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Pierre Gringore
Representation of Pierre Gringore on the hotel Malherbe atCaen
Born	1470 or 1475 Thury-Harcourt-le-Hom
Died	1539 Duchy of Lorraine
Occupation(s)	poet and playwright
Spouse	Catherine Roger

Pierre Gringore (French pronunciation:[pjɛʁɡʁɛ̃ɡɔʁ]; 1475? – 1538) was a popularpoet and playwright during theRenaissance in France.^[1]

Pierre Gringore was born inNormandy, atThury-Harcourt, but the exact date and place of his death are unknown. His first work wasLe Chasteau de Labour (1499), an allegorical poem.

His birth name, that Pierre Gringore himself chose to modify, was Gringon.

From 1506 to 1512, he worked as an actor-manager and playwright in Paris. He is best known for the satirical plays he wrote during this period for theConfrérie des Enfants Sans Souci orSots, a famous comedic acting troupe. While in Paris he became a favorite ofLouis XII, who employed the troupe to poke fun at the Papacy. Tension between France and Rome, including a revival of theInvestiture Controversy, was building during this period, eventually resulting in theItalian Wars and the formation of theCatholic League in 1511. Gringore wrote several scathing indictments ofPope Julius II, for example,La Chasse du cerf des cerfs (1510) and the trilogyLe Jeu du Prince des Sots et Mère Sotte.

Following his Parisian period, he wrote averse dramamystery play about the life of his patron's ancestor StLouis IX,Vie Monseigneur Sainct Loys par personnaiges (1514), for the Parisguild ofstonemasons andcarpenters. Some scholars consider this to be his masterpiece.

AfterFrancis I took the throne, he put severe restrictions on plays and playwrights in place. Gringore moved toLorraine in 1518, where he married Catherine Roger.

Despite the various works in which he attacked the papacy, Gringore was a devout Catholic. One of his later works,Blazon des hérétiques (1524), attacks heretics and leaders of theProtestant Reformation, up to and includingMartin Luther.

A loosely fictionalized vision of Gringore, referred to asPierre Gringoire, appears as an important character inVictor Hugo's novelThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame and films based on it, except the1996 animated Disney film (in which his character is combined withCaptain Phoebus) and its2002 direct-to-video sequel. He is probably best known from Hugo's book, in which he was inspired by and bears some resemblance to the historical Gringore.^[2]

During theFeast of Fools, which is when the story begins, a crowd of people arrive at the Grand Hall of thePalace of Justice where Gringoire introduces them to a play written by him, but is soon interrupted byClopin Trouillefou, the King of Truands. When the crowd leaves the play and celebrate the crowning ofQuasimodo as the Pope of Fools, Gringoire feels disappointed. Later, when he seesEsmeralda dancing near the fire, he forgets about his failed play and falls in love with her.

Later that night, Gringoire follows Esmeralda walking until he witnesses Quasimodo attempting to kidnap her under ArchdeaconClaude Frollo's orders, followed by her being saved and the hunchback being captured byCaptain Phoebus and his guards. Later, he sees some Truands come toward him and accidentally trespasses intothe Court of Miracles, the home of the Truands. Clopin accuses him of entering the Court without permission, and gives him a test in order to save his life: to take a purse from the pocket of a suspended dummy hung all over with tiny bells without making the bells sound. When Gringoire fails the test, he is about to be hanged under Clopin's orders until Clopin gives him another option to save his life: to marry a Roma woman present in the Court. Esmeralda comes to Gringoire's rescue and accepts him as her husband.

Afterwards, Gringoire and Esmeralda have a wedding night together, during which he finds out that Esmeralda doesn't truly love him and merely tolerates him, and that he cannot touch her ever. In fact, the one whom Esmeralda truly loves is Captain Phoebus. Likewise, Gringoire becomes more fond of Esmeralda's pet goat, Djali, than of Esmeralda herself.

Later in the story, Gringoire breaks into the cathedral and rescues Esmeralda along with Frollo, whose identity is hidden behind a cloak. The trio leaves Notre Dame by boat to look for safety from the guards who are after Esmeralda. When the trio hear the voice of a guard, Gringoire abandons Esmeralda and instead saves her goat Djali, resulting in Frollo's capturing Esmeralda and her death. At the end of the story, Gringoire becomes a writer oftragedies and is able to receive better attention from audiences.

Among the actors who have played Gringoire over the years in each adaptation of the novel are:

Gringoire is also the main character in the short dramaGringoire (1866) byThéodore de Banville.

The short story "La chèvre de M. Seguin" appearing inLettres de mon moulin (1869) byAlphonse Daudet takes the form of a letter addressed to Gringoire. The story within the letter is written as an object lesson intended to convince Gringoire to accept the post of journalist for a Parisian newspaper.

• 1470s births
• 1538 deaths
• 16th-century anti-Protestantism
• Anti-Protestantism
• People from Thury-Harcourt
• 16th-century French dramatists and playwrights
• 16th-century French male writers
• 16th-century French poets
• Writers from Normandy
• French Roman Catholics
• French Catholic poets

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