Rabelais - François Rabelais

Japanese: ラブレー - らぶれー（英語表記）François Rabelais

French storyteller and physician. Author of the greatest masterpiece of the French Renaissance, "The Tales of Gargantua-Pantagruel." His influence extends to contemporary storytellers, from La Fontaine and Molière to Swift and Stern, as well as Balzac and contemporary writers such as Céline and Queneau. He is said to have been born in a villa in La Dobinière (now open to the public as the Rabelais Memorial Museum) near Chinon in Touraine, as the youngest son of Antoine, a newly emerging bourgeois landowner and lawyer in the local court, but many aspects of his life are unclear, and the old theory that he was born in 1483 is gaining support. In any case, he entered the Franciscan monastery of Fontenay-le-Comte in Poitou as a monk at the latest in 1520, where he studied philosophy and theology while also teaching himself ancient Greek, which was considered dangerous at the time as a source of heretical thought, and attempted to translate Herodotus into Latin. He also corresponded with Budé, the highest authority on ancient studies in France. In the mid-1520s, he moved to the Benedictine Order, which boasted a long tradition of academic study, and as secretary to the abbot of Liguges, near Poitiers, he deepened his acquaintances with local scholars and writers and attempted to write poetry in French. For some reason, he abandoned his monastic habit without permission around 1527-28, became a secular priest, and began medical training in Paris and elsewhere.

[Takashi Ninomiya]

Doctor Rabelais

It is only in the latter half of his life, from 1530 when Rabelais was 36 (or 47), that we can trace his life trajectory with some degree of clarity. In the autumn of that year, he enrolled in the traditional medical school of the University of Montpellier, and in November he became a bachelor of medicine. In the spring semester of the following year, he lectured on ancient medical texts based on the Greek originals, for the first time in the history of the school, and his lectures were attended by a large audience. In 1532, he appeared in Lyon, and between June and September, he published three Latin academic books, including a transcription and commentary on the Writings of Hippocrates and Galen, and in November he was appointed physician at the city's hospital. In 1537, he was awarded a bachelor's degree and doctorate in medicine from the University of Montpellier, and lectured on anatomy using cadavers. Using actual human bodies was still rare at the time, so it is no wonder that he was praised by poets and humanists of his time as the greatest physician of his time.

[Takashi Ninomiya]

The birth of a writer

Halfway through his life, Rabelais was recognized as a classical scholar and physician, and in parallel with this he published the first volume of what would become a large series, "The Second Book of Pantagruel" (1532), under a pseudonym. He also published short humorous pieces in French, "The Almanac of 1533" and "The Divination of Pantagruel of 1533" (1532-33), under his real name and the grandiose titles of Doctor of Medicine and Professor of Astrology. This was a time when the common belief that Latin was the language of culture and education, and French was merely a low-level slang, was finally beginning to waver. In "The Second Book," Rabelais skillfully interweaves popular humor with the scholarship of humanism, scholastic philosophy, and theology, and seems to be exploring the possibilities of French prose at all levels. Although the book was generally well received, some humanists harshly criticized Rabelais for straying from the correct path of a scholar, and one professor at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Paris denounced it as an "indecent (or obscene)" book. From then on, every time Rabelais published a new work, the Faculty of Theology banned it, and the author was forced to flee into exile.

Fortunately, Rabelais was able to find protection from the du Bellay brothers, who were humanists and advocates of religious tolerance, and were close advisors to the king. In 1534, 1535-36, and 1547-49, he accompanied his brother Jean du Bellay, Bishop of Paris and ambassador to Rome, to Rome and other places as his personal physician and secretary, and in 1551 Rabelais was awarded two priestly stipends. He also stayed in Turin in 1539-40, 1541, and 1542 accompanying his brother Guillaume, who was acting governor of the Piedmont region in northern Italy. These experiences broadened Rabelais's perspective in the areas of politics, culture, religion, and society, stimulated his thinking, and contributed greatly to his later works. When comparing "First Book of Gargantua" (1534), published after Rabelais's first trip to Italy, with his similar debut work (Second Book), the difference is clear, and it can be said that it was in this second work that the writer Rabelais found his true self.

[Takashi Ninomiya]

The Fate of Heresy

The late 1530s was a time of intensified persecution of heresy with the establishment and development of Calvinism. Rabelais, who defended the faith of evangelism while ridiculing the rigidity and deception of official culture, was naturally seen as a dangerous person by the church authorities, and his magnificent expression of the hymn of life could not have pleased the dogmatic Calvinists. Pantagruel III (1546) and Pantagruel IV (1552), published after a long silence, show the maturity of the writer, but also strongly reflect the bitterness of his life as a writer who lived through such times. In the autumn of 1552, rumors of Rabelais's imprisonment spread in Lyon, and in January 1553, he declined two priestly stipends, and his whereabouts are unknown after that.

[Takashi Ninomiya]

"Miscellaneous Thoughts on Rabelais, Volumes 1 and 2 (Watanabe Kazuo Collected Works, Expanded Edition, Volumes 1 and 2, 1976, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "Francois Rabelais, by M. Lazare, translated by Shinoda Katsuhide and Miyashita Shiro (Hakusuisha, Quessais-Ju Bunko)"

[Reference] | The Tale of Gargantua and Pantagruel

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

フランスの物語作家、医師。フランス・ルネサンス最大の傑作『ガルガンチュワ‐パンタグリュエル物語』の作者。その影響は同時代の物語作家はもちろん、ラ・フォンテーヌやモリエールからスウィフトやスターン、さらにバルザック、現代のセリーヌ、クノーに及ぶ。トゥレーヌ地方シノンの新興ブルジョア地主で同地裁判所付き弁護士を務めたアントアーヌの末子として、同市近郊ラ・ドビニエールの別荘（現ラブレー記念館として公開）で生まれたとされるが、生涯には不明の点が多く、生年についても最近1483年とする旧説の支持者が増えつつある。いずれにせよ遅くとも1520年には修道士としてポアトゥー地方フォントネー・ル・コントのフランチェスコ会修道院にあり、哲学・神学を学ぶかたわら、当時異端思想の源として危険視されていた古代ギリシア語を独習し、ヘロドトスのラテン語訳を試みたり、フランスにおける古代研究の最高権威ビュデと文通したりしている。ついで20年代なかばには学問的伝統を誇るベネディクト会に移り、ポアチエに近いリギュージェ修道院長の秘書役としてこの地方の学者・文人との交遊を深め、フランス語の詩作を試みている。しかもいかなる理由によるものか、1527～28年ごろには許可なく修道衣を捨てて在俗司祭となり、パリその他で医学修業を始めたらしい。

［二宮　敬］

医師ラブレー

生涯の軌跡をいくらかはっきりとたどれるのは、1530年ラブレー36歳（または47歳）以後の後半生に限られる。この年の秋、伝統あるモンペリエ大学医学部に登録した彼は、11月医学得業士(バシユリエ)となり、翌年春学期には同医学部史上初めて古代医書をギリシア語原典に拠(よ)って講じ、聴講多数に上った。ついで32年にはリヨンに現れ、6～9月の間に『ヒポクラテスならびにガレノス文集』翻刻注解など三点のラテン語学術書を公にし、11月同市市立病院医師に任命された。さらに37年にはモンペリエ大学から医学士号と博士学位を相次いで与えられ、死体を用いて解剖学を講じた。当時実際に人体を用いた例はなお珍しく、彼が同時代の詩人・人文主義者たちから当代きっての名医とたたえられたのもうなずける。

［二宮　敬］

作家の誕生

人生のなかばを過ぎて古典学者・医学者として認知されたラブレーは、これと並行してやがて大きな連作となるべき物語の最初の一巻『第二之書パンタグリュエル』（1532）を変名で出版し、また医学博士・占星学教授という誇大な肩書付きの本名で『1533年の暦』『1533年のパンタグリュエル占筮(せんぜい)』なる戯作的小品をフランス語で発表した（1532～33）。ラテン語こそは文化と教養の言語であり、フランス語は低次元の俗語にすぎないとする通念がようやく揺らごうとしている時期だった。ラブレーは『第二之書』において民衆的な笑いと人文主義およびスコラ哲学・神学の学殖とを巧みに織り交ぜ、あらゆるレベルのフランス語散文を駆使してその可能性を探っているかに思われる。本書は一般に好評を得たものの、人文主義者のなかにはラブレーが軽率にも学者の正道を逸脱したとして厳しく批判する者もあり、さらにパリ大学神学部の一教授は、本書を「ふとどきな（または猥褻(わいせつ)な）」書物と弾劾した。以後ラブレーが新作を世に問うたびに、神学部は発禁処分に付し、作者は逐電・亡命を余儀なくされる。

　しかし幸いにもラブレーは、自ら人文主義者で宗教的寛容政策の推進者であった国王側近の重臣デュ・ベレー兄弟の庇護(ひご)を受けることができた。1534年、35～36年、47～49年の三度にわたり、弟のパリ司教・駐ローマ大使ジャンJean du Bellayの侍医兼秘書としてローマその他に同行し、51年ラブレーは二つの司祭食禄(しょくろく)を与えられている。また39～40年、41年、42年には北イタリアのピエモンテ地方総督代理となった兄ギヨームGuillaumeに随行してトリノに滞在している。これらの体験はラブレーの視野を政治・文化・宗教・社会の各面にわたって拡大、その思索を刺激し、その後の作品に多大の寄与をすることになった。最初のイタリア旅行後に刊行された『第一之書ガルガンチュワ』（1534）を同工異曲の処女作（第二之書）と比較した場合、その差は明白であり、この第二作において作家ラブレーは真の己をみいだしたといえよう。

［二宮　敬］

異端の運命

1530年代後半以後はカルビニズムの成立と発展に伴う異端弾圧激化の時代である。福音(ふくいん)主義信仰を守りつつ、公式文化の硬直と欺瞞(ぎまん)を滑稽(こっけい)化したラブレーは、当然教会権力から危険人物視されたし、彼が壮大に表現した生の賛歌は教条主義化したカルバン派の気に入るはずもなかった。長い沈黙を経て発表された『第三之書パンタグリュエル』（1546）と『第四之書パンタグリュエル』（1552）とは、作家の円熟と同時に、こうした時代を生き抜いた彼の苦渋の影を色濃く宿している。52年秋ラブレー投獄の噂(うわさ)がリヨンに広まり、53年1月彼は二つの司祭食禄を辞退、その後の消息は知られていない。

［二宮　敬］

『『ラブレー雑考』上下（『渡辺一夫著作集　増補版　第1、2巻』1976・筑摩書房）』▽『M・ラザール著、篠田勝英・宮下志朗訳『フランソワ・ラブレー』（白水社・文庫クセジュ）』

[参照項目] | ガルガンチュワ‐パンタグリュエル物語

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