Louis-Élisabeth de la Vergne, comte de Tressan (4 November 1705,

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

- 31 October 1783, from a fall from a carriage en route to Saint-Leu-la-Forêt) was a French soldier, physician, scientist, medievalist and writer, best known for his adaptations of " romans chevaleresques" of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, which contributed to the rise of the

Troubadour style Taking its name from medieval troubadours, the Troubadour Style (french: Style troubadour) is a rather derisive term, in English usually applied to French historical painting of the early 19th century with idealised depictions of the Middle Ages a ...

in the French arts.

Biography

Aged 13, he was the companion of the young

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

; he served as an enseigne in the 1st Scottish company of the Gardes du Corps sine 1735, being promoted to lieutenant in June 1743. He was with king as his aide de camp at the

battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in modern Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by ...

and became General-lieutenant in 1748. He was made governor of Toul and was summoned by king Stanislas to his court at

Lunéville Lunéville ( ; German, obsolete: ''Lünstadt'' ) is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Vezouze. History L ...

, where he received the title of grand marshal. The first director of the Société Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres of Nancy in 1751 and a member of several other academies in France and abroad, he was elected a member of the

Académie des sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at ...

in 1749 and of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

in 1780. A friend of

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—e ...

and Buffon, he frequented the

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...

of Mme de Tencin and composed several odes as well as adaptations of chivalric romances, which he translated and adapted from Spanish and

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...

, into editions which would be re-issued several times. He was also the author of one of the first treatises on electricity in French, and collaborated on volumes VII and XI of the '' Encyclopédie'' of Diderot and D’Alembert.Kafker, Frank A.: ''Notices sur les auteurs des 17 volumes de « discours » de l'Encyclopédie (suite et fin).'' Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie Année (1990) Volume 8 Numéro 8 p. 117
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Works

*'' Amadis de Gaule, traduction libre'' (1779) *''

Roland furieux ''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'', more loosely ''Raging Roland'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not ...

. Poème héroïque de l’Arioste'' (4 volumes, 1780) *''Essai sur le fluide électrique, considéré comme agent universel'' (2 volumes, 1786). Online text

*''Corps d’extraits de romans de chevalerie'' (4 volumes, 1782). Containing :: I. ''Discours préliminaire sur les romans françois. Tristan de Léonois, fils de Meliadus. Artus de Bretagne. Flores et Blanche-Fleur. Cléomades et Claremonde'' (d’après Adenet le Roi). ''Extrait du Roman de la Rose, précédé d’une courte dissertation sur l’état de la littérature française sous les règnes de Louis VI, Louis VII, Philippe-Auguste, Louis VIII, S. Louis, Philippe le Hardi et

Philippe le Bel Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (french: Philippe le Bel), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from 12 ...

; extrait du commencement du Roman de la Rose et des 4150 premiers vers qui nous sont restés de Guillaume de Loris. Pierre de Provence et la Belle Maguelone.'' ::II. ''La Fleur des batailles, ou Histoire des hauts faits de Doolin de Mayence. Huon de Bordeaux. Guérin de Montglave.'' ::III. ''Dom Ursino le Navarin et Dona Inès d’Oviédo. Histoire et plaisante chronique du petit Jehan de Saintré et de la Dame des Belles-cousines'' (after Antoine de La Sale). ''Les Apparences trompeuses, extrait de l’histoire du très noble et chevaleureux prince Gérard, comte de Nevers'' (after

Gerbert de Montreuil Gerbert de Montreuil was a 13th-century French poet from the north of France. He wrote ''Le Roman de la violette'' or ''Gérard de Nevers'',Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, French, 1553, f. 288r-325v one of the most outstanding medieval ...

). ::IV. ''Recherches sur l’origine des romans inventés avant l’ère chrétienne. Histoire de Rigda et de Regner Lodbrog. Zélie, ou l’Ingénue''. *''Le Chevalier Robert, ou Histoire de Robert surnommé le Brave'' (1800) *''Rose Summers, ou les Dangers de l’imprévoyance traduit librement de l’anglais'' (1805) *''Œuvres'' (8 volumes, 1822–23)

External links

Biography on the Académie française site (in French)Biography in Frank A. Kafker and Serena L. Kafker, ''The Encyclopedists as individuals: a biographical dictionary of the authors of the Encyclopédie'' (Oxford, Voltaire Foundation, 1988)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tressan, Louis-Elisabeth De La Vergne De 1705 births 1783 deaths People from Le Mans 18th-century French poets French military personnel 18th-century French physicians 18th-century French translators Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Académie Française People associated with electricity Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772) French translators Fellows of the Royal Society French male poets Road incident deaths in France French male non-fiction writers 18th-century French male writers