Coterie of Meaux

The coterie of Meaux was founded in 1521 at the request of the bishop of Meaux Guillaume Briçonnet by his vicar and friendly Jacques Lefèvre d' Étaples; it gathers many humanistic scholars: Guillaume Farel, François Vatable, Gerard Roussel, Martial Mazurier, Michel d' Arante, Pierre Caroli, Jodocus Clichtove, and Jean Lecomte de Lacroix.

A humanistic coterie and evangelist

In front of the obvious lack of culture of the low clergy of the time, the coterie worked with the reform of the Church. He is in favor of the evangelism: this Doctrine which aims at a evangelic reform passing by the translation in vulgar language of the New Testament intends to return to the sources of Christianity, with the original teaching of Christ via the direct reading of the crowned texts. With the Epistles of holy Paul, the Bible will be the object of a long philological work : D-establishment of the text, of the comments, translation and new comments. This circle will exert a great influence on the humanistic ones and the writers of this generation (Clément Marot, Rabelais,…). The more so as the same year, Guillaume Briçonnet becomes the spiritual director of Marguerite de Navarre, with which it will maintain an important correspondence constantly. This one will protect the circle discreetly, being sensitive to its theses.

But the Franciscains combined to the Doctors in theology of the Sorbonne whose frightening No5el Bedier is opposed to these reforms. With the eyes of the ecclesiastical authorities, this evangelism seems a dangerous drift, because it opens the way with all contradictory interpretations; they point out it in Sorbonne. The University of Paris and its very famous doctors in Théologie constitute a medium responsible for the orthodoxy of the crowned texts. Attached to the Scholastic, the Anagogic and the Tropological , closed with this type of reform, they will use of all their capacity of censure vis-a-vis the diffusion of these ideas. By doing this, they will arrive, in 1525, to put an end to the circle of Meaux. Far from studying a term humanistic ( studia humanitatis ), those will take ways diverted to lead in 1530 to the creation of the College of the Royal Readers, (our current Collège de France) who by the authority of its members, of which Guillaume Budé will be able to only make part in the Sorbonne, its neighbor.

After the judgment

Guillaume Briçonnet is obliged to alleviate his adversaries, and returns on several of the decisions, in particular the prohibition made in Cordeliers preach, and on the worship of the saints and the Virgin. Jacques Lefèvre exiles himself in Strasbourg. Returned by Briçonnet, which finds it too violent one in his sermons, Farel him settles with Geneva. Clément Marot is stopped, shown heresy and conduit in the prisons of the Châtelet.

But if the majority manage to flee, some of its members or disciples, remained on the spot, were stopped and tortured. As follows:

  • Jean Leclerc, a wool carder, is imprisoned and after a rapid lawsuit, is condemned to to be struck rods three days of continuation in the streets, then marked with the face of a red iron like Hérétique. .

  • Jacques Pavannes, a young student, is stopped, retracts, then, released, takes again its sermons. It is condemned to be flaring on the place of Strike in Paris.
  • the hermit of Livry, is trailed in Paris to be flaring with small fire in front of the cathedral Notre-Dame. An huge crowd attended the torment whereas the doctors of the Sorbonne shouted of all their forces: “It is damné, it from goes away in hell!” The very calm hermit in the flames only answered: My confidence is as a Christ. I die in the faith of my Saver.

François {{Ier}} put quickly fine at these persecutions which produced only one contrary effect with that sought by Bedier.

The most known members of the coterie

See too

External bond

Virtual museum of French Protestantism

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