Renaissance History: Jacques Bonneville

Introduction

This article is a continuation of my Renaissance History series, my 4th entry in the series overall. The 1st article in the series is an introduction, the 2nd and 3rd being elaborations of two Renaissance men. The 3rd Renaissance man I cover is Jacques Bonneville of France.

Biography

Jacques Bonneville was a French scholar who had become a Renaissance man by 1380 after his return to France following a stay in Italy. Jacques was born in Paris on July 7, 1348. He left his native war-torn France in 1373 and ventured into the northern Italian city-states where he learned a great deal about the widespread revival of ancient Greek and Roman learning and the advances in art, architecture, music, literature, and sculpture. Jacques was so enthralled by his discoveries that when he left Italy, he was determined to bring the Renaissance to France.

He returned to Paris in 1380, at a time when war was still ravaging France. Jacques brought back souvenirs from Italy, promoted his discoveries among common folk and the nobility alike, and shared his philosophies with government officials and administrators. These authorities were equally as fascinated as Jacques was, already having suffered exhaustion from warfare. Beginning the year Jacques returned to France, England cared less and less for French territory and warfare, as wealthy French merchants were increasingly becoming patrons of the arts.

The French administrators and officials realized that in order for their country to continue flourishing intellectually in a progressive manner, they had to stop waging war with England. By 1382, a peaceful settlement was arranged between officials and administrators of both England and France. The English Channel was recognized by both sides as a border between English and French territories, and England abandoned its holdings in French-inhabited lands, restoring them to France.

Jacques died in Paris on October 2, 1424, at the age of 76.

Notes

• As can be inferred, the entry of the Renaissance to France in 1380 results in the aforementioned 1382 peace treaty between that country and England; that treaty brings to an end what is known as the Hundred Years’ War in this timeline, with the war ending in 1453 rather than the early 1380s. If I can recall correctly, the war began in 1337, so an ending in 1382/1383 would obviously make the war be known as something else, maybe the Forty Years’ War, the Anglo-French War, or the Franco-English War.
• While the people of England neglect to import the Renaissance into their country during the 1380s, the movement would make its way over to England early in the following decade.

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