THE ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME

(PIERRE DE BOURDEILLE)

(1527-1614)

Every historian of the Valois period is indebted to Brantôme for
preserving the atmosphere and detail of the brilliant life in which he
moved as a dashing courtier, a military adventurer, and a gallant
gentleman of high degree. He was not a professional scribe, nor a
student; but he took notes unconsciously, and in the evening of his life
turned back the pages of his memory to record the scenes through which
he had passed and the characters which he had known. He has been termed
the "valet de chambre" of history; nevertheless the anecdotes scattered
through his works will ever be treasured by all students and historians
of that age of luxury and magnificence, art and beauty, beneath which
lay the fermentation of great religious and political movements,
culminating in the struggle between the Huguenots and Catholics.

[Illustration: ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME]

Brantôme was the third son of the Vicomte de Bourdeille, a Périgord
nobleman, whose family had lived long in Guienne, and whose aristocratic
lineage was lost in myth. Upon the estate stood the Abbey of Brantôme,
founded by Charlemagne, and this Henry II. gave to young Pierre de
Bourdeille in recognition of the military deeds of his brother, Jean de
Bourdeille, who lost his life in service. Thereafter the lad was to sign
his name as the Reverend Father in God, Messire Pierre de Bourdeille,
Abbé de Brantôme. Born in the old château in 1527, he was destined for
the church, but abandoned this career for arms. At an early age he was