic enterprise, embarked upon with courage and enthusiasm, carried on with tenacity, and brought to a brilliant and successful conclusion in the numerous editions of the Greek classics which appeared from 1507 to the end of the century. Ample testimony is available concerning the modest beginnings from the time when Robert Gaguin and Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples acquired a smattering of Greek from Gregorio Tifernas during his short stay in France in 1456, to the period of official recognition of Greek studies by the founding of the College royal in 1530.

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , March 1950 , pp. 240 - 248
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1950

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References

1 For a list of the most important publications, see E. Greswell, A View of the early Parisian Greek Press (Oxford, 1833), 2 vols.; l'Hellénisme en France (Paris, 1869), by E. Egger, has been largely superseded by recent monographs, but the Apollonius Dyscole, Essai sur l'Histoire des Théories grammaticales dans l'Antiquité (Paris, 1854), by the same author, is still useful. See also Ruth Bunker, A Bibliographical study of the Greek works and translations published in France during the Renaissance: the decade 1540–1550 (New York, 1939); Henri Omont, “Essai sur les débuts de la typographie grecque à Paris”, Mémoires de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris, xviii (1891), 1–72.

2 See Louis Delaruelle, “Une vie d'humaniste au xve siècle (Gregorio Tifernas)”, Mélanges d'archéologie et d'Histoire de l'Ecole française de Rome, xix (Paris, 1899), and “L‘étude du grecà Paris de 1514 à 1530”, Revue du seizième siècle, ix, 51–62,132–149; Henri Omont, “George Hermonyme de Sparte” Mémoires de la Société de l'Histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France, xii (1885), 65–97; C. Huit, “Note sur l‘état des études grecques en Italie et en France du xive au xve siècle”, Revue des études grecques, xiv (Paris, 1901); Mireille Forget, “Les relations et les amitiés de Pierre Danès”, Humanisme et Renaissance, iii (1936), 365384. No complete work on Guillaume Budé exists; Rebitté is unreliable, Delaruelle's Budê of 1907 does not go beyond 1519, and Jean Plattard's brochure of 1923 is too brief. On this question, see Henri Hauser and Augustin Renaudet, Les Débuts de l'Age Moderne (Paris, 1946), p. 288 n.

3 Remigio Sabbadini, Il melodo degli umanisti (Firenze, 1922), pp. 17–18.

4 See Franz Taeschner, “Georgios Gemistos Plethon, ein Vermittler zwischen Morgenland und Abendland zu Beginn der Renaissance”, Byzantinisch- neugriechische Jahrbücher, viii (Athens, 1931); Franz Beck, Studien zu Lionardo Bruni (Berlin, 1912).

5 Guillaume Budé, De philologia libri II (Paris, 1532), XLI: “… cum quidam homines factiosi, literarum Grascarum nomen apertis coitionibus circumvenire, decuriatis et alle-gatis declamatoribus obterere, decretis inconsultis praxipitibus et crebris pessundare con-niterentur, ad extremumque proscribere. Nunc vero exibilita a pueris eorum temeritate et audacia, ob libros maxime Græos tabernæ et officinæ bibliopolarum visuntur et frequen‐tantur. ludi scholastici conventusque studiosorum, vocibus prælegentium Græcorum per-sonant.”

6 See L. Laurand, Manuel des études grecques et latines, 3 vols. (Paris, 1946), I, 382.

7 See Budé, De studio literarum recte ac commode instituendo (Paris, 1527). L. Vitruvius Roscius, De docendi studendique modo, ac de Claris puerorum moribus, Libellus plane aureus (Basile, 1541).

8 L. Delaruelle, “Comment on devenait Helléniste à la fin du xve siècle”, Bulletin de l'Université et de l'Académie de Toulouse, no. 8 (1935), 274.

9 This grammar will not be discussed since it had little influence upon French humanists.

10 Albert Streuber, Beiträge zur Geschichte des französischen Unterrichts im 16. bis 18. Jahrhundert (Berlin, 1914), p. 20.

11 The only edition of Lascaris' grammar which we were able to consult was that published in Venice in 1542: Constantini Lascaris byzantini Græcæ institutiones, una cum inter-pretatione latina, eorum usui atque commodo dicatæ, qui græcas litteras optime scire desiderant in quibus quid expectes, sequens pagina tibi facile indicabit.

12 “La Table de lancien philosophe Cebes, natif de Thebes, et Auditeur Daristote. En laquelle est descripte et paincte la voye de lhome humain tendant a vertus et parfaicte Science. Avec Trente Dialogues moraulx de Lucian Autheur iadis Grec. Le tout pieca translate de Grec en langue latine par plusieurs scavans recommandables Autheurs. Et naguere translate de latin en vulgaire francois par maistre Geofroy tory de Bourges Libraire demourant a Paris. Rue Sainct Jaques devant lescu de Basle, a lenseigne du pot casse.”

13 Dr. J. Bernays, “Über das Phokylideische Gedicht”, Jahresbericht des jüdisch-theologischen Seminars, Fraenckelscher Stiftung (Breslau, 1856), pp. 1–2.

14 Georg Voigt, Die Wiederbelebung des classischen Alterthums (Berlin, 1893), ii, 380.

15 We refer to the 1507 edition of Francois Tissard: Operoso huic opusculo extremum im-posuit manum Egidius Gourmonlius integerrimus ac fidelissimus primus duce Francisco Tis-sardo Ambaceo gr carum litterarum Parrhisiis impressor.

16 Victor Chauvin et Alphonse Roersch, “Etude sur la vie et les travaux de Nicolas Clé-nard”, Mémoires couronnés et autres mémoires, publiés par l'académie royale (Bruxelles, 1900–01), LX, 76–77.

17 Dialogus de bene instituendis Græcæ lingua; studiis (1587). Estienne quotes the opinion of Melchior Volmar in regard to the merits and the obscurities of Gaza's grammar, p. 41 : “… in quo non solum ea quæ de suo Gaza nobis ingenio attulit, sed ilia etiam quæ ex Apollonii Difficilis et aliorum quorundam libris non parum multa descripsit, dum brevis esse laborat, aut potius de industria sic obscuravit, ut non immerito a Graecis ipsis ac eius-dem ordinis hominibus iactatum illud sit . Atque his non contentas, adiicit et istud de grammatico eiusdem Gazæ opusculo, mirum nobis maxime videri istud debere, quod quum grammaticæ præxeptiones in hoc sint institutæ ut ad intelligen-tiam autorum in primis conférant, has Theodori nonnisi ex illarum lectione, et multa et varia, denique accurata singulorum nec oscitante observatione, quisquam sit intellectuals. Quae quamvis de illis Gazæ grammaticis præceptionibus dicat, tarnen non utilis modo sed etiam necessarias iis qui provecti aliquantum, harum literarum tirocinium factitarint, non fatetur solum, sed et notum omnibus esse ait.”

18 Paul Porteau, Montaigne et la vie pédagogique de son temps (Paris, 1935), p. 108.

19 Abel Lefranc, “Nicolas Clénard, humaniste belge et les commencements du Collège de France”, Humanisme et Renaissance, vii (1940), 258–260.

20 Nicolai Clenardi, Institutiones linguæ græcæ (Venetiis, 1570), p. 439: “Litteræ Græcæ, positæ in eo margine, qui est inter duas columnas, quique scholia separat a contextu, de-monstrat, quæ vocales, vel diphthongi, e contextu per apostrophum reiectæfuerint.Litteris quoque Latinis hic usi sumus, ut, molesta rei eiusdem evitata repetitione, brevite tamen, veluti ob oculos, præponeremus eos idiotismos, qui in his poetarum fragmentas, ac passim in quibusvis poetis, occurrunt.”

21 Remigio Sabbadini, op. cit., p. 23.

22 Nicolai Clenardi, Epislolarum Libri duo (Hanoviæ, 1606), p. 74: “Sumus impressuri Meditationes Graecanicas, libellum utilem iis qui per sese et suopte Marte Græcas literas discere coguntur. Continet codices sedicim, spero multi inde fructum percipient, non quidem provectiores in iis literis, sed rudimentarii, quibus iam cogor servire propter novam hanc curam professionum, et mihi molestum est semper elementari, ideoque visum fuit, libellum aliquem Græcum per singulas minutias excutere, more docentis prima rudimenta.”

23 Estienne, op. cit., pp. 3, 24, 43, 71, 94.

24 Ferdinand Buisson, Sebastien Castellion, sa vie et son uvre (Paris, 1892), i, 270; ii, 81, 370.

25 The preparation of this article was made possible by a grant from the Research Committee of the University of Alabama.