Clement Marot, a Renaissance Poet Discovers the Gospel: Lutheranism, Fabrism and Calvinism in the Royal Courts of France and of Navarre and in the Ducal Court of Ferrara

Clement Marot (1496-1544), a poet of distinction, is a witness to the effect of the Bible on French-speaking courts. He was admired by Francis I, and protected by Margaret of Navarre and by Renee, the French Duchess of Ferrara. His translations of the Psalms came to dominate Huguenot worship, inspiring many imitators, not least in English. His commitment to Lutheran theology shines through his personal poetry, once his Scriptural allusions are recognized and interpreted. This work is an expansion and recasting, for an English-reading public, of Marot Evangelique , Michael Screech’s study, which brings out the appeal to this court poet of Lutheranism and martyrdom. Chapters also examine aspects of Marot’s cult of the Virgin and a possible shift from Lutheranism to Calvinism.