Dreux
Dreux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in northern France.
Geography
Dreux lies on the small river Blaise (river), Blaise, a tributary of the Eure (river), Eure, about 35 km north of Cha ...
– 21 April 1672, in
Vence
Vence (; ) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes on the Mediterranean coast.
Ecclesiastical history
The first known Bishop ...
) was a French bishop, Baroque
Précieuses
The ''Précieuses'' ( , i.e. "preciousness") was a 17th-century French literary style and movement. The main features of this style are the refined language of aristocratic salons, periphrases, hyperbole, and puns on the theme of gallant l ...
poet and exegete. He is now known for his work of criticism from 1633.
Biography
His verse-writing early won the interest of a relative in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
Valentin Conrart
Valentin Conrart (; 1603 – 23 September 1675) was a French author, and as a founder of the Académie française, the first occupant of seat 2.
Biography
He was born in Paris of Calvinist parents, and was educated for business. However, aft ...
, at whose house the literary world gathered. The outcome of these meetings was the foundation of the
Académie française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
, of which Godeau was one of the first members and the third whose lot it fell to deliver the weekly address to that body.
He was induced to settle in Paris, where he soon became a favorite at the
Hôtel de Rambouillet
The Hôtel de Rambouillet (), formerly the Hôtel de Pisani (), was the Paris residence of Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet, who ran a renowned literary Salon (gathering), salon there from 1620 until 1648. It was situated on the west ...
,His association with the ''
Guirlande de Julie
The ''Guirlande de Julie'' (, ''Julie's Garland'') is a unique French manuscript of sixty-one madrigal (poetry), ''madrigaux'', illustrated with painted flowers, and composed by several poets ''habitués'' of the Hôtel de Rambouillet for Julie ...
'' earned him the nickname of the , the dwarf of
Julie d'Angennes
Julie d'Angennes, Duchess of Montausier (1607 - 15 November 1671) was a French courtier. She served as royal governess of Louis, Grand Dauphin in 1661–1664, and ''Première dame d'honneur'' to the queen of France, Queen Marie Thérèse, from 1 ...
, future . rivalling the famous writers of his period. At that time, to say of any work was to stamp it with the seal of approval. Perhaps best known among the works of his early days is his (1629), which shows some critical power and is valuable for the history of the French prose of the seventeenth century.
Ordained priest in Paris on May 7, 1636, he was named on June 21
Bishop of Grasse
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...
by Richelieu, to whom he had dedicated his first religious composition, a poetical paraphrase of the Psalm . By a Bull of
Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X (6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death, in January 1655.
Born in Rome of a family fro ...
he was empowered to unite the Dioceses of Grasse and
Vence
Vence (; ) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes on the Mediterranean coast.
Ecclesiastical history
The first known Bishop ...
under his administration, but seeing the dissatisfaction of the clergy of the latter diocese, he relinquished the former in 1653 and established himself at Vence.
Godeau by no means gave up other interests. In 1645 and 1655 he took a prominent part in the
General Assembly of the French Clergy
The assembly of the French clergy (''assemblée du clergé de France'') was in its origins a representative meeting of the Catholic clergy of France, held every five years, for the purpose of apportioning the financial burdens laid upon the clergy ...
, and under the regency of
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...
was deputy from the Estates of Provence. He was stricken with
apoplexy
Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...
and died in his episcopal city at the age of sixty-seven.
Works
He turned his talent for versification to religious uses, his best known productions being a metrical version of the
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament.
The book is an anthology of B ...
, poems on
Paul the Apostle
Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...
Eustace
Eustace ( ) is the rendition in English of two phonetically similar Greek given names:
*Εὔσταχυς (''Eústachys'') meaning "fruitful", "fecund"; literally "abundant in grain"; its Latin equivalents are ''Fæcundus/Fecundus''
*Εὐστά ...
,
Mary Magdalen
Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...
, and one of 15,000 lines on the annals of the Catholic Church. The monotony and mechanical arrangement of the poems are relieved at intervals by passages remarkable for thought or expression, among others those lines embodied by Corneille in his ''
Polyeucte
''Polyeucte'' is a drama in five acts by French writer Pierre Corneille. It was finished in December 1642 and debuted in October 1643. It is based on the life of the martyr Saint Polyeuctus (Polyeucte).François Vavasseur (1605-1681) published, in 1647, a satire on Godeau, , the verdict of which was echoed by Boileau in a letter to Maucroix.
His (Paris, 1665) was republished in 1802 by M. Sauffret. His (Paris, 1633) was translated into Italian by
Sperone Speroni
Sperone Speroni degli Alvarotti (1500–1588) was an Italian Renaissance Humanism, humanist, scholar and dramatist. He was one of the central members of Padua's literary academy ''Accademia degli Infiammati'' and wrote on both moral and literary ...
and into German by Hyper and Groote (
Augsburg
Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
, 1768–96), and is still cited. Of this work Johann Baptist Alzog says that "although written in an attractive and popular style, it is lacking in solid worth and original research" (Manual of Universal History, I,
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, 1900, 33). It is related that during the publication of this work the author chanced one day in a library to engage in conversation with the Oratorian, , who, ignorant of Godeau's identity, indicated some grave defects in the volumes which had already appeared, criticisms of which the author availed himself in correcting the work for a new edition. The same Le Cointe, later a staunch friend of Godeau's, while conceding to the complete work many excellencies, calls attention to its frequent inaccuracies and lack of critical balance. Minor writings of Godeau's include (1645) and (1667).
Among Godeau's works of a religious character are:
* (Paris, 1643)
* (1644)
* (1644)
* (1647)
* (1652)
* (1653)
* (1657)
* (1663).
His chief title to fame, however, rests on his Biblical work. The ''
Catholic Encyclopedia
''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...
'' recommends his paraphrases of the following books as useful:
* Romans (Paris, 1635)
* Corinthians, Galatians, and Ephesians (1632)
* Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon (1641)
* Hebrews (1637)
* the canonical Epistles (1640)
His (1668) is something between a literal translation and a paraphrase. The greatest of all his works, according to
Jean-Pierre Nicéron
Jean-Pierre Nicéron (11 March 1685 – 8 July 1738) was a French lexicographer.
Biography
Nicéron was born in Paris, a relative of the mathematician and Minim friar Jean François Niceron. After his studies at the Collège Mazarin, he joined th ...
, is (Paris, 1709), intended to combat the Casuists, a model of force, clearness, and revealing a precision rarely to be found in the other writings of the same author. In the Latin translation, which appeared at Augsburg in 1774 under the title , the arrangement of the matter is greatly improved.
See also
*
Hercule Audiffret
Hercule Audiffret (15 May 1603 – 6 or 16 April 1659), known as "le Père Hercule", was a French orator, religious writer and Superior General of the Christian Doctrine Fathers, Congrégation des Doctrinaires. He was the maternal uncle of Esprit ...
References
;Attribution
*
Further reading
* Dupin, Louis Ellies, ''Bibliothèque des auteurs ecclésiastiques du XVIIe siècle'' (1719)
*Jauffret, Gaspard-Jean-André-Joseph, ''Vie de Godeau'' in ''Eloges des évêques français qui se sont rendus les plus illustres par leur doctrine et leur sainteté'', (Metz, 1802)
*Kerviler, René ''Antoine Godeau, évêque de Grasse et de Vence'' (Paris: H. Champion 1879).
* Nicéron, Jean-Pierre, ''Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire'' (Paris, 1743), 1295, 314, 896.
*Racine, Bonaventure (Abbé), ''Abrégé de l'histoire ecclésiastique'' (1748–56), XIII, Utrecht (1748-1756)
*Simon, Richard (Prêtre), ''Histoire critique du texte du Nouveau Testament: où l'on établit la Vérité sur lesquels les Actes de la Religion Chrêtienne est fondée'' (1689)
*Speroni, Sperone, ''Vita de A. Godeau, vescovo di Vence'' (Venice, 1761)
*