Pierre de Brantôme (born c. 1540, Périgord, Fr.—died July 15, 1614, France) was a soldier and chronicler, author of a valuable and informative account of his own life and times.
(Read Sir Walter Scott’s 1824 Britannica essay on chivalry.)
His works, characterized by frankness and naïveté, consist mainly of accounts of battles or tales of chivalry. Though he is not generally considered a reliable historian, his bold, capricious character well equipped him to be a chronicler of the 16th century.
Brantôme was the third son of the Baron of Bourdeille. He spent his childhood at the court of Margaret of Angoulême, queen of Navarre, where his mother and maternal grandmother were members of the royal household. Upon Margaret’s death in 1549 he went to Paris to continue his education, which was completed at the University of Poitiers in 1555. He then visited the court of Henry II, by whom he was given the abbey of Brantôme, but, although he also held several other benefices, his contact with religious life was limited to the enjoyment of ecclesiastical revenues. His adventurous career as a courtier and soldier took him to Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the British Isles. In later years, a severe incapacity resulting from a fall from a horse provided him with the leisure to write.
The first edition of Brantôme’s works was published posthumously as Mémoires de Messire Pierre de Bourdeilles (1665–66; “Memoirs of Pierre de Bourdeille”). It comprises Les Vies des dames illustres (“Lives of Illustrious Ladies”), Les Vies des dames galantes (“Lives of Gallant Ladies”), Les Vies des hommes illustres et grands capitaines français (“Lives of French Illustrious Men and the Great Leaders”), and Les Vies des hommes illustres et des grands capitaines étrangers (“Lives of Foreign Illustrious Men and the Great Leaders”).