Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples (French pronunciation:[ʒakləfɛvʁdetapl];Latinized asJacobus Faber Stapulensis; c. 1455 – c. 1536) was a Frenchtheologian and a leading figure inFrench humanism. He was aprecursor of theProtestant movement inFrance. The "d'Étaples" was not part of his name as such, but used to distinguish him fromJacques Lefèvre of Deventer, a less significant contemporary who was a friend and correspondent ofErasmus. Both are also sometimes called by the German version of their name, Jacob/Jakob Faber. He himself had a sometimes tense relationship with Erasmus, whose work on biblical translation and in theology closely paralleled his own.[1]
Although he anticipated some ideas that were important to theProtestant Reformation, Lefèvre remained aRoman Catholic throughout his life, and sought to reform the Church without separating from it. Several of his books were condemned asheretical, and he spent some time in exile. He was, however, a favorite of theKing of France,Francis I, and enjoyed his protection.
He was born of humble parents atÉtaples, inPicardy, but appears later to have been possessed of considerable means. He had already been ordained a priest when he entered theUniversity of Paris for higher education.Hermonymus of Sparta was his master in Greek.[2]
In 1507 he took up his residence in the BenedictineAbbey of St Germain des Prés, near Paris; this was due to his connection with the family of Briçonnet (one of whom was the superior), especially withGuillaume Briçonnet, cardinalbishop of Saint-Malo, father ofGuillaume Briçonnet, the laterbishop of Meaux. He now began to give himself to Biblical studies, the first-fruit of which was hisQuintuplex Psalterium: Gallicum, Romanum, Hebraicum, Vetus, Conciliatum (1509); theConciliatum was his own version. This was followed byS. Pauli Epistolae xiv. ex vulgata editione, adjecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum commentariis (1512), a work of great independence and judgment.[2]
HisDe Maria Magdalena et triduo Christi disceptatio of 1517, which argued thatMary the sister of Lazarus,Mary Magdalene and the penitent womanwho anointed Christ's feet were different people, provoked violent controversy and was condemned by theSorbonne in 1521, and bySaint John Fisher.[4][5] He had left Paris during the whole of 1520, and, removing to Meaux, was appointedvicar-general toBishop Briçonnet on 1 May 1523; he published his French version of theNew Testament later that year.This translation, contemporary with Luther's German version, has been the basis of all subsequent translations into French.[citation needed] From this, in the same year, he extracted the versions of the Gospels and Epistles "a l'usage du diocese de Meaux". The prefaces and notes to both these expressed the view thatHoly Scripture is the only rule of doctrine, and that justification is by faith alone.[2]
After he finished the translation of the New Testament into French, all copies were ordered to be burned and he went into exile.[6]
He incurred much hostility, but was protected byFrancis I and his intellectual sisterMarguerite d'Angoulême. After Francis was taken captive at thebattle of Pavia on 25 February 1525, Lefèvre was condemned and his works suppressed by commission of theparlement; these measures were quashed on the return of Francis some months later. He issuedLe Psautier de David in 1525, and was appointed royal librarian atBlois in 1526; his version of thePentateuch appeared two years later. His complete version of theBible of 1530 was based on theVulgate ofJerome, took the same place as his version of theNew Testament.[2] The publication and its revised edition based on the Hebrew and the Greek texts were printed byMerten de Keyser inAntwerp in 1534.[7] Marguerite, now queen ofNavarre, led him to take refuge from persecution inNérac in 1531. He is said to have been visited in 1533 byJohn Calvin on his flight from France.[2] He died in Nérac in about 1536.
Psalterium quintuplex ; gallicum, romanum, hebraicum, vêtus, conciliatum, 1509 and 1515, published byHenri Estienne, fol. with footnotes
Commentaires sursaint Paul, avec une nouvelle traduction latine, Paris, 1512 and 1531. This work, in which one notices the lack of progress which had been made in criticism, was criticised byErasmus for the grammatical section, and byBudé for the theological section, however this did not prevent it from being valued and studied
Commentaires sur les Évangiles, Meaux, 1525; his doctrine appears here to be very orthodox on the points disputed by the innovators, although the syndic Beda reproached him for errors in this respect
Commentaires sur les épîtres canoniques, Meaux, 1525; all his commentaries on the New Testament were put on the Index by the Roman inquisitors, under PopeClement VIII. He distanced himself from ancient barbarism
Traduction française du Nouveau Testament, Paris, Colines, 1523, 5 vols. 8vo, anonymous extremely rare, particularly the last volume. The translation was made from theVulgate, because he intended it for the use of the faithful. It appeared again in his complete version of the Bible, Antwerp, fol.; later editions 1529 and 1532, 4 vol. 4to.; 1528, 4 vol. 8vo. The edition revised by the doctors ofLouvain is the most correct and also the rarest because it was suppressed as was the edition of 1511. It is remarkable that while the Cordeliers of Meaux attacked Lefèvre because of his translations, those of Antwerp approved it in 1528, for printing and for sale. It is true that they did not have in their editionl'Épître exhortatoire, which principally displeased the doctors of Paris
Exhortations en français sur les évangiles et les épîtres des dimanches, Meaux, 1525, condemned by the Parlement
Music theory
Musica libris demonstrata quattuor, published together withNemorarius,Arithmetica decem libris demonstrata and Boethius,De Arithmetica, Paris: Johannes Higman and Wolfgang Hopyl, 22 July 1496[9]Full text of 1551 edition
Other works
Arithmetica decem libris demonstrata, theDe elementis arithmetice artis of Jordanus Nemorarius (Jordanus de Nemore) with commentary and demonstrations, published together withMusica libris demonstrata quattuor and Boethius,De Arithmetica, Paris: Johannes Higman and Wolfgang Hopyl, 22 July 1496
Traduction latine des livres de la foi orthodoxe desaint Jean de Damas ; the first translation of this work
De Maria Magdalena, 1517, followed in 1519 by another entitled:De tribus et unica Magdalena. This work is well done; the author retracts several points from the first work, for example his having said that these three women all bore the name of Magdalene
Rithmimachie ludus, qui et pugna numerorum appellatur, Paris, Henri Estienne, 1514, 4to.; opusculum of five pages, printed at the end of the second edition of theArithmetica ofJordanus Nemorarius. Here Lefèvre gives a very curious description of this ancientPythagorean game, but with such little detail that cannot understand it properly except by joining it to the extended notice whichBoissière gave to the same game
^abRhenanus, Beatus (2013). "1". In Hirstein, James (ed.).Rhenanus, Beatus. Epistulae Beati Rhenani. La Correspondance latine et grecque de Beatus Rhenanus de Sélestat. Édition critique raisonnée, avec traduction et commentaire. Vol. 1 (1506–1517).Brepols. p. 3.ISBN978-2503513584.
^Paul Arblaster, Gergely Juhász, Guido Latré (eds)Tyndale's Testament, Turnhout: Brepols, 2002,ISBN2-503-51411-1, pp. 130–135.
^Begin. [fol. 1 verso:] [Iacobi Fabri Stapulen̄: Philosophie Paraphrases ad grauissimū patrē: Ambrosiū de Cambray, etc.] [fol. 2 recto:] Littere librorum P C G M A S MR SV L P. Liber physicorum. C. Liber de celo – mūdo. G. Liber de generatione – corruptione. M. Liber metheororum. A. Liber de anima. S. Liber de sensu – sensato. MR. Liber de memoria – reminiscentia. SV. Liber de somno et vigilia. L. Liber de longitudine et breuitate vite. [A paraphrase on the above books of Aristotle by Jacobus Faber.] [fol. 269 recto:] Dialogus Iacobi. F. Stapulen̄. in Physicam introductionem. [fol. 288 recto:] Dialogus Iacobi F. Stapulen̄ difficiliū Physicalium introductorius
Popkin, R. H., ed. (1999)The Columbia History of Western Philosophy. New York; Chichester: Columbia University Press
Graf, K. H. (1842)Essai sur la vie et les écrits. Strasbourg
Bonet-Maury, G. in Herzog-Hauck'sRealencyklopädie (1898)
Porrer, Sheila M. (2009)Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples and the Three Maries Debates. Genève: Librairie DrozISBN978-2-600-01248-5
Lesure, François (ed.) (1971)Ecrits imprimés concernant la musique Répertoire international des sources musicales; Internationales quellenlexikon des Musik; International inventory of musical sources B:vi, München-Duisburg: C. Henle.
.jpg)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Gordon, Alexander (1911). "Faber, Jacobus". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 112.
