Research topic: Joachim Du Bellay

Joachim Du Bellay , 1522?-1560, French poet of the Pléiade (see under Pleiad ). He wrote their manifesto, La Deffence et illustration de la langue francoyse (1549), which urges the study and emulation of the classics and the use of French as the literary language. His poetic works, broadly imitative of Latin and Italian works, include a collection of sonnets, L'Olive (1549); and Divers jeux rustiques (1558). He served (1553-57) in Rome as secretary to his cousin, Cardinal Du Bellay; Les Regrets (1558) and Les Antiquités de Rome (1558) contain some of his finest... Read more