Claude De Seyssel

Claude de Seyssel (''Italian:Claudio di Seyssel'') (died 1520) was a Savoyard jurist and humanist, now known for his political writings. He wrote ''La Grande Monarchie de France'' as a supporter of the French crown, in the person of Louis XII. Written around 1515, in French, it was published 1519; it supports hereditary monarchy. A Latin translation ''De Republica Galliae'' was printed in 1548 in Strasbourg.

Biography

Seyssel was born in Aix-les-Bains, Turin and Pavia. He graduated in 1485 and started teaching at the university of Turin. In 1499, he became a counsellor to King Louis XII of France, and was charged with various embassies to Italy and England. He praised the French king in ''Histoire singuliere de Louis XII'' (''A Biography of Louis XII'') (1508) and in ''Les louanges de Louis XII'' (''In Praise of the King'')(1509). To extricate himself from the dispute opposing Louis XII to Pope Julius II, he withdrew for a while from politics; in 1512, however, he went back to Rome to present his credentials to the new pope, Leo X. This was the apex of his diplomatic career. After the death of Louis XII in 1515, he gave up politics. The same year he was made bishop of Marseille, was
''La grant monarchie de France'' (1518). He is considered as one of the best examples of French political thinking in the early 16th century. Seyssel had a high regard toward the French monarchy and constitution. He thought the power wielded by the monarch was both controlled and balanced, being limited by religion, existing laws and justice. He discussed "estates", or social class as well, dividing society into the nobility, a composite class of merchants and bureaucrats, and a third class of producers and lower-ranking merchants. His ideas were very influential in the 16th century. Later French thinkers adopted a different stance and distanced themselves from his beliefs.

He was made Archbishop of Turin, in 1517, through the king's influence. ''(in Latin)''"Archbishop Claudio di Seyssel"
''Catholic-Hierarchy.org''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 4, 2017.

He also wrote on the Salic law, composed propaganda after the French victory over the Venetians, and worked as a translator of ancient historians, including Appianus of Alexandria.

Bibliography

* ''Speculum feudorum'', Milano 1508.
**
*''La Victoire du Roy contre les Véniciens'', Paris, Antonie Vérard, 1510.
*''La grant monarchie de France'', A Paris, pour Regnault, 1519.
* ''Adversus errores et sectam Valdensium disputationes'', Parisiis, in aedibus Reginaldi Chaudiere, 1520.
* Thucydide, ''L'Histoire de la guerre, qui fut entre les Peloponnesiens et Atheniens, translatee en langue Francoyse par feu messire Claude de Seyssel'', A Paris, en l'hostel de maistre Iosse Badius, 1527.
* Eusebe Cesarien, ''L'Histoire ecclesiastique translatee de Latin en Francois par messire Claude de Seysse'', A Paris, par maistre Geofroy Tory de Bourges, 1532.
* Appian Alexandrin, ''Des Guerres des Rommains livres XI, assavoir le Libyque, le Syrien, le Parthique, le Mithridatique, le Illyrien, le Celtique et cinq des Guerres civiles. Le tout traduict en Francoys par feu m. Claude de Seyssel'', A Lyon, pour Antoine Constantin, 1544.
* Trogue Pompee, ''Les Histoires uniuerselles, abbregees par Iustin historien, traslatees de Latin en Francois par Messire Claude de Seyssel'', A Paris, de l'Imprimerie de Michel de Vascosan, 1559.

References

Further reading

* Rebecca Ard Boone, ''War, Domination, and the Monarchy of France: Claude de Seyssel and the Language of Politics in the Renaissance'' (Leiden, Brill, 2007) (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, 156).

External links

portail.atilf.fr

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seyssel, Claude De
1520 deaths
People from Aix-les-Bains
16th-century French historians
16th-century French male writers
Year of birth unknown
French male writers
Latin–French translators
Bishops of Marseille
Archbishops of Turin
Bishops of Lodi
16th-century French Roman Catholic bishops
Bishops appointed by Pope Julius II
Bishops appointed by Pope Leo X
1458 births
15th-century jurists
16th-century jurists from the Holy Roman Empire