|
Miguel de Cervantes Saaverda's (1547-1616) life was occupied with a struggle to earn a livelihood from literature and humble government employment. As well as Don Quixote, he wrote a number of plays and a collection of highly accomplished short stories, Exemplary Tales (1613). John Rutherford is a Fellow of the Queen's College Oxford and a Senior Lecturer in Spanish and Spanish American literature. He has translated Leopoldo's La Regenta for Penguin Classics. == Miguel de Cervantes Saavedr[ (Spanish: [29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616)[2] was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern European novel,[3] is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written.[4] His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes").[5] He was dubbed El Príncipe de los Ingenios ("The Prince of Wits").[6]In 1569, Cervantes moved to Rome, where he served as a valet to Giulio Acquaviva, a wealthy priest who was elevated to cardinal the next year. By then, Cervantes had enlisted as a soldier in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment and continued his military life until 1575, when he was captured by Algerian corsairs. After five years of slavery he was released on ransom from his captors by his parents and the Trinitarians, a Catholicreligious order. He subsequently returned to his family in Madrid. In 1585, Cervantes published a pastoral novel named La Galatea. Because of financial problems, Cervantes worked as a purveyor for the Spanish Armada, and later as a tax collector. In 1597, discrepancies in his accounts of three years previous landed him in the Crown Jail of Seville. In 1605, he was in Valladolid, just when the immediate success of the first part of his Don Quixote, published in Madrid, signaled his return to the literary world. In 1607, he settled in Madrid, where he lived and worked until his death. During the last nine years of his life, Cervantes solidified his reputation as a writer; he published the Novelas ejemplares (Exemplary Novels) in 1613, the Journey to Parnassus (Viaje al Parnaso) in 1614, and in 1615, the Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses and the second part of Don Quixote. Carlos Fuentes noted that, "Cervantes leaves open the pages of a book where the reader knows himself to be written." It is assumed that Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares, a Castilian city about 15 miles from Madrid, probably on 29 September (the feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel) 1547. Military service and captivityThe probable date of his birth was determined from records in the church register and given the tradition to name a child with the name of the feast day of his birth. He was baptized in Alcalá de Henares on 9 October 1547 at the parish church of Santa María la Mayor. The baptismal act read: "Sunday, the ninth day of the month of October, the year of our Lord one thousand five hundred forty and seven years, Miguel is crowned and baptized, son of Rodrigo Cervantes and his wife doña Leonor. Baptized by the reverend sir Bartolomé Serrano, priest of Our Lady. baptized him and signed this in my name. — Bachelor Serrano" Miguel's father Rodrigo was a barber-surgeon of Galician descent, who set bones, performed bloodlettings, and attended "lesser medical needs"; at that time, it was common for barbers to do surgery, as well. His paternal grandfather, Juan de Cervantes, was an influential lawyer who held several administrative positions. His uncle was mayor of Cabra for many years. His mother, Leonor de Cortinas, was a native of Arganda del Rey and the third daughter of a nobleman, who lost his fortune and had to sell his daughter into matrimony in 1543. This led to a very awkward marriage and several affairs by Rodrigo.[10] Leonor died on 19 October 1593. Little is known of Cervantes' early years. It seems he spent much of his childhood moving from town to town with his family. During this time, he met a young barmaid named Josefina Catalina de Parez. The couple fell madly in love and plotted to run away together. Sadly, her father discovered their plans and forbade Josefina from ever seeing Cervantes again. It seems that, much like Charles Dickens' father, Miguel's father was embargoed for debt. The court records of the proceedings show a very poor household. While some of his biographers argue that he studied at the University of Salamanca, there is no solid evidence for supposing that he did so.[c] There has been speculation also that Cervantes studied with the Jesuits in Córdoba or Seville.[11] His siblings were Andrés (1543), Andrea (1544), Luisa (1546), Rodrigo (1550), Magdalena (1554) and Juan - known solely because he is mentioned in his father's will. The reasons that forced Cervantes to leave Castile remain uncertain. Whether he was a "student" of the same name, a "sword-wielding fugitive from justice", or fleeing from a royal warrant of arrest, for having wounded a certain Antonio de Sigura in a duel, is another mystery. In any event, in going to Italy, Cervantes was doing what many young Spanish of the time did to further their careers in one way or another. Rome would reveal to the young artist its ecclesiastic pomp, ritual, and majesty. In a city teeming with ruins Cervantes could focus his attention on Renaissance art, architecture, and poetry (knowledge of Italian literature is readily discernible in his own productions), and on rediscovering antiquity. He could find in the ancients "a powerful impetus to revive the contemporary world in light of its accomplishments".[13][14] Thus, Cervantes' continuing desire for Italy, as revealed in his later works, was in part a desire for a return to an earlier period of the Renaissance.[15] By 1570, Cervantes had enlisted as a soldier in a regiment of the Spanish Navy Marines, Infantería de Marina, stationed in Naples, then a possession of the Spanish crown. He was there for about a year before he saw active service. In September 1571 Cervantes sailed on board the Marquesa, part of the galley fleet of the Holy League (a coalition of the Pope, Spain, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa, the Duchy of Savoy, the Knights Hospitaller based in Malta, and others, under the command of King Philip II's illegitimate half brother, John of Austria) that defeated the Ottoman fleet on October 7 in the Battle of Lepanto, in the Gulf of Patras. Though taken down with fever, Cervantes refused to stay below, and begged to be allowed to take part in the battle, saying that he would rather die for his God and his king than keep under cover. He fought bravely on board a vessel, and received three gunshot wounds – two in the chest, and one which rendered his left arm useless. In Journey to Parnassus he was to say that he "had lost the movement of the left hand for the glory of the right" (he was thinking of the success of the first part of Don Quixote). Cervantes always looked back on his conduct in the battle with pride: he believed that he had taken part in an event that would shape the course of European history. |
After the Battle of Lepanto Cervantes remained in hospital for around six months, before his wounds were sufficiently healed to allow his joining the colors again.[16] From 1572 to 1575, based mainly in Naples, he continued his soldier's life: he participated in expeditions to Corfu and Navarino, and saw the fall of Tunis and La Goulette to the Turks in 1574.[17]:220 DeathOn 6 or 7 September 1575 Cervantes set sail on the galley Sol from Naples to Barcelona, with letters of commendation to the king from the Duke of Sessa.[18] On the morning of September 26, as the Sol approached the Catalan coast, it was attacked by Algerian corsairs under the command of the redoubtable Arnaut Mami, an Albanian renegade and terror of the narrow seas at that time.[19] After significant resistance, in which the captain and many crew members were killed, the surviving passengers were taken to Algiers as captives.[17]:236 After five years spent as a slave in Algiers, and four unsuccessful escape attempts, he was ransomed by his parents and the Trinitarians and returned to his family in Madrid. Not surprisingly, this period of Cervantes' life supplied subject matter for several of his literary works, notably the Captive's tale in Don Quixote and the two plays set in Algiers – El Trato de Argel (The Treaty of Algiers) and Los Baños de Argel (The Baths of Algiers) – as well as episodes in a number of other writings, although never in straight autobiographical form.[8] While April 23, 1616 came to be recorded as his date of death in many references, and the date on which his death was widely celebrated, Cervantes in fact died in Madrid the previous day, April 22, 1616; he was buried on April 23.[20] William Shakespeare also died on April 23, 1616. To honor this, UNESCO established April 23 as the International Day of the Book.[21] However, these dates refer to different days: Spain had adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1582, but England was still using the Julian calendar. Shakespeare's death date of April 23, 1616 (Julian) was equivalent to May 3, 1616 (Gregorian). This was ten days after Cervantes was buried and eleven days after he died. Of his burial-place nothing is known, except that he was buried, in accordance with his will, in the neighboring convent of Trinitarian nuns. Isabel de Saavedra, Cervantes' daughter, was supposedly a member of this convent. A few years afterwards the nuns moved to another convent and carried their dead with them. Whether the remains of Cervantes were included in the removal or not no one knows, and the clue to their final resting place is now lost == Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spain's greatest literary figure, was born in Alcalá de Henares, a small university town near Madrid, where he was baptized in the church of Santa María on October 9, 1547; he died in Madrid on April 23, 1616. We know little of his early life. The fourth of seven children, Cervantes, his siblings and mother accompanied his father, an itinerant surgeon, who struggled to maintain his practice and his family by traveling the length and breadth of Spain. Despite his father's frequent travels, Cervantes received some early formal education, in the school of the Spanish humanist, Juan Lopez de Hoyos, who was teaching in Madrid in the 1560s. His first literary efforts--poems written on the death of the wife of Philip II--date from this period. In 1569 Cervantes traveled to Italy to serve in the household of an Italian nobleman, and joined the Spanish army a year later. He fought bravely against the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, where he received serious wounds and lost the use of his left hand. After a lengthy period of recovery and further military duty, he departed Italy for Spain in 1575, only to be captured during the return journey by Barbary pirates. He was taken to Algiers and imprisoned for five years, until Trinitarian friars paid a considerable sum of money for his ransom. This experience was a turning point in his life, and numerous references to the themes of freedom and captivity later appeared in his work. |
ميغيلدي ثيربانتِس سابيدرا
(بالإسبانية: Miguel deCervantes) عاش (الكالادي هيناريس 1547 - مدريد 1616م) هو كاتب إسباني. اشتهر بروايتهدون كيشوت دي لامانشا (1605-1615م)، وهي شخصية مغامرة حالمةتصدر عنها قرارات لاعقلانية. تركت حياة "ثيربانتِس" الحافلة بالأحداث أثرا بليغا فيأعماقه، وتجلى ذلك في طغيان روح السخرية والدعابة على أعماله. يُعتبر من بين أشهرالشخصيات الإسبانية في العالم، وقد كرمته بلاده فوضعت صورته على قطعة الـ50 سنتاالجديدة. حياته واحد من أبرز الأدباء الإسبان فيالقرن السابع عشر الميلادي، ولد عام1547فيقرطبة (إسبانيا) وهو ابن لصيدليجراح فقيرالحال أمضى طفولته متنقلاً هنا وهناك في إسبانيا. كان يكتب الشعر في تلك الفترة، وكتب قائلاً أن (هناكطريقين يقودان إلى الثروة والمجد أحداهما طريق العلم والآخر طريق السلاح) لم يكن قداقترب من أي منهما وهو في الثالثة والثلاثين وكان قبل ذلك أشداملاقاً. كانت حياته حافلةبالأحداث والمغامرات، فقد شارك في معركة "ليبنتي" البحرية ضدالعثمانيين، وفقد على أثرها إحدى ذراعيه، فلقِب بـ"أكتع ليبنتي". إلاأن ذلك لم يكن ليثني عزمه عن المغامرة من جديد، غير أن حظه العاثر قاده إلى الأسرفي إحدى تحرشات الأسطول الأسباني على مدينة الجزائر بعد أن تم القبض عليه في ضواحيالمدينة من طرف جنود سلطان الجزائر، أمضى خمسة أعوام في سجونمدينة الجزائر، لم يخرج منها إلا بعد أن تم دفعفديته. كانيعيل ابنة غير شرعية وزوجته وأمه وعمته ( في ذلك اشارة غيرمباشرة الى موت الاب ولكن لا يعرف متى ) وعندما كان ينتظر يحدوه الأملبالنجاح، لذا فقد استقر رأيه على بدء مهنة أدبية، شعره غير موح ومسرحياته فاشلةرومانسيه الريفية، أطلق سراحه بعد أن دفع أهله فدية باهظة ثم عاد إلى إسبانياواعتزل عام1582 مالجيش بعد اشتراكه في القتالبالبرتغال. بعدعودته إلى إسبانيا عام1584م تزوج من "كاتالينا دي سالازار" وأمضى بعضا من الوقت فيمنطقة "لامانشا" موطن زوجته،كانت حياته شاقة وصعبة بحيث أن الديون أثقلت كاهله مما اضطره إلىالاستدانة طيلة الوقت وسجن أكثر من مرة لعجزه عن تسديدديونه. نشر أول روايةخيالية تدور حول حياة الرعاة عام1585م مكتوبة بالشعروالنثر أسماها (لاجالاتيا) كتب بين عامي1585 - 1588أكثر من عشرين مسرحية لم يبق منها سوى مسرحيتين، كما ألف كثيراً منالشعر. اختار بداية من عام1587مالاستقرار فيإشبيلية، كان ذلك أثناء توليه مهمة الإشراف على تموين الأسطولالإسباني (الأرمادا) ثم كان أن أفلس البنك الذي كان يضع فيه الودائع المالية عام1597م،فوضع "سيرفانتس" في السجن مجددا، واستلهم أثناء فترة سجنه شخصيةدون كيشوت ديلامانتشا]] اختار بداية من عام1587م الاستقرار فيإشبيلية، كان ذلك أثناء توليه مهمة الإشراف على تموين الأسطولالإسباني (الأرمادا)فشغل وظيفة مأمور في الحرب الإسبانية (الأرمادا) ليدفع الديونالتي أثقلت كاهله لكن إسبانيا هزمت عام1588م مما أوقعسرفانتس في اضطراب كبير حيث كان قد أودع نقوده عند أحد الصيارفة المفلسين أودعبعدها السجن عند اكتشاف العجز في حساباته. غادر السجن عام1603م عندما كان يكتب روايته (دونكيشوت) واحتجزته الشرطةثانية عام1605م وهي (السنة التي نشر فيها) الجزء الأول. نشر عام1605م. الجزء الأول من رواية (العبقري النبيلدون كيشوت ديلامانتشا) وتلفظ أحياناً (دون كيخوتة) أما الجزء الثاني فلم يظهر سوى عام1615م وهي أروع الكتبفي الأدب العالمي وكثيراً مايقارن في حياته الواقعية ببطلهالخيالي. قبيل ظهور الجزء الثانيعام 1615 م كان قد أصدر أعمالاً أدبية قليلة الأهمية منها (روايات القدرة) عام1613مالتي تتكون من إثنتي عشرة مغامرة رومانسية مبنية على خلفية واقعية وتعد من أمثلةمختلفة للسلوك الذي يجب تجنبه، ثم تبعها برواية ثانية بعنوان (الرحلة إلى بارناسوس) عام1614وأعقبها براجعة ساخرة للشعراء المعاصرين تتسم بالواقعيةوسرعة الأداء. قضى معظم حياته فيالعصر الذهبي في إسبانيا عندما كانت سفنها غنية ويتكلم المثقفون لغتها وأدبها معروففي أنحاء أوروبا لكنه لم يذق طعم الازدهار والرخاء وتوفي في 23 نيسان1616م -ماتفقيراً معدماً ولم يتذوق طعم الشهرة التي نالها بعدئذ. |
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born in 1547 in the city of Alcalá de Henares, near Madrid, Spain, the fourth of seven children born to noble Castilian surgeon Don Rodrigo de Cervantes and doña Leonor de Cortinas (d.1593). "There were but two families in the world, Have-much and Have-little." (ibid) Rodrigo was imprisoned because of debts in 1551, and it brought much hardship to the rest of the family. سجن والده عندما كان عمره 4 سنوات مما اوقع العائلة في فقرشديد. After studying philosophy and literature in Italy, Miguel enlisted as a soldier in Naples in 1570. Aboard the ship Marquesa he lost the use of his left hand 'by a musket-shot in the battle of Lepanto' [1571] (ibid). حارب مع الجيش الاسباني وقطعت يده فيإحدى المعارك عندما كان عمره 23 عام A few years later the galley that Cervantes was sailing home on was captured by Barbary pirates. He was enslaved in Algiers along with many other Christians. While he did attempt to escape, it was not until 1580 that his family, especially by the efforts of his mother, and the Trinitarians, were able to pay ransom for him. بعد بضعة سنوات وفي العام 1575 وبينما كان مبحرا عائدا إلى الوطن تمأسره وبيعه كعبد وتم سجنه في الجزائر وظل مسجونا لمدة خمس سنوات حيث أطلق سراحه عام 1580 عندما تمكنت والدته من دفع الفدية عنه وكان عمره حينها 33 Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares. In 1568, when he was a student, a number of his poems appeared in a volume published in Madrid, Spain, to commemorate the death of the Spanish queen Elizabeth of Valois. كانت أولى قصائدهلإحياء ذكرى موت الملكة اليزابيث Probably during his time in prison Cervantes conceived the idea for a story about a man who imagines himself a knight-errant (a knight who seeks out adventure) performing the splendid feats described in medieval tales of chivalry. It wasn't until five years later that Cervantes was released — but only after four unsuccessful escape attempts and after his family and friends raised 500 escudos, an enormous sum of money that would drain the family financially, as ransom. اموال الفدية التي دفعت لاطلاق سراحة كانت ضخمة بحيث انها ارهقتالعئالة ماليا. He had a daughter from an affair with an actress. A few years later, Cervantes left his wife, faced severe financial difficulties, and was jailed at least three times (once as a murder suspect, although there was insufficient evidence to try him). سجن بعد بضعة سنين ثلاث مرات بسبب مشاكله المالية ةمرة بتهمة القتلولكن لم تتوفر ادلة كافية لادانية في التقل He eventually settled in Madrid in 1606, shortly after the first part of "Don Quijote" was published. Although publication of the novel didn't make Cervantes rich, it eased his financial burden and gave him recognition and the ability to devote more time to writing. He published the second part of Don Quijote in 1615 and wrote dozens of other plays, short stories, novels and poems (although many critics have little good to say about his poetry). Cervantes' final novel was Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda ("The Exploits of Persiles and Sigismunda"), published three days before his death on April 23, 1616. Coincidentally, Cervantes' date of death is the same as William Shakespeare's, although in reality Cervantes' death came 10 days sooner because Spain and England used different calendars at the time. اهم احداثحياته: 1- سجن والده وعمره 4سنوات. 2- فقر العائلةالشديد. 3- يبدو انه يتيم الاب لكن لا يعرف تحديدامتى. 4- قطعت يده وهويحارب في سن العشرين 5- سجنهلمدة خمس سنوات. 6- فقر شديدبسبب اموال الفدية يتيم اجتماعي |
by Michel de Montaigne, France, (1533-1592) Essays is the title given to a collection of 107 essays written by Michel de Montaigne that was first published in 1580. Montaigne essentially invented the literary form of essay, a short subjective treatment of a given topic, of which the book contains a large number. Essai is French for "trial" or "attempt".Montaigne wrote in a kind of crafted rhetoric designed to intrigue and involve the reader, sometimes appearing to move in a stream-of-thought from topic to topic and at other times employing a structured style which gives more emphasis to the didactic nature of his work. His arguments are often supported with quotations from Ancient Greek, Latin and Italian texts. ContentMontaigne's stated goal in his book is to describe man, and especially himself, with utter frankness. He finds the great variety and volatility of human nature to be its most basic features. A representative quote is "I have never seen a greater monster or miracle than myself." ChronologyHe opposed the conquest of the New World, deploring the suffering it brought upon the natives. Citing the case of Martin Guerre as an example, he believes that humans cannot attain certainty. His skepticism is best expressed in the long essay "An Apology for Raymond Sebond" (Book 2, Chapter 12) which has frequently been published separately. We cannot trust our reasoning because thoughts just occur to us: we don't truly control them. We do not have good reasons to consider ourselves superior to the animals. He is highly skeptical of confessions obtained under torture, pointing out that such confessions can be made up by the suspect just to escape the torture he is subjected to. In the middle of the section normally entitled "Man's Knowledge Cannot Make Him Good," he wrote that his motto was "What do I know?". The essay on Sebond ostensibly defended Christianity. However, Montaigne eloquently employed many references and quotes from classical Greek and Roman, i.e. non-Christian authors, especially the atomistLucretius. Montaigne considered marriage necessary for the raising of children, but disliked the strong feelings of romantic love as being detrimental to freedom. One of his quotations is "Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside desperate to get out." In education, he favored concrete examples and experience over the teaching of abstract knowledge that is expected to be accepted uncritically. Montaigne's essay "On the Education of Children" is dedicated to Diana of Foix. The remarkable modernity of thought apparent in Montaigne's essays, coupled with their sustained popularity, made them arguably the most prominent work in French philosophy until the Enlightenment. Their influence over French education and culture is still strong. The official portrait of former French president François Mitterrand pictured him facing the camera, holding an open copy of the Essays in his hands.[1] Montaigne heavily edited Essays at various points in his life. Sometimes he would insert just one word, while at other times he would insert whole passages. Many editions mark this with letters as follows:
A copy of the fifth edition of the Essais with Montaigne's own "C" additions in his own hand exists, preserved at the Municipal Library of Bordeaux (known to editors as the "Bordeaux Copy"). This edition gives modern editors a text dramatically indicative of Montaigne's final intentions (as opposed to the multitude of Renaissance works for which no autograph exists). Analysis of the differences and additions between editions shows how Montaigne's thoughts evolved over time. Not unremarkably, he does not seem to remove previous writings, even when they conflict with his newer views == http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3600/3600-h/3600-h.htm |
Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne, was born in 1533, the son and heir of Pierre, Seigneur de Montaigne (two previous children dying soon after birth). He was brought up to speak Latin as his mother tongue and always retained a Latin turn of mind; though he knew Greek, he preferred to use translations. After studying law he eventually became counselor to the Parlement of Bordeaux. He married in 1565. In 1569 he published his French version of the Natural Theology of Raymond Sebond; his Apology is only partly a defense of Sebond and sets skeptical limits to human reasoning about God, man and nature. He retired in 1571 to his lands at Montaigne, devoting himself to reading and reflection and to composing his Essays (first version, 1580). He loathed the fanaticism and cruelties of the religious wars of the period, but sided with Catholic orthodoxy and legitimate monarchy. He was twice elected Mayor of Bordeaux (1581 and 1583), a post he held for four years. He died at Montaigne (1592) while preparing the final, and richest, edition of his Essays. == Michel Eyquem de Montaigne was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance. Montaigne is known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. He became famous for his effortless ability to merge serious intellectual speculation with casual anecdotes and autobiography — and his massive volume Essais (translated literally as "Attempts") contains, to this day, some of the most widely influential essays ever written. Montaigne had a direct influence on writers the world over, from William Shakespeare to René Descartes, from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Stephan Zweig, from Friedrich Nietzsche to Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was a conservative and earnest Catholic but, as a result of his anti-dogmatic cast of mind, he is considered the father, alongside his contemporary and intimate friend Étienne de La Boétie, of the 'anti-conformist' tradition in French lierature. In his own time, Montaigne was admired more as a statesman then as an author. The tendency in his essays to digress into anecdotes and personal ruminations was seen as detrimental to proper style rather than as an innovation, and his declaration that, 'I am myself the matter of my book', was viewed by his contemporaries as self-indulgent. In time, however, Montaigne would be recognized as embodying, perhaps better than any other author of his time, the spirit of freely entertaining doubt which began to emerge at that time. He is most famously known for his skeptical remark, 'Que sais-je?' ('What do I know?'). Remarkably modern even to readers today, Montaigne's attempt to examine the world through the lens of the only thing he can depend on implicitly — his own judgment — makes him more accessible to modern readers than any other author of the Renaissance. Much of modern literary non-fiction has found inspiration in Montaigne, and writers of all kinds continue to read him for his masterful balance of intellectual knowledge and personal story-telling> |
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (French: [miʃɛl ekɛm də mɔ̃tɛɲ]; February 28, 1533 – September 13, 1592) was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance, known for popularising the essay as a literary genre, and commonly thought of as the father of modern skepticism. He became famous for his effortless ability to merge serious intellectual exercises with casual anecdotes[2] and autobiography—and his massive volume Essais (translated literally as "Attempts" or "Trials") contains, to this day, some of the most widely influential essays ever written. Montaigne had a direct influence on writers the world over, including René Descartes,[3] Blaise Pascal, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, William Hazlitt,[4] Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Stefan Zweig, Eric Hoffer,[5] Isaac Asimov, and possibly on the later works of William Shakespeare. Life</SPAN>In his own time, Montaigne was admired more as a statesman than as an author. The tendency in his essays to digress into anecdotes and personal ruminations was seen as detrimental to proper style rather than as an innovation, and his declaration that, 'I am myself the matter of my book', was viewed by his contemporaries as self-indulgent. In time, however, Montaigne would be recognized as embodying, perhaps better than any other author of his time, the spirit of freely entertaining doubt which began to emerge at that time. He is most famously known for his skeptical remark, 'Que sçay-je?' ('What do I know?' in Middle French; modern French Que sais-je?). Remarkably modern even to readers today, Montaigne's attempt to examine the world through the lens of the only thing he can depend on implicitly—his own judgment—makes him more accessible to modern readers than any other author of the Renaissance. Much of modern literary non-fiction has found inspiration in Montaigne and writers of all kinds continue to read him for his masterful balance of intellectual knowledge and personal story-telling. Montaigne was born in the Aquitaine region of France, on the family estate Château de Montaigne, in a town now called Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne, not far from Bordeaux. The family was very rich; his great-grandfather, Ramon Felipe Eyquem, had made a fortune as a herring merchant and had bought the estate in 1477, thus becoming the Lord of Montaigne. His father, Pierre Eyquem, Seigneur of Montaigne, was a French Roman Catholic soldier in Italy for a time and had also been the mayor of Bordeaux. Although there were several families bearing the patronym 'Eyquem' in Guyenne, his family is suspected to have had some degree of Marrano (Spanish and Portuguese Jew) origins. His mother, Antoinette López de Villanueva, was a convert to Protestantism. His maternal grandfather, Pedro Lopez,[7] from Zaragoza, was from a wealthy Marrano (Sephardic Jewish) family who had converted to Catholicism. His maternal grandmother, Honorette Dupuy, was from a Catholic family in Gascony, France.[12] His mother lived a great part of Montaigne's life near him, and even survived him, but is mentioned only twice in his essays. Montaigne's relationship with his father, however, is frequently reflected upon and discussed in his essays. - From the moment of his birth, Montaigne's education followed a pedagogical plan sketched out by his father and refined by the advice of the latter's humanist friends. - Soon after his birth, Montaigne was brought to a small cottage, where he lived the first three years of life in the sole company of a peasant family, 'in order to', according to the elder Montaigne, 'draw the boy close to the people, and to the life conditions of the people, who need our help.' - After these first spartan years, Montaigne was brought back to the château. The objective was for Latin to become his first language. The intellectual education of Montaigne was assigned to a German tutor (a doctor named Horstanus who couldn't speak French). - His father hired only servants who could speak Latin and they also were given strict orders to always speak to the boy in Latin. The same rule applied to his mother, father, and servants, who were obliged to use only Latin words he himself employed, and thus acquired a knowledge of the very language his tutor taught him. Montaigne's Latin education was accompanied by constant intellectual and spiritual stimulation. He was familiarized with Greek by a pedagogical method that employed games, conversation, and exercises of solitary meditation, rather than books. The atmosphere of the boy's life, although designed by highly refined rules taken under advisement by his father, created in the boy's life the spirit of "liberty and delight", in order to "to make me relish... duty by an unforced will, and of my own voluntary motion... without any severity or constraint;"[14] yet he would have everything in order to take advantage of his freedom. And so a musician woke him every morning, playing one instrument or another,[15] and an épinettier (with a zither) was the constant companion to Montaigne and his tutor, playing a tune to alleviate boredom and tiredness. - Around the year 1539, Montaigne was sent to study at a prestigious boarding school in Bordeaux, the Collège de Guyenne, then under the direction of the greatest Latin scholar of the era, George Buchanan, where he mastered the whole curriculum by his thirteenth year. He then studied law in Toulouse and entered a career in the local legal system. He was a counselor of the Court des Aides of Périgueux and, in 1557, he was appointed counselor of the Parlement in Bordeaux (a high court). From 1561 to 1563 he was courtier at the court of Charles IX; he was present with the king at the siege of Rouen (1562). He was awarded the highest honour of the French nobility, the collar of the order of St. Michael, something to which he aspired from his youth. While serving at the Bordeaux Parliament, he became very close friends with the humanist poet Étienne de la Boétie, whose death in 1563 deeply affected Montaigne. It has been argued that because of Montaigne's "imperious need to communicate," that, after losing Étienne, he began the Essais as his "means of communication;" and that "the reader takes the place of the dead friend."[16] In a prearranged marriage, Montaigne married Françoise de la Cassaigne. He did not marry her under his own free will and was pressured by family to do so[citation needed]; they had six daughters, though only the second-born survived childhood. Following the petition of his father, Montaigne started to work on the first translation of the Catalan monk Raymond Sebond's Theologia naturalis, which he published a year after his father's death in 1568 (In 1595, Sebond's Prologue was put on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum for its declaration that the Bible is not the only source of revealed truth). After this, he inherited the family's estate, the Château de Montaigne, to which he moved back in 1570, thus becoming the Lord of Montaigne. Another literary accomplishment was Montaigne's posthumous edition of his friend Boétie's works. In 1571, he retired from public life to the Tower of the Château, his so-called "citadel", in the Dordogne, where he almost totally isolated himself from every social and family affair. Locked up in his library, which contained a collection of some 1,500 works, he began work on his Essais ("Essays"), first published in 1580. On the day of his 38th birthday, as he entered this almost ten-year period of self-imposed reclusion, he had the following inscription crown the bookshelves of his working chamber: 'In the year of Christ 1571, at the age of thirty-eight, on the last day of February, his birthday, Michael de Montaigne, long weary of the servitude of the court and of public employments, while still entire, retired to the bosom of the learned virgins, where in calm and freedom from all cares he will spend what little remains of his life, now more than half run out. If the fates permit, he will complete this abode, this sweet ancestral retreat; and he has consecrated it to his freedom, tranquility, and leisure.’[17] During this time of the Wars of Religion in France, Montaigne, a Roman Catholic, acted as a moderating force,[citation needed] respected both by the Catholic King Henry III and the Protestant Henry of Navarre. In 1578, Montaigne, whose health had always been excellent, started suffering from painful kidney stones, a sickness he had inherited from his father's family. From 1580 to 1581, Montaigne traveled in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy, partly in search of a cure, establishing himself at Bagni di Lucca where he took the waters. His journey was also a pilgrimage to the Holy House of Loreto, to which he presented a silver relief depicting himself and his wife and daughter kneeling before the Madonna, considering himself fortunate that it should be hung on a wall within the shrine.[18] He kept a fascinating journal recording regional differences and customs and a variety of personal episodes, including the dimensions of the stones he succeeding in ejecting from his bladder. This was published much later, in 1774, after its discovery in a trunk which is displayed in his tower.[19] While in the city of Lucca in 1581, he learned that he had been elected mayor of Bordeaux; he returned and served as mayor. He was reelected in 1583 and served until 1585, again moderating between Catholics and Protestants. The plague broke out in Bordeaux toward the end of his second term in office, in 1585. Montaigne continued to extend, revise, and oversee the publication of Essais. In 1588 he wrote its third book and also met the writer Marie de Gournay, who admired his work and later edited and published it. King Henry III was assassinated in 1589, and Montaigne then helped to keep Bordeaux loyal to Henry of Navarre, who would go on to become King Henry IV. Montaigne died of quinsy at the age of 59, in 1592 at the Château de Montaigne. The disease in his case "brought about paralysis of the tongue",[20] and he had once said "the most fruitful and natural play of the mind is conversation. I find it sweeter than any other action in life; and if I were forced to choose, I think I would rather lose my sight than my hearing and voice."[21] Remaining in possession of all his other faculties, he requested mass, and died during the celebration of that mass.[22] He was buried nearby. Later his remains were moved to the church of SaintAntoine at Bordeaux. The church no longer exists: it became the Convent des Feuillants, which has also disappeared.[citation needed] The Bordeaux Tourist Office says that Montaigne is buried at the Musée Aquitaine, Faculté des Lettres, Université Bordeaux 3 Michel de Montaigne, Pessac. His heart is preserved in the parish church of Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne. |
Montaige Time Line 1533 Born near Bordeaux on the family estate named Montaigne to wealthy merchant and a mother from a wealthy Spanish-Portugese Jewish family from Toulouse. 1539 After six years of being raised by servants who only spoke Latin to him, Montaingne is sent to the college de Guienne in Bordeaux, a highly reputable school at the time. 1546 Sent to the University of Toulouse to study law. 1554 Made counceller in the Bordeaux parliament. Travels to Paris frequently and lives a life of excess. 1565 Marries Francoise de la Chassaigne, the daughter of another Bordeaux parliament member. 1568 His father dies. 1569 Publishes his translation of Raymond Seybond's Theologia naturalis which he had worked on at his father's request. 1571 Retires to Montaigne to a life of study and contemplation. Receives the order of Saint-Michel. 1576 Writes "The Defense of Raymond Seybond." 1580 Publication of the first two volumes of his Essays. He travles to Paris to present a copy to the king and then sets out for Germany and Italy. These travels are described in his Travel Journal. 1581 While in Rome, receives word that he is elected mayor of Bordeaux and returns to France. 1588 Complete edition of the Essays published with the addition of the third volume. 1592 September 13, Montaigne dies at the Chateau de Montaigne. 1595 Mlle. de Gournay and Pierre de Brach publishes the authorized edition of the Essays. |
ميشيل دي مونتين
(بالفرنسية: Michel de Montaigne) (28 فبراير 1533-13 سبتمبر 1592) أحد أكثر الكتاب الفرنسيين تأثيرا في عصر النهضة الفرنسي. رائد المقالة الحديثة في أوروبا. كان يقلد اليونانين والكلاسيكيين في عادتهم في رصف الحكم والأمثال في ثوب مسجوع، وتأثر كثيراً بكتابات أرسطو، ولكنه تفرد بأسلوبه المرسل هو، وظهرت شخصيته بوضوح. رائد المقالة كانت كتاباته الأولى خلاصة لفترة من العزلة فرضها مونتين على نفسه ليعيش حياة يرف عليها الهدوء وتخصبها القراءة. وكانت هذه الخلاصة انعكاسًا لعدة عوامل أثرت في هذه التجربة الذاتية لمونتين : كثقافته وعزلته وتأملاته وعنايته بالأدب عنايته بمشكلات عصره الفكرية والاجتماعية، فتداخلت هذه العوامل وظهر انعكاسها عندما بدأ مونتين الكتابة عام 1571. مرت كتابات مونتين بمراحل تأثر فيها ببعض التيارات الأدبية إلى أن وصل مرحلة التطور التي أبدع فيها هذا الفن الجديد من الكتابة فكان له فضل الريادة فيه، حيث كانت سنة 1580 هي سنةَ ميلاد المقالة على يد مونتين بعد ما يقارب عشر سنوات، حيث جمع ما كتب في هذه السنوات وعدته أربع وتسعون مقالة، ونشرها في جزئين سماها محاولات، وكان في هذه المحاولات مغلّبًا للعنصر الشخصي على العناصر التي ترفده من قراءاته المختلفة، وكانت حديثًا عن تجاربه الخاصة مدعَّمًا ببعض الأقوال المأثورة والحكم التي تأتي دون قصد، وكانت فيضا من التأملات العميقة والتجارب الشخصية الصادقة؛ ولهذا عدَّ مونتين رائدًا لفن المقالة بعامة، ولنوع من أنواعها وهي المقالة الذاتية بخاصة، وبهذا نشأت نشأة ذاتية. - كان والده جندي رومي كاثوليكي يعمل في ايطاليا> ملاحظة معد الدراسة: مثال جيد للشخص الذي يعزل عن والديه لكنه لا يفقدهما بالموت فيكون انتاجه محصور بمستوى محدود من العمق والعبقرية ( المقالات ) فهو لم يستطع ان ينتج كتاب شعر مليئ بالحكمة مثلا او رواية ذات اثر عميق واقتصر انتاجه العبقري على المقالات، لكنها مقالات من مستوى خالد جعلها من بين افضل الانتاج الابداعي في العالم. - من لحظة ولادته فصل عن والديه ووضع في رعاية عائلة فلاحين فقيرة في منطقة نائية ( مربية ) لمدة 3 اعوام. - رباه الخدم حتى أصبح عمره 6 سنوات. - أرسل وهو في سن ستة سنوات للدراسة في مدرسة داخلية. - في سن 15 اسل الى جامعة تولوز. يتيم اجتماعي |
by Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark, (1805-1875) A true classic of Western literature, Stories and Tales by Hans Christian Andersen, arguably the most notable children's writer of all, has delighted young and old for generations. This unique collection was first translated for George Routledge over 130 years ago. Completely reset, but preserving the original, beautiful illustrations by A.W. Bayes, engraved by the masters of Victorian book illustration, the Brothers Dalziel, this marvellous book will be treasured by young and old alike. His initial attempts at writing fairy tales were rewrites of stories that he heard as a child. Andersen brought this genre to a new level by writing a vast number of fairy tales that were both bold and original. Initially they were not met with recognition, due partly to the difficulty in translating them and capturing his genius for humor and dark pathos. It was during 1835 that Andersen published the first installment of his immortal Fairy Tales (Danish: Eventyr; lit. "fantastic tales"). More stories, completing the first volume, were published in 1836 and 1837. The collection consists of nine tales that includes The Tinderbox, The Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid, and The Emperor's New Clothes. The quality of these stories was not immediately recognized, and they sold poorly. At the same time, Andersen enjoyed more success with two novels O.T. (1836) and Only a Fiddler (1837); the latter novel was reviewed by the young Søren Kierkegaard. After a visit to Sweden in 1837, Andersen became inspired by Scandinavism and committed himself to writing a poem to convey his feeling of relatedness between the Swedes, the Danes and the Norwegians.[12] It was in July 1839 during a visit to the island of Funen that Andersen first wrote the text of his poem Jeg er en Skandinav (I am a Scandinavian).[12] Andersen designed the poem to capture "the beauty of the Nordic spirit, the way the three sister nations have gradually grown together" as part of a Scandinavian national anthem.[12] Composer Otto Lindblad set the poem to music and the composition was published in January 1840. Its popularity peaked in 1845, after which it was seldom sung.[12] Andersen spent 2 weeks at the Augustenborg Palace in the autumn of 1844.[13] Andersen returned to the fairy tale genre in 1838 with another collection; Fairy Tales Told for Children (1838) (Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. Ny Samling.). The collection consists of The Daisy, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, and The Wild Swans. The year 1845 heralded a breakthrough for Andersen with four different translations of his fairy tales finding recognition. The Little Mermaid appeared in the popular periodical Bentley's Miscellany. It was followed by a second volume, Wonderful Stories for Children. Two other volumes enthusiastically received were A Danish Story Book and Danish Fairy Tales and Legends. A review which appeared in the journal The Anthenaeum (February 1846) said of Wonderful Stories, "…this is a book full of life and fancy; a book for grandfathers no less than grandchildren, not a word of which will be skipped by those who have it once in hand."[2] Andersen would continue to write fairy tales and published them in installments until 1872. His most popular works are listed below |
| الساعة الآن 10:35 PM |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.