Psalm singing
The reformers wished for congregational singing during services of worship. A new church music repertoire had to be created. In their services French-speaking reformed Churches gave much importance to psalm...
Loys Bourgeois (about 1510-1560)
The French musician Loys Bourgeois played a key role in preparing the Huguenot Psalter. He composed most of the Psalter tunes.
Claude Goudimel (about 1520-1572)
Claude Goudimel was one of the most important French composers of the XVIth century. He composed a polyphonic four-part version of the 150 psalms in the Geneva Psalter for singing...
Claude Le Jeune (about 1530-1600)
Claude Le Jeune was a court musician. Since he was attracted to Protestantism, he composed many polyphonic versions of the psalms.
Protestant music
The reformers urged for congregational hymn singing. They strongly supported musical creations to renew the repertoire, namely Chorales for the Lutheran Church and Psalms for the Reformed Church.
Clément Marot (1496-1544)
The famous 16th century French poet put into verse the biblical Psalms that were to be sung all over France and become the well-known Huguenot Psalter.
Agrippa d’Aubigné (1552-1630)
A soldier and Protestant writer, he first took part in the wars of religion with Henri de Navarre and later told of the sufferings endured by the Protestants in his work...
Robert Estienne (1503-1559)
Robert Estienne was born in a well-known family of Parisian typographers who were in touch with humanistic circles all over Europe.
Sébastien Castellion (1515-1563)
Sébastien Castellion is looked upon today as an apostle of tolerance and freedom of thought. He maintained that the Bible could have several different interpretations, and that this implied a...
François Hotman (1524-1590)
François Hotman questioned royal absolutism.
Guillaume Du Bartas (1544-1590)
Du Bartas was a diplomat, a poet, and a fervent Calvinist.
Jean de Sponde (1557-1595)
Jean de Sponde was a politician and a well-known baroque poet. His entire life was influenced by the wars of religion : « Je sens dedans mon âme une guerre civile ». (I...
Literature in the 16th century
The powerful renewing social and spiritual movement presented by the Reformation could not fail to mark contemporary literature: prestigious names testified of this. A wide range of genres were influenced...
Ambroise Paré (1509-1590)
Initially an army surgeon, he made discoveries in such fields as anatomy, physiology and therapeutics.
Olivier de Serres (1539-1619)
He dealt with agriculture as with a science.
Marguerite d’Angoulême (1492-1549)
Marguerite d’Angoulême was a literary person who, while fostering new ideas, was at the very centre of the cultural and spiritual life of her time.
Jeanne d’Albret (1528-1572)
She became a convert of Protestantism and made it the official religion in her kingdom of Navarre.
Sully (1559-1641)
Maximilien de Béthune, Baron of Rosny and Duke of Sully, became a close companion of Henri de Navarre at a very early age. He became his most valuable adviser and his government...
Catherine de Parthenay (1554-1631)
Staunch supporter of the defence of the city of La Rochelle against Richelieu in 1627-1628, she was a staunch Huguenot and likewise a poet, a playwright and a mathematician.