Eustache Deschamps (13461406 or 1407) was a French poet,

byname An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

Morel, in French "Nightshade".

Life and career

Deschamps was born in

Vertus Vertus () is a former commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. On 1 January 2018, it was merged into the new commune of Blancs-Coteaux. The Encyclopédiste Antoine-Claude-Pierre Masson de La Motte-Conflans (1727–1801) was born ...

. He received lessons in versification from

Guillaume de Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death t ...

and later studied law at Orleans University. He then traveled through Europe as a diplomatic messenger for

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

, being sent on missions to Bohemia, Hungary and Moravia. In 1372 he was made ''huissier d'armes'' to Charles. He received many other important offices, was ''

bailli A bailiff (french: bailli, ) was the king's administrative representative during the ''ancien régime'' in northern France, where the bailiff was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in h ...

'' of Valois, and afterwards of Senlis, squire to the Dauphin, and governor of

Fismes Fismes () is a commune in the Marne department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Fismois'' or ''Fismoises'' The commune has been awarded three flowers in the '' Competition of cities ...

. In 1380, Charles died, and Deschamps's estate was pillaged by the English, after which he often used the name "Brulé des Champs". In his childhood he had been an eyewitness of the English invasion of 1358, he had been present at the siege of

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded b ...

in 1360 and seen the march on Chartres, and he had witnessed the signing of the

Treaty of Brétigny The Treaty of Brétigny was a treaty, drafted on 8 May 1360 and ratified on 24 October 1360, between Kings Edward III of England and John II of France. In retrospect, it is seen as having marked the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years ...

. In consequence he hated the English and continuously abused them in his many poems.

Works

Deschamps wrote as many as 1,175

ballade Ballad is a form of narrative poetry, often put to music, or a type of sentimental love song in modern popular music. Ballad or Ballade may also refer to: Music Genres and forms * Ballade (classical music), a musical setting of a literary ballad ...

s, and he is sometimes credited with inventing the form. All but one of his poems are short, and they are mostly satirical, attacking the English, whom he regards as the plunderers of his country, and against the wealthy oppressors of the poor. His satires were also directed at corrupt officials and clergy but his sharp wit may have cost him his job as

Bailli A bailiff (french: bailli, ) was the king's administrative representative during the ''ancien régime'' in northern France, where the bailiff was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in h ...

of Senlis. He was the author of a treatise on French verse entitled ''L'Art de dictier et de fere chansons, balades, virelais et rondeaulx'', completed on 25 November 1392. Besides giving rules for the composition of the kinds of verse mentioned in the title he enunciates some theories on poetry. He divides music into music proper and poetry. Music proper he calls artificial on the ground that everyone could by dint of study become a musician; poetry he calls natural because he says it is not an art that can be acquired but a gift. He stresses the harmony of verse, because, as was the fashion of his day, he practically took it for granted that all poetry was to be sung. His one long poetic work, '' Le Miroir de Mariage'', is a 12,103-line satirical poem on the subject of women. This work influenced

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

who used themes from the poem in his own work. Chaucer seems to be one of the few Englishmen Deschamps liked, as he composed a ballade in his honour (n. 285, probably written sometime after 1380) praising Chaucer as a great philosopher, translator, ethicist, and poet. He also wrote about the decline in morals of his time, and also of the worsening state of affairs during the

late middle ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Ren ...

, mentioning war, famine and disease. Deschamps wrote two texts upon his teacher Machaut's death in 1377. They were combined and set to music into one double ballade for four voices: ''Armes, amours/O flour des flours'' (''Weapons, loves/O flower of flowers'') by F. Andrieu.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

A few examples of his poems

One of his poems in translation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deschamps, Eustache 1340 births 1406 deaths French poets French male poets