André, Bernard Andreas
ANDRÉ, BERNARD ANDREAS
augustinian poet and historiographer; b. Toulouse, France, c. 1450; d. London, England, after 1521. Although he was a doctor of civil and canon law, his fame was that of a poet and humanist. He went to England, perhaps c. 1485, and came under the patronage of Richard foxe, later bishop of Winchester. It was probably Foxe who introduced André to the court, where henry vii appointed him poet laureate and royal historiographer. André directed the education of Arthur, Prince of Wales, and possibly also that of the future henry viii. He wrote a life of Henry VII, begun in 1500 but never fully completed (ed. J. Gairdner, London 1858). Most of his writings are in Latin, although he has left a few French poems. His work, most of which is unedited, has value chiefly as a source of contemporary information, for its literary value is disputed. In official records André is frequently referred to as "the blind poet."
Bibliography: j. gairdner, The Dictionary of National Biography from the Earliest Times to 1900 1:398–399. f. roth, History of English Austin Friars 1249–1538 (New York 1961), v.2 Sources. a. palmieri, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques 2:1722–23.
[a. j. ennis]