Home | Articles | Publications | Vatable | Doctoral Thesis | Théodore de Bèze

Publication list
[Dick Wursten]

 

For my academic publications, see google scholar or consult them - partly - at researchgate

 

I dedicated a website to my literary hero, Clément Marot: www.dick.wursten.be/marot

Many of the articles are digitally available on this site as well  (with 'extras'): Articles

 

 

 

OFF THE RECORD

- Marot and Music, transgressions  (London, 11-11-2011)  – 14th C.A. Mayer Memorial Lecture.

 

 

 

The reproductive copyright of articles often belongs to the publishers, nevertheless the intellectual copyright belongs to the author. For a publicationlist, see google scholar or researchgate. Below a selection of my academic publications, to which I added some 'extras', often material I had to suppress because of the scholarly demand to be succinct, or illustrations. Some hard to find sources I uploaded (= internal hyperlinks).

• The legend of Marot offering his Psalms to the Emperor Charles V in 1540 (the Villemadon Letter)
  A critical essay about the 'legend' that in the winter of 1539/1540 Marot offered his Psalm paraphrases first to King Francis I and then to the Emperor Charles V (passing through Paris). One can read this story everywhere, but its historicity does not stand scrutiny. Even worse: this legend obscures some elementary facts in the chronology of Marot's Psalm paraphrases. The original article was published in Renaissance Studies, Volume 22 Issue 2, Pages 240 - 250 [online: 21 Mar 2008. DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-4658.2008.00489.x]

• "Dear Doctor Bouchart, I am no Lutheran... : Marot addressing the core-issue of the theological debate of his time. In this essay an often quoted poem (Epistre à M. Bouchart) is close-read. The reference to his own captivity and his plaidoyer of not being guilty of the charge of heresy (core: I confess 'being a christian', and reject the addition of any confessional adjective to this confession) is carefully examined and reinterpreted from its publication date: after the 'Wonder-Year' (1533) and before the 'Affaire des Placards' (1534, the annus horribilis of the French Reformation). En passant the famous story of Marot having been imprisoned because he had eaten 'the bacon' (1526) is critically assessed and demythologised. The article was published in Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et Renaissance – Tome LXX – 2008 – no. 3, pp. 567-578.

• New light on Marot's final days, his tomb and laudatory epitaph in Turin (published in Studi Francesi 161/2010 [anno LIV - fascicoloII - maggio/agosto 2010], 293-303; re-edited to better fit the way articles are read on www). In this research-essay the Turin Cathedral (the shrine of the shroud) is explored looking for traces of Marot's burial place. Because of some coincidences the exact spot of the epitaph inside the Church (erased by the Inquisition) could be established. A reproduction and some photographs make things imaginable.

• How not to publish a bibliographical Summa of sixteenth-century books (French Vernacular Books). This critical assessment of a major bibliographical achievement, coordinated by Andrew Pettegree (St Andrews), finds its origin in high expectations (created by the propaganda around this project), and the disappointment when the two impressive volumes appeared and did not meet their own basic standards. Even worse: next to new publications, discovered by the team of St Andrews, the publication of the results added to the chaos on the terrain of 16th century bibliography because new ghost-entries were created. It was published as a Review Article in Brill's Church History and Religious Culture, Volume 88, Number 3, 2008 , pp. 445-461.

• François Vatable, so much more than a ‘name’ Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et Renaissance – Tome LXXIII – 2011 – no 3, pp. 557-591: slightly abridged article and illustrations from the 1540 Bible. Vatable (appointed in 1530 as royal lecturer of Hebrew in Paris) is mainly, if not exclusively, remembered for his collaboration with Robert Estienne in the production of the famous 1545 Latin Bible in which the old Bible translation (Vulgate) and a new one directly translated from the Hebrew are printed side-by-side. However this Humanist scholar did so much more: He translated the main philosophical (physics) treatises of Aristotle from the Greek, published the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and collaborated in a number of  other Bible editions of Robert Estienne.

• Clément Marot, the Learned Poet: Jewish Medieval Exegesis and the Genevan Psalter, Reformation and Renaissance Review 12.1 (2010) 71–107. This article suggests that viewing the French poet, Clément Marot, as a ‘learned poet’ opens up new possibilities both for understanding why he translated the Classics and for better appreciation of how he versified the Hebrew Psalter. It outlines the Renaissance rediscovery of medieval Jewish exegetes and how the Strasbourg Reformer, Martin Bucer, valorized their insights in his Psalms Commentary. Instead of allegory and direct prophecy, a plain historical meaning is often preferred, supplemented by typological reference to Christ. Analysis of Marot’s versification of Psalm 110 shows that he went even further to construct a consistent literary and historical narrative. To achieve this he folllowed an unusual Jewish interpretation. Instead of presenting Psalm 110 as a messianic prophecy, Marot produced a poem evoking an oracle on the enthronement of an ancient king and his victory in battle. Thereby he so seriously diminished the christological potency of this psalm that his versification was not acceptable to the Genevans who adapted it to fit the traditional interpretation. This last element is close-examined in an article in French in BSHPF (see below).

• « Marot, est-il aussi parmi les rabbins ? » Pourquoi Théodore de Bèze a corrigé quelques traductions de Clément Marot, Bulletin de la Société du Protestantisme Français. Tome 158. Fasc. 2, pp. 235-258.  (avril-mai-juin 2012).

  • RÉSUMÉ: La peur que l’usage de notions exégétiques rabbiniques (propagé par Martin Bucer, utilisé par Clément Marot pour versifier les psaumes, accueilli avec empressement par les philologues et les poètes néolatins) puisse saper la revendication chrétienne que l’A.T. annonce le Christ a provoqué la suppression de cette influence pendant la deuxième partie du 16ème siècle. Conformément à ce changement de biais herméneutique Théodore de Bèze a ‘corrigé’ les textes de Marot à deux reprises (Ps. 45 et Ps. 110).

  • SUMMARY: The fear that perusing Jewish and more particularly rabbinical exegetical insights (propagated by Martin Bucer, used by Marot for his versifications and greeted with open arms by philologists and neolatin poets) might undermine the Christian claim that the O.T. announces Christ, led to the suppression of this influence in the second half of the 16th century. This change of hermeneutical bias induced Theodore de Bèze to ‘correct’ Marot’s translations on two occasions (Ps. 45 and Ps. 110).

  • ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Die Befürchtung, rabbinische exegetische Konzepte (propagiert von Martin Bucer, von Marot für seine Psalmübertragung benutzt, und eifrig begrüßt von Gelehrten und neolateinischen Dichtern) könnten den christlichen Anspruch untergraben, dass das A.T. Christus verkündige, hat in der zweiten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts zu einer Unterdrückung dieses Einflusses geführt. Diese hermeneutische Befangenheit hat Theodore de Bèze dazu veranlasst Marot‘s Übersetzungen an zwei Stellen zu ‘korrigieren‘ (Ps. 45 und Ps. 110).