Jacques Yver, seigneur de la Bigoterie and de Plaisance (c.1548 – 1571/72) Simonin, Michel, ed. ''Dictionnaire des lettres françaises - Le XVIe siècle.'' Article "Yver (Jacques)", pp. 1214–1215, Paris: Fayard, 2001. was a French writer of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

. His posthumous collection of tales mixed with verse, ''Le Printemps'', enjoyed an important publishing success, with 33 editions published from 1572 to 1635.

Biography

Yver was born in

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; ; ) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the urban area. Geography T ...

. His titles come from two small

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

s on the Sèvre river, near Niort. He went to school in

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

where he studied law and frequented the literary circles of the day. After trips to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and, perhaps, to the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

region, he returned home to find the region torn by the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

and appears to have joined the party of the " politiques". He appears to have been inspired by the translations of the stories of

Matteo Bandello Matteo Bandello ( 1480–1562) was an Italian writer, soldier, Dominican friar and bishop, best known for his novellas. His collection of 214 novellas made him the most popular short-story writer of his day. Biography Matteo Bandello was b ...

made by

François de Belleforest François de Belleforest (1530 – 1 January 1583) was a French writer, poet and translator of the Renaissance. He was born in Samatan, into a poor family, and his father (a soldier) was killed when he was seven. He spent some time in the cour ...

to write his own work.

The full title of his short story collection is (English: ''The Spring of Yver'' or, ''of Winter'', as Yver could also refer to ''hiver'') ''containing several stories told over five days.'' (Published in Paris and Antwerp, 1572). The work follows the
frame tale A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...
technique made famous by
Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was s ...
's ''
Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dante Alighieri's ''Comedy'' "''Divine''"), is a collection of ...
'' and
Marguerite de Navarre Marguerite de Navarre (, ''Marguerite d'Alençon''; 11 April 149221 December 1549), also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Margaret of Navarre, was a princess of France, Duchess of Alençon and Berry, and Queen of Navarre by her second mar ...
's ''
Heptaméron The ''Heptaméron'' is a collection of 72 short stories written in French by Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549), published posthumously in 1558. It has the form of a frame narrative and was inspired by ''The Decameron'' of Giovanni Boccacc ...
'': in a castle in
Saintonge Saintonge may refer to: County of Saintonge, a historical province of France on the Atlantic coast Saintonge (region), a region of France corresponding to the historical province * Saintonge ware, a medieval pottery type produced in Saintes reg ...
, a group of gentlemen and ladies (presented as real people, albeit under assumed names) gather together and tell each other five stories followed by debates on love. Each speaker maintains a different thesis on the nature of love and the culpability of the sexes. Four of the tales are tragic in nature (similar to the tales of Bandello and other "" popular in the period): * * * * The fifth tale is lighter in tone: * The work also includes verse passages, including (''Complaint on the Miseries of the Civil War'').

References

External links
*
Biography
on the site of the ''Encyclopédie Larousse'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Yver, Jacques 16th-century French writers 16th-century French male writers Renaissance humanists 1570s deaths 1540s births People from Niort French male writers French male short story writers French short story writers