Bellay, Joachim du

(1522-1560)

   poet, scholar

   An influential figure of the French Renaissance, Joachim du Bellay was born in Liré. Abandoning a military career and under the influence of Peletier du Mans, he took up poetry. Inspired by the humanistic spirit of pierre de ronsard (whom he met in 1547), he studied under the Hellenist jean dorat (1547-49), then joined the Pléiade, the group of Renaissance poets named for the seven poets of ancient Alexandria. The group had as its goal the elevation of the French language and literature to the illustrious level of ancient Greek and Latin and of Italian. In 1549, Bellay wrote the Pléiade manifesto, La Défense et illustration de la langue française, and L'Olive, 115 sonnets inspired by the writings of Petrarch. Falling ill and almost deaf, Bellay went to Rome in 1553, where he studied for four years. upon his return to France, he wrote two more sonnet collections, Les Regrets (1558) and Les Antiquités du Rome (1558). In 1558 also appeared Divers Jeux rustiques, one of his most notable works. This was followed a year later by Discours du Roi and the satire La Poète courtisan.