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Louise Labé
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Louise Labé, detail of an engraving, 1555.
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Louise Labé, detail of an engraving, 1555.
Louise Labé, detail of an engraving, 1555.

Louise Labé

French poet
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Also known as: La Belle Cordière, Louise Charly
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Article History
Quick Facts
Original name:
Louise Charly
Byname:
La Belle Cordière (French: “The Beautiful Rope Maker”)
Born:
c. 1524, Lyon, France
Died:
1566, Parcieux-en-Dombes
Also Known As:
La Belle Cordière
Louise Charly
Notable Works:
“Débat de Folie et d’Amour”
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Louise Labé (born c. 1524, Lyon, France—died 1566, Parcieux-en-Dombes) was a French poet, the daughter of a rope maker (cordier).

Labé was a member of the 16th-century Lyon school of humanist poets dominated by Maurice Scève. Her wit, charm, accomplishments, and the freedom she enjoyed provoked unverifiable legends, such as those claiming she rode to war, was taken to dressing like a man, and was a cultured courtesan. In 1555 she published a book of love sonnets, which are remarkable for their emotional intensity and their stylistic simplicity and which probably relate to her passion for the poet Olivier de Magny. The same volume also contained a prose dialogue, Débat de Folie et d’Amour (“Debate of Love and Folly”).

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.