Cyrano De Bergerac (other)
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Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...
,
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...
, epistolarian, and
duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...
ist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the
libertine A libertine is a person questioning and challenging most moral principles, such as responsibility or Human sexual activity, sexual restraints, and will often declare these traits as unnecessary, undesirable or evil. A libertine is especially som ...
literature of the first half of the 17th century. Today, he is best known as the inspiration for
Edmond Rostand Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (, , ; 1 April 1868 – 2 December 1918) was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism and is known best for his 1897 play ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. Rostand's romantic plays contrasted with th ...
's most noted drama, ''
Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th ce ...
'' (1897), which, although it includes elements of his life, also contains invention and myth. Since the 1970s, there has been a resurgence in the study of Cyrano, demonstrated in the abundance of theses, essays, articles and biographies published in France and elsewhere.


Life


Sources

Cyrano's short life is poorly documented. Certain significant chapters of his life are known only from the Preface to the ''Histoire Comique par Monsieur de Cyrano Bergerac, Contenant les Estats & Empires de la Lune'' (''
Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon ''The Other World: Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon'' () was the first of three satirical novels written by Cyrano de Bergerac. It was published posthumously in 1657 and, along with its companion work '' The States and Empir ...
'') published in 1657, nearly two years after his death. Without Henri Le Bret, who wrote the biographical information, his country childhood, his military engagement, the injuries it caused, his prowess as a swordsman, the circumstances of his death and his supposed final conversion would remain unknown. Since 1862, when
Auguste Jal Auguste Jal (12 April 1795, in Lyon – 5 April 1873) was a French author who wrote on maritime archaeology and history. Biography He was educated at the naval school in Brest, France, Brest, and led a company of the cadets in the defense of Pari ...
revealed that the "Lord of Bergerac" was Parisian and not Gascon, research in parish registries and notarial records by a small number of researchers, in particular Madeleine Alcover of
Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...
, has allowed the public to know more about his genealogy, his family, his home in Paris and those of some of his friends, but has revealed no new documents that support or refute the essentials of Le Bret's account or fill the gaps in his narrative.Consider what Madeleine Alcover has written in the '' « Biographie » de Cyrano de Bergerac'': "It was necessary to renounce a kind of writing where the author presents to the readers as 'facts' purely subjective assertions; that kind of writing, known in
Narratology Narratology is the study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect human perception. The term is an anglicisation of French ''narratologie'', coined by Tzvetan Todorov (''Grammaire du Décaméron'', 1969). Its theoretica ...
as characteristic of the infallible and omniscient narrator, is totally misplaced in a biography. The readers must always be able to distinguish the content of a document from the interpretation that is made of it; the lack of documentation from a hypothesis (more or less well founded…)"


Family

Savinien II de Cyrano was the son of Abel I de Cyrano, lord of Mauvières (156?-1648), counsel (''avocat'') of the
Parliament of Paris The ''Parlement'' of Paris () was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. Parlements were judicial, rather than legislative, bodies and were composed of magistrates. Though not representative bodies in the p ...
, and of Espérance Bellanger (1586-164?), "daughter of deceased nobleman Estienne Bellanger, Counsellor of the King and Treasurer of his Finances".


Ancestors

His paternal grandfather, Savinien I de Cyrano (15??-1590), was probably born into a notable family from
Sens Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km southeast from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second la ...
Saint Savinian is the name of the first archbishop of Sens. in
Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...
. Documents describe him in turn as a "merchant and burgher of Paris" (''« marchand et bourgeois de Paris »'' 20 May 1555), "(sea-)fish merchant to the King" (''« vendeur de poisson de mer pour le Roy »'') in several other documents in following years, and finally "Royal counsellor" (''« conseiller du Roi, maison et couronne de France »'' 7 April 1573). In Paris, on 9April 1551, he married Anne Le Maire, daughter of Estienne Le Maire and Perrette Cardon, who died in 1616. They are known to have had four children: Abel (the writer's father), Samuel (15??-1646), Pierre (15??-1626) and Anne (15??-1652). Of his maternal grandfather, Estienne Bellanger, "Financial Controller of the Parisian general revenue" (''« contrôleur des finances en la recette générale de Paris »''), and of his background, we know almost nothing. We know more about his wife, Catherine Millet, whose father, Guillaume II Millet, Lord of Caves, was secretary of the King's finances, and whose grandfather, Guillaume I Millet (149?-1563), qualified in medicine in 1518, was doctor to three kings in succession ( Francis I,
Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...
and
Francis II Francis II may refer to: * Francis II, Duke of Brittany (1433–1488) * Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua (1466–1519), ruler of the Italian city of Mantua * Francis II of France (1544–1560), king of France * Francis II, Duke of Lorraine ...
). He married Catherine Valeton, daughter of a
property tax A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or Wealth t ...
collector from
Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
, Audebert Valeton, who, accused of involvement in the
Affair of the Placards The Affair of the Placards () was an incident in which anti-Catholic posters appeared in public places in Paris and in four major provincial cities, Blois, Rouen, Tours and Orléans, in the night of the 17 to 18 October 1534. One of the posters ...
, was "burned alive on wood taken from his house" on 21 January 1535 at the crossroads of ''la Croix du Trahoir'' (the intersection of the Rue de l'Arbre-Sec and the
Rue Saint-Honoré The Rue Saint-Honoré () is a street in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. It is named after the collegial , situated in ancient times within the cloisters of Saint-Honoré. The street, on which are located a number of museums and upscal ...
), in front of the ''Pavillon des singes'', where Molière lived almost a century later.


Parents

Espérance Bellanger and Abel I de Cyrano were married on 3September 1612 at the church of
St-Gervais-et-St-Protais Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais () is a Roman Catholic parish church located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, on Place Saint-Gervais in the Marais district, east of City Hall (Hôtel de Ville). The current church was built between 1494 and 1657, ...
. She was at least twenty-six years old;She was baptised on 11June 1586 at the church of
St-Gervais-et-St-Protais Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais () is a Roman Catholic parish church located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, on Place Saint-Gervais in the Marais district, east of City Hall (Hôtel de Ville). The current church was built between 1494 and 1657, ...
.
he was about forty-five.The testamentary executors accounts show that, several days before his death in January 1648, Abel de Cyrano said he was "older than eighty years". Therefore he was born before 1568. Their marriage contract, signed the previous 12July at the office of Master Denis Feydeau, counsellor, secretary and king's notary, second cousin of the bride, was only published in the year 2000 by Madeleine Alcover, who minutely traced the fate of the witnesses (and more particularly their links with pious milieus) and noted that many of them "had entered the worlds of high finance, the ''
noblesse de robe Under the Ancien Régime of France, the Nobles of the Robe or Nobles of the Gown () were French aristocrats whose rank came from holding certain judicial or administrative posts. As a rule, the positions did not of themselves give the holder a t ...
'', of the aristocracy (including the Court) and even the ''
noblesse d'épée The Nobles of the Sword () were the noblemen of the oldest class of nobility in France dating from the Middle Ages and the early modern period, and arguably still in existence by descent. It was originally the knightly class whose members owed m ...
''".


His father's library

In 1911 Jean Lemoine made known the inventory of Abel de Cyrano's worldly goods. His library, relatively poorly stocked (126 volumes), testifies to his schooling as a jurist and to an open curiosity: a taste for languages and ancient literature, the great humanists of the Renaissance (
Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...
, Rabelais,
Juan Luis Vives Juan Luis Vives y March (; ; ; ; 6 March 6 May 1540) was a Spaniards, Spanish (Valencian people, Valencian) scholar and Renaissance humanist who spent most of his adult life in the southern Habsburg Netherlands. His beliefs on the soul, insigh ...
), knowledge of Italian, interest in the sciences. On the religious side, one notices the presence of two Bibles, of an Italian
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
and the Prayers of St. Basil in
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
, but no pious works. There is no object of that kind (engraving, painting, statue, crucifix) amongst the other inventoried items, but in contrast "twelve small paintings of portraits of gods and goddesses" and "four wax figures: one of Venus and Cupid, another of a woman pulling a thorn, one of a
flageolet __NOTOC__ The flageolet is a woodwind instrument and a member of the family of fipple, duct flutes that includes Recorder (musical instrument), recorders and tin whistles. There are two basic forms of the instrument: the French, having four fing ...
player and one of an ashamed nude woman". Finally, one notes the presence of several books by well-known Protestants: the ''Discours politiques et militaires'' ("Political and Military Discourse") of
François de la Noue François de la Noue (1531 – August 4, 1591), called Bras-de-Fer (Iron Arm), was one of the Huguenot captains of the 16th century. He was born near Nantes in 1531, of an ancient Breton family. He served in Italy under Marshal Brissac, and in th ...
, two volumes of
George Buchanan George Buchanan (; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth-century Scotland produced." His ideology of re ...
, the ''Dialectique'' of
Pierre de La Ramée Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
, the ''Alphabet de plusieurs sortes de lettres'' ("Alphabet of different kinds of letters") by master calligrapher Pierre Hamon and ''La Vérité de la religion chrétienne'' ("The Truth of the Christian Religion") by
Philippe Duplessis-Mornay Philippe de Mornay (5 November 1549 – 11 November 1623), seigneur du Plessis Marly, usually known as Du-Plessis-Mornay or Mornay Du Plessis, was a French Protestant writer and member of the anti-monarchist ''Monarchomachs, Monarchomaques''. ...
, whose presence confirms that Abel spent his younger years in
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
surroundings.


Siblings

Espérance and Abel I had at least six children: * Denis, baptised at the church of Saint-Eustache on 31 March 1614 by Anne Le Maire, his grandmother, and Denis Feydeau, financier. He studied Theology at the Sorbonne and died in the 1640s; * Antoine, baptized at Saint-Eustache on 11 February 1616 by his paternal aunt, Anne Cyrano, and a godfather who is not named in the baptismal register discovered by
Auguste Jal Auguste Jal (12 April 1795, in Lyon – 5 April 1873) was a French author who wrote on maritime archaeology and history. Biography He was educated at the naval school in Brest, France, Brest, and led a company of the cadets in the defense of Pari ...
, but who might have been the financier Antoine Feydeau (1573–1628), younger brother of Denis. Died at a young age; * Honoré, baptized at Saint-Eustache on 3July 1617 by Honoré Barentin, ''trésorier des parties casuelles'', and an unnamed godmother. Died at a young age; * Savinien II (1619–1655), * Abel II, born around 1624,In two documents from January and February 1649 concerning the succession of Abel I de Cyrano, Abel II is said to be "of the age of emancipation, progressing under the authority of the said Savinien de Cyrano, his brother and guardian" (« émancipé d'âge, procédant sous l'autorité de Savinien dudit Cyrano, son frère et curateur »). who took the title "Lord of Mauvières" after the death of his father in 1648; * Catherine, whose date of birth is not known and who died in the early years of the following century, having become a nun at the convent of the ''Filles de la Croix (de Paris)'' ("Daughters of the Cross (Paris)") in the Rue de Charonne in 1641, under the name Sister Catherine de Sainte-Hyacinthe.


Childhood and adolescence


Baptism and godparents

The historian Auguste Jal discovered the baptism of the (then) supposed Gascon in the 1860s:
Finally, after long exertion, I knew that Abel Cyrano had left the neighbourhood of Saint-Eustache for that of Saint-Sauveur, and that Espérance Bellanger had given birth in this new dwelling to a boy whose baptismal record is as follows: "The sixth of March one thousand six hundred and nineteen, Savinien, son of Abel de Cyrano, squire, Lord of Mauvières, and of the lady Espérance Bellenger (''sic''), the godfather, nobleman Antoine Fanny, King's Counsellor and Auditor in his
Court of Finances Under the French monarchy, the Courts of Accounts (in French ''Chambres des comptes'', ) were sovereign courts specialising in financial affairs. The Court of Accounts in Paris was the oldest and the forerunner of today's French Court of Audi ...
, of this parish, the godmother the lady Marie Fédeau (''sic''), wife of nobleman Master Louis Perrot, Counsellor and Secretary to the King, Household and Crown of France, of the parish of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois". This son of Abel de Cyrano who was not given the name of his godfather, Antoine, because he had a brother of that name, born in 1616, but was named Savinien in memory of his grandfather, who could doubt that this was the Savinien Cyrano who was born, according to the biographers, at the chateau of Bergerac in or around 1620?
Thus Espérance Bellanger was thirty-three years old, Abel de Cyrano around fifty-two. The surname ''Fanny'' appears nowhere in the very complete study of ''La Chambre des comptes de Paris'' ("Court of Finances of Paris") published by Count H. Coustant d'Yanville in 1875 (or for that matter in any other French document of the 17th century). In 1898, Viscount Oscar de Poli suggested that it must have been a transcription error and proposed reading it as ''Lamy''. An Antoine Lamy had actually been accepted as an auditor of finances on 2September 1602, a year before Pierre de Maupeou, Espérance Bellanger's cousin and son-in-law of Denis Feydeau who was a witness to the marriage of Savinien's parents in 1612. His wife, Catherine Vigor, associate of
Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was an Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622, Vincent was appointed as chaplain to the galleys. ...
, would become President of the ''Confrérie de la Charité de Gentilly'' ("Charitable Fellowship of Gentilly") where the couple set up a mission in 1634. She could well be the godmother of Catherine de Cyrano. Marie Feydeau, cosponsor with Antoine Lamy, was the sister of Denis and Antoine Feydeau and the wife of Louis (or Loys) Perrot (15??-1625), who, apart from his titles of "King's Counsellor and Secretary", also had that of "King's Interpreter of Foreign Languages".


Mauvières and Bergerac

In 1622, Abel de Cyrano left Paris with his family and went to settle on his lands at Mauvières and Bergerac in the ''
Vallée de Chevreuse Vallée de Chevreuse (, ''Chevreuse Valley'') is the valley of the Yvette River in the Yvelines and Essonne departments. It encompasses the communes around Chevreuse (Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, Choisel, Dampierre-en-Yvelines, Dampierre, etc.) w ...
'', which had come to him in part after the death of his mother in 1616. His possessions, situated on the banks of the
Yvette River The Yvette () is a small river in southern Île-de-France (France), left tributary of the Orge, which is a tributary of the Seine. It is long. Its source is in Les Essarts-le-Roi, north of Rambouillet, in the Yvelines department. Various communes ...
in the parish of
Saint-Forget Saint-Forget () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. The commune consists of three hamlets: Le Mesnil-Sevin, Haute-Beauce, and The Sablons. This small town is 30 kilometers from Paris. It ...
, had been purchased by Savinien I de Cyrano forty years earlier from Thomas de Fortboys, who had bought them himself in 1576 from Lord Dauphin de Bergerac (or Bergerat), whose ancestors had possessed them for more than a century. When Savinien I de Cyrano acquired it, the domain of Mauvières consisted of "a habitable mansion…with a lower room, a cellar beneath, kitchen, pantry, an upper chamber, granaries, stables, barn, portal, all roofed with tiles, with courtyard, walled dovecote; mill, enclosed plot, garden and fishpond, the right of middle and low justice…". The estate of Bergerac, which adjoined Mauvières, "comprised a house with portal, courtyard, barn, hovel and garden, being an acre or thereabouts, plus forty-six and a half acres, of which thirty-six and a half were farmland and ten woodland, with the rights of middle and low justice".


Country schooling

It was in this rustic setting that the child grew up and in the neighbouring parish he learnt to read and write. His friend Le Bret recalls:
The education that we had together with a good country priest who took in boarders, made us friends from our most tender youth, and I remember the aversion he had from that time for one who seemed to him a shadow of Sidias, because, in the thoughts which that man could somewhat grasp, he believed him incapable of teaching him anything; so that he paid so little attention to his lessons and his corrections that his father, who was a fine old gentleman, fairly unconcerned for his children's education and overly credulous of this one's complaints, removed him rom the schoola little too suddenly and, without considering if his son would be better off elsewhere, he sent him to that city
aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...
where he left him, until the age of nineteen years, to his own devices.


Parisian adolescence

It is unknown at what age Savinien arrived in Paris. He may have been accommodated by his uncle Samuel de Cyrano in a large family residence in the Rue des Prouvaires, where his parents had lived up until 1618. In this theory, it was there that he was introduced to his cousin Pierre,Pierre II de Cyrano, Lord of Cassan. with whom, according to Le Bret, he would build a lasting friendship. He continued his secondary studies at an academy which remains unknown. It has long been maintained that he attended the
Collège de Beauvais The College of Beauvais (also known the College of Dormans-Beauvais) was in Paris in what is now the Rue Jean de Beauvais. At the end of the 17th century and at the beginning of the 18th century, it was one of the leading schools of France, educ ...
where the action of the comedy ''Le pédant joué'' takes place and whose principal, Jean Grangier would inspire the character of Granger, the pedant of ''Le pédant joué'', but his presence in June 1641 as a student of rhetoric at the ''Collège de Lisieux''
Charles Sorel Charles Sorel, sieur de Souvigny (c. 1602 – 7 March 1674) was a French novelist and general writer. Life Very little is known of his life except that in 1635 he was historiographer of France. He wrote on science, history and religion, ...
, who perhaps also studied there, made vitriolic portrait of it in his ''Francion''.
(see below), has encouraged more recent historians to revise that opinion. In 1636, his father sold Mauvières and Bergerac to Antoine Balestrier, Lord of Arbalestre, and returned to Paris to live with his family in "a modest dwelling at the top of the great Rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques close to the Crossing" (parish of Saint-Jacques and Saint-Philippe), a short distance from the ''Collège de Lisieux''. But there is no certainty that Savinien went to live with them.


A slippery slope

Le Bret continues his story:
That age when nature is most easily corrupted, and that great liberty he had to only do that which seemed good to him, brought him to a dangerous weakness (''penchant''), which I dare say I stopped…
Historians and biographers do not agree on this ''penchant'' which threatened to corrupt Cyrano's nature. As an example of the romantic imagination of some biographers, Frédéric Lachèvre wrote:
Against an embittered and discontented father, Cyrano promptly forgot the way to his father's house. Soon he was counted among the gluttons and hearty drinkers of the best inns, with them he gave himself up to jokes of questionable taste, usually following prolonged libations…He also picked up the deplorable habit of gambling. This kind of life could not continue indefinitely, especially since Abel de Cyrano had become completely deaf to his son's repeated requests for funds.
Forty years later, two editors added to the realism and local colour:
Since nothing binds Cyrano to the humble lodgings of the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques to which the uncertainties of fate condemned his family, he gives himself over entirely to Paris, to its streets and, according to the words of one of his close friends, "to its excrescences" (''à ses verrues'').It seems that the author here means
Charles Sorel Charles Sorel, sieur de Souvigny (c. 1602 – 7 March 1674) was a French novelist and general writer. Life Very little is known of his life except that in 1635 he was historiographer of France. He wrote on science, history and religion, ...
, whose biographer, Émile Roy, wrote in 1891 that he knew Paris particularly well and "described it all, even the 'excrescences'". But the expression is an invention of the 19th century and appears nowhere in the works of Sorel.
He drinks, diligently frequents the Rue Glatigny, called Val d'amour, because of the women who sell pleasure there, gambles, roams the sleeping city to frighten the bourgeois or forge signs, provokes the watch, gets into debt and links himself with that literary Bohemia which centered around
Tristan L'Hermite :''See also François Tristan l'Hermite'' Tristan l'Hermite (died ) was a French political and military figure of the late Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to ...
and Saint-Amant and cultivated the memory of Théophile and his impious lyricism.


Life and works

He was the son of Abel de Cyrano, lord of Mauvières and Bergerac, and Espérance Bellanger. He received his first education from a country priest and had for a fellow pupil his friend and future biographer Henri Lebret. He then proceeded to Paris and the heart of the
Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (, ) is an urban university campus in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, t ...
, to the college de Dormans-Beauvais, where he had as master Jean Grangier, whom he afterwards ridiculed in his comedy ''Le Pédant joué'' (''The Pedant Tricked'') of 1654. At the age of nineteen, he entered a corps of the guards, serving in the campaigns of 1639 and 1640. As a minor nobleman and officer he was notorious for his dueling and boasting. His unique past allowed him to make unique contributions to French art. One author, Ishbel Addyman, varies from other biographers and claims that he was not a Gascon
aristocrat The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...
, but a descendant of a Sardinian fishmonger, and that the appellation Bergerac stemmed from a small estate near Paris where he was born, not in Gascony, and that he may have suffered tertiary
syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...
. She also claims that he may have been
homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...
and around 1640 became the lover of
Charles Coypeau d'Assoucy Charles Coypeau (16 October 1605 Paris – 29 October 1677, Paris) was a French musician and burlesque poet. In the mid-1630s, he began using the ''nom de plume'' D'Assouci or Dassoucy. Life From the time he was eight or nine, Charles Coypeau ...
,Addyman, Ishbel, ''Cyrano: The Life and Legend of Cyrano de Bergerac'', (Simon & Schuster, 2008), a writer and musician, until around 1653, when they became engaged in a bitter rivalry. This led to Bergerac sending d'Assoucy
death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a d ...
s that compelled him to leave Paris. The quarrel extended to a series of
satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...
texts by both men. Bergerac wrote ''Contre Soucidas'' (an
anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...
of his enemy's name) and ''Contre un ingrat'' (Against an ingrate), while D'Assoucy counterattacked with ''Le Combat de Cyrano de Bergerac avec le singe de Brioché, au bout du Pont-Neuf'' (The battle of Cyrano de Bergerac with the monkey of Brioché, at the end of the Pont-Neuf). He also associated with
Théophile de Viau Théophile de Viau (159025 September 1626) was a French Baroque poet and dramatist. Life Born at Clairac, near Agen in the Lot-et-Garonne and raised as a Huguenot, Théophile de Viau participated in the Huguenot rebellions in Guyenne from 1615– ...
, the French poet and
libertine A libertine is a person questioning and challenging most moral principles, such as responsibility or Human sexual activity, sexual restraints, and will often declare these traits as unnecessary, undesirable or evil. A libertine is especially som ...
. He is said to have left the
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
and returned to Paris to pursue literature, producing tragedies cast in the orthodox classical mode. The model for the character Roxane in Rostand's play ''
Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th ce ...
'' was Bergerac's cousin, who lived with his sister, Catherine de Bergerac, at the Convent of the Daughter of the Cross. As in the play, Bergerac did fight at the
Siege of Arras A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characte ...
in 1640, a battle of the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
between French and Spanish forces in France (though this was not the Battle of Arras, fought fourteen years later). During the siege he suffered a neck wound from a sword during a
sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warf ...
by the Spanish defenders, a day before the surrender of the Spanish troops and the end of the siege. One of his confrères in the battle was the Baron Christian of Neuvillette, who married Cyrano's cousin. However, the plotline of Rostand's play involving Roxane and Christian is entirely fictional. Cyrano was a pupil of the French
polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...
Pierre Gassendi Pierre Gassendi (; also Pierre Gassend, Petrus Gassendi, Petrus Gassendus; 22 January 1592 – 24 October 1655) was a French philosopher, Catholic priest, astronomer, and mathematician. While he held a church position in south-east France, he a ...
, a
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...
of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
who tried to reconcile
Epicurean Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious s ...
atomism Atomism () is a natural philosophy proposing that the physical universe is composed of fundamental indivisible components known as atoms. References to the concept of atomism and its Atom, atoms appeared in both Ancient Greek philosophy, ancien ...
with
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
. Cyrano de Bergerac's works ''L'Autre Monde: ou les États et Empires de la Lune'' ("''
Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon ''The Other World: Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon'' () was the first of three satirical novels written by Cyrano de Bergerac. It was published posthumously in 1657 and, along with its companion work '' The States and Empir ...
''", published posthumously, 1657) and ''Les États et Empires du Soleil'' (''The States and Empires of the Sun'', 1662) are classics of early modern
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
. In the former, Cyrano travels to the Moon using rockets powered by firecrackers (it may be the earliest description of a space flight by use of a vessel that has rockets attached) and meets the inhabitants. The Moon-men have four legs, firearms that shoot game and cook it, and talking earrings used to educate children. His mixture of science and romance in the last two works furnished a model for many subsequent writers, among them
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...
,
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
and probably
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
.
Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage o ...
and
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...
freely borrowed ideas from ''Le Pédant joué''. Accused of plagirizing ''Le Pédant joué'', Molière supposedly replied, "Il m'est permis de reprendre mon bien où je le trouve" ("I am allowed to take back my property where I find it.").


Death

The play suggests that he was injured by a falling wooden beam in 1654 while entering the house of his patron, the Duc D'Arpajon. However the academic and editor of Cyrano's works Madeleine Alcover uncovered a contemporary text which suggests an attack on the Duke's carriage in which a member of his household was injured. It is as yet inconclusive whether or not Cyrano's death was a result of the injury, or an unspecified disease. He died over a year later on July 28, 1655, aged 36, at the house of his cousin, Pierre de Cyrano, in
Sannois Sannois () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 15.2 km (9.4 miles) from the center of Paris, in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. Population Transport Public transpor ...
. He was buried in a
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
in Sannois. However, there is strong evidence to support the theory that his death was a result of a botched assassination attempt as well as further damage to his health caused by a period of confinement in a private asylum, orchestrated by his enemies, who succeeded in enlisting the help of his own brother Abel de Cyrano.


In fiction and media


Rostand

In 1897, the French
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
Edmond Rostand Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (, , ; 1 April 1868 – 2 December 1918) was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism and is known best for his 1897 play ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. Rostand's romantic plays contrasted with th ...
published a play, ''
Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th ce ...
'', telling of the life of a fictionalized Cyrano with an abnormally large nose. This play, which became Rostand's most successful work, revolves around Cyrano's love for the beautiful Roxane, whom he is obliged to woo on behalf of a more conventionally handsome but less articulate friend, Christian de Neuvillette. The play has been made into operas and adapted for cinema several times and reworked in other literary forms and as a ballet.


Other authors

''The Adventures of Cyrano De Bergerac'', by
Louis Gallet Louis Gallet (14 February 1835 in Valence, Drôme – 16 October 1898) was a French writer of operatic libretti, plays, romances, memoirs, pamphlets, and innumerable articles, who is remembered above all for his adaptations of fiction —and ...
, was published in English by Jarrolds Publishers (London) in 1900. It bears no resemblance to Rostand's play apart from the characteristics of the de Bergerac character. Cyrano de Bergerac served as an inspiration for the creation of Saint-Savin, one of the main characters of
Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian Medieval studies, medievalist, philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular ...
's novel ''
The Island of the Day Before ''The Island of the Day Before'' () is a 1994 historical fiction novel by Umberto Eco set in the 17th century during the historical search for the secret of longitude. The central character is Roberto della Griva, an Italian nobleman stranded on ...
''. In
A. L. Kennedy Alison Louise Kennedy (born 22 October 1965) is a Scots writer, academic and stand-up comedian. She writes novels, short stories and non-fiction, and is known for her dark tone and her blending of realism and fantasy. She contributes columns an ...
's novel ''So I Am Glad'', the narrator finds de Bergerac has appeared in her modern-day house share. In
Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...
's novel ''
Glory Road ''Glory Road'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (July – September 1963) and published in hardcover the same year. It was nominated for ...
'', Oscar Gordon fights a character who is not named, but is obviously Cyrano.
John Shirley John Shirley (born February 10, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of horror, fantasy, science fiction, noir fiction, westerns, and songwriting. He has also written one historical novel, a western about Wyatt Earp, ''Wyatt in Wichita'', and ...
published a story about Cyrano called "Cyrano and the Two Plumes" in a French anthology; it was reprinted at ''The Freezine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''. The novel by Adam Browne, ''Pyrotechnicon: Being a TRUE ACCOUNT of Cyrano de Bergerac's FURTHER ADVENTURES among the STATES and EMPIRES of the STARS, by HIMSELF (Dec'd)'', was a sequel to Cyrano's science fiction, published by Coeur de Leon in 2012. ''The Lost Sonnets of Cyrano de Bergerac: A Poetic Fiction'' by James L. Carcioppolo. Published in English by Lost Sonnet Publishing (Benicia, California) in 1998. Fiction poetry with the premise that Cyrano wrote a sequence of 57 sonnets during the last year of his life. Heavily annotated. Cyrano de Bergerac is the leading male character in
Charles Lecocq Alexandre Charles Lecocq (; 3 June 183224 October 1918) was a French composer, known for his opérettes and opéra comique, opéras comiques. He became the most prominent successor to Jacques Offenbach in this sphere, and enjoyed considerable su ...
's 1896
opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular ''opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Théâtre de la foire, Fair Theatres of St Germain and S ...
'' Ninette''."The Drama in Paris", ''The Era'', 7 March 1896, p. 13


Film

Most recently, his likeness was the center of a musical romantic drama, '' Cyrano'', adapted as a screenplay by
Erica Schmidt Erica Schmidt (born 1975) is an American theatre director, playwright, and screenwriter best known for writing the BAFTA- and Academy Award-nominated 2021 film '' Cyrano'', based on her 2018 stage musical of the same name. The musical premiered ...
who had previously written the script as a stage musical of the same name. Schmidt's husband,
Peter Dinklage Peter Hayden Dinklage (; born June 11, 1969) is an American actor. Portraying Tyrion Lannister on the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), Dinklage won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama S ...
, starred as a reimagined Cyrano who is short-statured rather than having a large nose due to Dinklage's
dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition of people and animals marked by unusually small size or short stature. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dwarfism is . '' ...
. The film was widely received with positive reviews and went on to be nominated for awards at the
79th Golden Globe Awards The 79th Golden Globe Awards honored the best in 2021 in film, film and 2021 in American television, American television of 2021, as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The ceremony took place privately on January 9, 2022 ...
(including Best Actor for Dinklage), four nominations at the
75th British Academy Film Awards The 75th British Academy Film Awards, also known as the British Academy Film Awards, BAFTAs, were held on 13 March 2022 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2021 in film, 2021. Presented by the Br ...
and a Best Costume Design nod at the
94th Academy Awards The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The awards were scheduled after their usual late February dat ...
. There is also a popular French film, ''
Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th ce ...
'', starring
Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor. An icon of French cinema, considered a world star in the same way as Alain Delon or Brigitte Bardot, he has completed over 250 films since 1967, most of which as ...
, which earned him a Best Actor nomination at the
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...
. Additionally, Cyrano de Bergerac is the subject of a 1925 film and a 1950 film; the latter of which earned
José Ferrer José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hi ...
both an
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
and a
Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
for Best Actor. He also won a
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
for the same role on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
, a few years prior to making the film. ''
Roxanne (film) ''Roxanne'' is a 1987 American romantic comedy film directed by Fred Schepisi and starring Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah. It is a modern retelling of Edmond Rostand's 1897 verse play ''Cyrano de Bergerac (play), Cyrano de Bergerac''. Plot Cha ...
'', a 1987 film by
Fred Schepisi Frederic Alan Schepisi ( ;Pauline Kael, Kael, Pauline (1984). ''Taking It All In''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 55. born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. His credits include ''The Cha ...
and starring
Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...
(with a prosthetic nose), is a modern retelling of the story. Another rendition is a gender-flipped
romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...
interpretation, ''
The Truth About Cats & Dogs ''The Truth About Cats & Dogs'' is a 1996 American romantic comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann and written by Audrey Wells. It stars Janeane Garofalo, Uma Thurman, Ben Chaplin and Jamie Foxx. The story is a modern reinterpretation of the 189 ...
'' (1996), starring
Janeane Garofalo Janeane Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on Air America Radio's '' The Majority Report''. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen Act ...
as a
veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...
/
radio talk show Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews wi ...
host (and the Cyrano in question), and
Uma Thurman Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 cover ...
as her model friend/
facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of r ...
.


Bibliography


Original editions

* * * * * * *


Translations

* * * * A
Project Gutenberg
* *       (The dream is a translation of ''D'un songe'', first published in ''Lettres diverses''.) * A
Project Gutenberg


Critical editions

* * * ::L'Autre monde: I. Les Estats et Empires de la Lune (''texte intégral, publié pour la première fois, d'après les manuscrits de Paris et de Munich, avec les variantes de l'imprimé de 1657''). — II. Les Estats et Empires du Soleil (''d'après l'édition originale de 1662'') ::The Other World: I. The States and Empires of the Moon (''full text published for the first time following the Paris and Munich manuscripts including variations from the 1657 edition''). — II. The States and Empires of the Sun (''following the original edition of 1662'') * ::''Le Pédant joué'', comédie, texte du Ms. de la Bibl. nat., avec les variantes de l'imprimé de 1654. — ''La Mort d'Agrippine'', tragédie. — ''Les Lettres'', texte du Ms. de la Bibl. nat. avec les var. de 1654. — Les Mazarinades: ''Le Ministre d'Etat flambé''; ''Le Gazettier des-interessé'', etc. — ''Les Entretiens pointus''. — Appendice: ''Le Sermon du curé de Colignac'', etc... ::''The Pedant tricked'', comedy, text from Mss. in the National Library with variations from the edition of 1654. — ''The Death of Agrippina'', tragedy. — ''The Letters'', text from Mss. in the National Library with variations from 1654 edition. — The Mazarinades: ''The Minister of State roasted''; ''The disinterested Gazetteer'', etc. — ''The sharp interviews''. — Appendix: ''The sermon of the curate of Colignac'', etc... * ::Includes an afterword, a dictionary of characters, chronological tables and notes. Illustrated with engravings taken from scientific works of the time. * * * ::Includes an introduction, chronology and bibliography * * :''Republished as:'' :* * * * ::Introduction, chronology, notes, documentation, bibliography and lexicon by Bérengère Parmentier.


See also

* Asteroid
3582 Cyrano Year 358 ( CCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Datianus and Cerealis (or, less frequently, year 1111 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 358 for ...
, named after de Bergerac


Notes


References


Biographies

* * * * Rogers, Cameron (1929). ''Cyrano: Swordsman, Libertin, and Man-of-Letters.'' New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company. * * * * * * *


Studies of Cyrano or his work


Madeleine Alcover

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Guilhem Armand

* * *


Pierre-Antonin Brun

* *


Jean Lemoine

* *


Jacques Prévot

* *


Others

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

* * * *
Le Vrai Cyrano de Bergerac
nbsp;– Biography
Cyrano(s) de Bergerac
nbsp;– Information on fictional portrayals compared to the real person

nbsp;– annotated English language edition
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cyrano de Bergerac 1619 births 1655 deaths 17th-century French dramatists and playwrights 17th-century French male writers 17th-century French novelists French duellists French male novelists French military personnel of the Thirty Years' War French satirists French science fiction writers Writers from Paris