Marot, Clément

Marot, Clément klāmiNˈ mirōˈ [key], 1496?–1544, French court poet. His graceful rondeaux, ballades and epigrams won him the patronage of Francis I and Margaret of Navarre. Marot was imprisoned for Reformationist heresy in 1526 and based his superb allegorical satire Enfer on the experience. Exiled from France for his Calvinist sympathies, he could not stay in Geneva for want of “proper” devotion and died in Turin alone and abandoned. His work is distinguished by its graceful use of traditional forms. He translated the Psalms into French for the Geneva Psalter (see hymn).

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