Blaise Gisbert
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Blaise Gisbert (21 February 1657 – 21 February 1731) was a French
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
rhetorician and critic. Gisbert was born in
Cahors Cahors (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region. The capital and main city of t ...
. Having entered the
Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
in 1672, he taught the
humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...
,
rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
, and philosophy, after which he devoted himself for a long time to preaching. The pleasure which Gisbert took in discussing pulpit eloquence with
Nicolas de Lamoignon Nicolas de Basville (1648–1724) was a French over Languedoc in the early 18th century. Nicolas, the second son of Guillaume de Lamoignon, took the surname of Basville. Following his hereditary calling he filled many public offices, serving as ...
, the
intendant An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...
of
Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...
, impelled him to write an essay on sacred eloquence, which he entitled ''Le bon gôut de l'éloquence chrétienne'' (Lyons, 1702). He spent ten years in retouching this essay, and augmented it considerably by adding to the rules examples drawn from
Holy Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...
and the
Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...
, especially St. John Chrysostom. The second edition appeared in
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
s in 1715 under the title ''L'Eloquence chrétienne dans l'idée et dans la pratique''. The work, which comprises twenty-three chapters, does not follow the rigorous order of a didactical treatise and is without the dryness of a scholastic manual. It has been called "un livre éloquent sur l'éloquence" (An eloquent book on Eloquence). It contains a series of talks on the faults to be avoided in the matter and form of sermons, on oratorical action and decorum. Gisbert's book sufficed to make its author famous, not only among Catholic clergy, but even among Protestant pastors. One of them,
Jacques L'enfant Jacques Lenfant (13 April 1661, Bazoches-en-Dunois, Beauce, France, Beauce - 7 August 1728, Berlin), France, French Protestant divine, was born at Bazoches-en-Dunois in 1661, son of Paul Lenfant, Protestant pastor at Bazoche and afterwards at Chât ...
(1661–1728), carefully annotated it, and another, Kornrumpff, translated it into German. An Italian translation also appeared during Gisbert's lifetime, and later a Latin translation. As a sort of supplement, Gisbert wrote reflections on the collections of sermons printed in France from 1570 to about 1670. In this he considers ten orators before
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet Jacques-Bénigne Lignel Bossuet (; 27 September 1627 – 12 April 1704) was a French Bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and theology, theologian. Renowned for his sermons, addresses and literary works, he is regarded as a brilliant orator and lit ...
and
Louis Bourdaloue Louis Bourdaloue (20 August 1632 – 13 May 1704) was a French Jesuit and preacher. Biography Louis Bourdaloue was born in Bourges where his father practiced law. He began his studies at the Jesuit Collège de Sainte-Marie in Bourges. In Novem ...
. The manuscript of this ''Historie critique de la chaire française depuis François Ier'' was lost but was finally recovered by Mgr Puyol and published by Fathers Chérot and Griselle, S.J., in the ''Revue Bourdaloue'', 1902–04. Gisbert died, aged 74, in
Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
.


References

* cites: **
Sommervogel Carlos Sommervogel (8 January 1834 – 4 March 1902) was a French Jesuit scholar. He was author of the monumental ''Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus'', which served as one of the major references for the editors of the Catholic Encyclo ...
, ''Bibliothéque de la Compagnie de Jésus'', III, 1461 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gisbert, B 1657 births 1731 deaths People from Cahors 17th-century French Jesuits 18th-century French Jesuits