Catherine Bernard

Biography

Born in a family Protesting E, this niece of Pierre and Thomas Crow and cousin of Fontenelle went up to try her chance with Paris before the seventeen years age, after having abjured Protestantism. It then met the most famous company of its time of which his/her Fontenelle cousin who contributed, by his councils and the interest which he took with his works, with its literary fortune. It was crowned by the French Academy in 1671, 1693 and 1697 and obtained three prices with the floral Jeux of Toulouse. It belonged to the Académie of Ricovrati of Padoue. The king Louis XIV made him pour an annual pension of 200 ecus. It removed, towards the end of its life, several pieces of poetry made up in its youth which appeared to him from now on too free and which it always refused to communicate even against a considerable sum.

Work

Catherine Bernard followed the way of her uncles by giving to the theater the tragedy Laodamie, queen of Épire on February 11th 1689. This part was represented twenty times, which, at the time, constituted a nice success. The tragedy Brutus , put at the scene on December 18th 1690, had 25 representations. One allots sometimes a tragedy to him entitled Bradamante , but that represented with the French Comedy in November 1695 is signed of Thomas Corneille alone.

Its name would however undoubtedly not have survived its death was not the famous polemical one a little later raised by the Brutus of Voltaire: the publication by this last, forty years after Catherine Bernard, of a tragedy of the same name gave rise to think that its part took as a starting point that of the poetess, and even as it owed him some worms. A parody went even until affirming that Voltaire had concealed the tragedy of Catherine Bernard.

Chronological list

Frederic of Sicily ;
History of the rupture of Abenamar and Fatime ;
Ines de Cordoue, Spanish news ;
Laodamie, queen of Épire ;
the Count d' Amboise, gallant news ;
Misfortunes of the Love, first news, Eléonor d' Yvrée ;
Éléonor d' Yvrée ;
Edgar, king d' Angleterre, gallant history ;
Relation of the isle of Borneo (also allotted to Fontenelle);
Laodamie, tragedy , 1689;
Brutus, tragedy , 1690;
Bradamante, tragedy , 1695;
the King alone, in all Europe, defends and protects the rights of the kings ;
Plus the king deserves the praises, more it avoids them ;
the King, by the peace of Savoy, returned peace to Italy, and gave to all Europe the hope of general peace ;
Imagination and Happiness .

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