Dolet

Dolet, ETIENNE, 'the martyr of the Renaissance,' was born at Orleans, in France, in 1509. The circumstances of his birth were somewhat mysterious, and it was even asserted that he was the natural son of Francis I. But this story is rejected by all his trustworthy biographers. At the age of twelve Dolet went to the university of Paris, where his attention was directed to the study which became the chief interest of his life—the writings of Cicero. Proceeding to Italy in 1526, he continued his studies at Padua and Venice, and after six years returned to France, settling in Toulouse. Here Dolet's troubles began. In Italy he had thoroughly imbibed the spirit of humanism, with its zeal for the study of the classics, and its indifference to the teaching of the church. As orator of the French 'nation' in the university of Toulouse, he delivered a harangue 'which laid the first fagot of the pile that consumed him.' On this occasion he was punished with three days' imprisonment. In 1534 Dolet left Toulouse for Lyons, where, under circumstances that have not been explained, he killed a person of the name of Compaing. Having received the royal pardon, he still continued to reside in Lyons, always under strong suspicion of heresy. In 1542 he received the royal permission to set up a printing-press, but soon brought himself into trouble on account of the heretical books he published. He was arrested more than once on this charge, but always succeeded in escaping the last penalty of the law. At length, in 1544, he was found guilty of heresy on a charge mainly based on an alleged mistranslation of Plato, in which he was accused of denying the immortality of the soul. After two years' imprisonment, Dolet was burned in the Place Maubert, Paris, 3d August 1546. Dolet's fate has given him an interest and importance he would not otherwise have had. At the same time, by his indefatigable industry as a writer and printer, he did valuable service to the cause of learning in the 16th century. His most important work is his Commentaries on the Latin Language. See Richard C. Christie's Etienne Dolet (1880; new ed. 1899; French trans. with 'appendix bibliographique,' 1885).