Gervais du Bus
Gervais du Bus[1] is a French writer of the beginning of the 14th century.
Biography
The details of his life are not well known: he was a cleric; from 1312 to 1315, he was chaplain to Enguerrand de Marigny (1260–1315) until his execution, minister of Philip the Fair (1268–1314); in 1313 he became notary of the royal chancellery and remained so until 1338.
Between 1310 and 1314, he composed the Roman de Fauvel, a satirical-allegorical poem of 3,280 verses. It is a work in two parts: only the second book is signed by an enigma that hides the name of Gervais du Bus and the attribution of the first part to this author has been disputed.
Gervais du Bus asserts that the text only aims to explain the meaning of the accompanying paintings. It seems that the paintings were done only after the composition of the poem, notably by Raoul Le Petit. This form of pictorial history was rediscovered in the 19th century by Rodolphe Töpffer and Christophe.
Notes
- ↑ Gervais du Bus' name appears sometimes in the form Gervès du Bus.
