Joachim Du Bellay was a 16th century French poet and a founder of the literary movement called La Pléiade. He was born into a noble family in 1522 but had poor health and was nearly deaf. He studied at the University of Poitiers where he studied rhetoric, law, and poetry. There he met his distant cousin Pierre de Ronsard who shared his passion for learning and poetry. They moved to Paris together where they studied Greek, Latin, Italian poetry and debated topics like translation, rhetoric, and language. Du Bellay wrote works defending and enriching the French language as he believed it could achieve the status of classical languages through imitation. He spent four years in Italy but had failed love

1. Joachim Du Bellay
c. 1522-1560
Aldana Abdulla Alammari

2. Terms
• La Pléiade: group of seven French writers of the 16th century, led by
Pierre de Ronsard, whose aim was to elevate the French language to
the level of the classical tongues as a medium for literary expression

3. Joachim Du Bellay Lifetime
1522 1545 1549 1558 15601553
Younger son from a noble French
family with long illnesses left him
nearly deaf
Nobility
Abandoned
Poor Health
His Birth
1547

4. 1522 1545 1549 1558 15601553
Joachim Du Bellay Lifetime
Poitiers University
Rhetoric
Law
Poetry
competition
1522 1545 1549 1558 156015531547

5. poitiers university1522 1545 1549 1558 15601553
Joachim Du Bellay Lifetime
1522 1545 1549 1558 156015531547
Pierre de Ronsanrd
Meet a distant cousin
Same passion of
learning and poetry
Moved to the same
college in Paris
Learned Greek, Latin,
Italian poetry and
argued about
translation, rhetoric
and the use of
language
The Pleide

6. Joachim Du Bellay Lifetime
1522 1545 1549 1558 156015531547
The Defense And Enrichment
Of The French Language
In 16th century the French language
Latin was the language of scholarships, legal documents
and poetry.
The goal of it was: to justify the French vernacular by
establishing a new poetics to elevate the status of
French poetry and, in turn, France itself.
He believe the weakness of French language is only
temporary. By discussing the raise of Latin; the Roman
borrowed extensively from Greek authors but wrote in
Latina; through imitation, they transformed Latin from a
rather rough and brutish tonged to langue of literature
and philosophy.

7. 1522 1545 1549 1558 156015531547
Joachim Du Bellay Lifetime
He accompanied his cousin, to Rome,
Two of his major
works came out of
his 4 years in Italy
Died at age 37
Failed love affairs with a
married Italian women
• Hastened his return to his newly
homeland