Clémence de Bourges

Clémence de Bourges (c.1530 – c.1563) was a French poet and noblewoman, and a literary figure of the Renaissance.

A Scepter of Clémence de Bourges

Clémence was the daughter of Claude de Bourges, seigneur of Mions in the Dauphiné; Claude was the lieutenant-general of finance for Piedmont and an official of the city of Lyon. Clémence belonged to the literary circle that gathered around Maurice Scève, Lyon's leading poet.[1] Her own work has not survived, though it was still known in the mid-18th century,[2] and she is now remembered mainly through the praises recorded by her contemporaries.[3]

Clémence had been due to marry Jean du Peyrat, a Lyonnaise nobleman who died during the siege of Beaurepaire by Protestant forces in 1561/2; it is claimed that she afterwards died of grief and shock.[4]

Another female poet of the era, Louise Labé, dedicated her collected works to Clémence in 1555, subsequently lamenting her early death,[5] and Claude de Rubys, who also knew her, referred to her as "ceste perle vrayement orientale entre les damoiselles de Lyon".[6] Louise's "epistre" to Clémence makes it clear that they were firm friends of long standing, despite apparent differences in age and social status.[7]

References
  1. "Maurice Scève". Oxford Bibliographies. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  2. Histoire litteraire des femmes francoises, ou lettres historiques et critiques (etc.). Lacombe. 1769. p. 102.
  3. Rainer Maria Rilke (2016). The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. Oxford University Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-19-964603-6.
  4. "Petit historique du château de Beaurepaire" (PDF). Beaurepaire en Bresse. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  5. Judith Thurman (August 1975). I became alone: five women poets, Sappho, Louise Labé, Ann Bradstreet, Juana Ines de la Cruz, Emily Dickinson. Atheneum. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-689-30487-3.
  6. Mireille Huchon; Louise Labé (2006). Louise Labé : Une créature de papier. Librairie Droz. p. 62. ISBN 978-2-600-00534-0.
  7. Deborah Lesko Baker; Tom Conley (1996). The Subject of Desire: Petrarchan Poetics and the Female Voice in Louise Labé. Purdue University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-55753-088-2.
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