- Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples
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Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples [Fabry, Fabri, also known by his
Latin ized name Jacobus Faber Stapulensis.] (c. 1450 – 1536) was a Frenchtheologian and humanist. He was a precursor of theProtestant movement inFrance .Although he anticipated some ideas that were important to the
Protestant Reformation , Lefèvre remained aRoman Catholic throughout his life, and sought to reform the church without separating from it. Several of his books were condemned as heretical, and he spent some time in exile. He was, however, a favorite of theking of France , Francis I, and enjoyed his protection.Life
He was born of humble parents at
Étaples , inPas de Calais ,Picardy . He appears later to have been possessed of considerable means. He had already been ordained priest when he entered theuniversity of Paris for higher education.Hermonymus of Sparta was his master in Greek.He visited Italy before 1486, for he heard the lectures of
Argyropulus , who died in that year; he formed a friendship withPaulus Aemilius of Verona . In 1492 he again travelled inItaly , studying inFlorence ,Rome andVenice , making himself familiar with the writings of Aristotle, though greatly influenced by the Platonic philosophy. Returning to theUniversity of Paris , he became professor in thecollege of Cardinal Lemoine . Among his famous pupils wereF. W. Vatable andGuillaume Farel ; his connexion with the latter drew him closer to the Calvinistic side of the movement of reform. Farel joined Lefèvre atMeaux to help in the training of preachers, before Farel left forSwitzerland where he was one of the founders of theReformed churches .In 1507 he took up his residence in the Benedictine
Abbey of St Germain des Prés , near Paris; this was due to his connexion with the family of Briconnet (one of whom was the superior), especially with Guillaume Briçonnet, cardinalbishop of Saint-Malo , father ofGuillaume Briçonnet , the laterbishop of Meaux . He now began to give himself to Biblical studies, the first-fruit of which was his "Quintuplex Psalterium: Gallicum, Romanum, Hebraicum, Vetus, Concilialum" (1509); the "Conciliatum" was his own version. This was followed by "S. Pauli Epistolae xiv. ex vulgata edition, adjecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum commentariis" (1512), a work of great independence and judgment.His "De Maria Magdalena et triduo Christi disceptatio" (1517), which argued that Mary the sister of Lazarus, Mary Magdalene and the penitent woman who anointed Christ's feet were different people, provoked violent controversy and was condemned by the Sorbonne (1521) and
Saint John Fisher . [CathEncy|wstitle=Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples] He had left Paris during the whole of 1520, and, removing to Meaux, was appointed (May 1 ,1523 ) vicar-general to Bishop Briconnet, and published his French version of theNew Testament (1523). This (contemporary with Luther's German version) has been the basis of all subsequent translations into French. From this, in the same year, he extracted the versions of the Gospels and Epistles "a l'usage du diocese de Meaux." The prefaces and notes to both these expressed the view thatHoly Scripture is the only rule of doctrine, and that justification is by faith alone.He incurred much hostility, but was protected by Francis I and his intellectual sister Marguerite d'Angouleme. Francis being in captivity after the
battle of Pavia (February 25 ,1525 ), Lefèvre was condemned and his works suppressed by commission of theparlement ; these measures were quashed on the return of Francis some months later. He issued "Le Psautier de David" (1525), and was appointed royal librarian at Blois (1526); his version of thePentateuch appeared two years later. His complete version of theBible (1530), on the basis ofJerome 'sVulgate , took the same place as his version of theNew Testament . The publication and its revised edition based on the Hebrew and the Greek texts were printed byMerten de Keyser inAntwerp in 1534. [Paul Arblaster, Gergely Juhász, Guido Latré (eds) "Tyndale's Testament", Turnhout: Brepols, 2002, ISBN 2-503-51411-1, pp. 130-135.] Marguerite (now queen ofNavarre ) led him to take refuge (1531) at Nerac from persecution. He is said to have been visited (1533) byJohn Calvin on his flight from France. He died in 1536 or 1537.Works
Among his Aristotelian works are included:
* "Paraphrases of the Whole of Aristotle's Natural Philosophy" (1492)
* "Introduction to the Metaphysics" (1494)
* "Introduction to the Nicomachean Ethics" (1494)
* "Logical Introductions" (1496)
* "Politics" (1506).Also the publication, with critical apparatus, of Boetius, "De Arithmetica".,
He was a prolific
translator of theBible . He completed a translation of theOld Testament in 1528, and was famous for his French translation ofPsalms and thePauline epistles , which he finished early in his career. His completed translation of the entireChristian Bible , published in 1530, was the first in theFrench language .References
*"The Columbia History of Western Philosophy" (1999), Popkin (ed.), MJF Books.
*KH Graf, "Essai sur la vie et les ecrits" (1842)
*G. Bonet-Maury, inHerzog-Hauck 's "Realencyklopädie" (1898)
*1911Notes
ee also
*
Humanism in France
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