HUMANISM AS CIVIC PROJECT THE COLLÈGE DE GUYENNE 1533-1583 by Marjorie Irene Hopkins A Thesis presented to The University of Guelph In partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in History Guelph, Ontario, Canada © Marjorie Irene Hopkins, September, 2016 ABSTRACT HUMANISM AS CIVIC PROJECT: THE COLLÈGE DE GUYENNE 1533-1583 Marjorie Hopkins Advisor: University of Guelph, 2016 Professor Peter A. Goddard Que disciplina adhuc observata in suo Burdigalen Gymnasio notior evadat, nec facile usquam depravetur. Thus, in 1583, the Jurade, the city council, of Bordeaux concluded its endorsement of the publication of Elie Vinet's Schola Aquitanica, the school programme of the Collège de Guyenne. This thesis examines the humanist programme at the Collège de Guyenne in Bordeaux from 1533 to 1583. Most studies of the Collège have focused on its foundation and institutional structure. Since Ernest Gaullieur's institutional history in 1874, research into Renaissance, Reformation, and educational history have made significant advancements, all of which shed additional light onto the Collège's history and its role as a source of civic identity in a growing national context. Additionally, the application of Pierre Bourdieu's concept of habitus grants insight into the social climate of academics in the sixteenth century. This thesis contributes to our knowledge of the Collège's and the regents' place in the development of Bordelais and French identity, but it also elucidates the regents' impact on the students who attended there, particularly Michel de Montaigne, a well-known writer who was apparently self-disclosing, whose education at the Collège shaped him into a prudent thinker with the capacity to see all sides of an issue. This study relies on sources published in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as part of French national studies. These sources include foundation charters, notarial and royal records, letters, sixteenth-century publications, Inquisitorial trials, and material sources. The central argument of this thesis is that the regents at the Collège de Guyenne found a balance between stasis and change amidst the turmoil of the sixteenth century as they contributed to the emerging Renaissance identity of a resurgent French city. Moreover, this thesis examines the Collège de Guyenne as a political institution during a period of upheaval and transformation. The regents at the Collège de Guyenne embraced the diversity of Bordeaux and, in 1583, the Jurade endorsed the programme at Guyenne and declared that "[il] ne pût jamais s'altérer facilement." iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I conclude my thesis with a discussion of Michel de Montaigne and the influence the regents at the Collège de Guyenne had on him. It is my conviction that we are all shaped by those who teach us. I have had many teachers throughout this journey and I am profoundly grateful for their interest, feedback, compassion, and support. The most obvious teacher on this journey has been Dr. Peter Goddard. We had lengthy conversations about sixteenth-century France, intellectual, religious, political, and cultural history. Peter's diligence in providing me feedback and helping to refine my thought and writing process has been invaluable. Beyond this, Peter's wisdom and breadth and depth of knowledge inspire me. My identity as an historian bears the mark of Peter's guiding hand, and I am grateful. I could not have arrived to this stage without my committee's input. Dr. Greta Kroeker provided helpful feedback on my introduction and conclusion. Dr. Chris Nighman provided insight into larger themes of Renaissance and his thoroughness in reading my work was a gift. Dr. Susannah Ferreira has been a companion throughout this journey and I am so pleased that she was able to participate as an examiner at my defense. Her enthusiasm for the Portuguese aspects of my project was inspiring. As the external examiner, Dr. Megan Armstrong provided helpful insights into the political aspects of my project. I could not have asked for a better committee. I also want to thank, Dr. Renée Worringer and Dr. Steven Bednarski, whose encouragement and support through the ups and downs of the doctoral degree kept me grounded. Teachers come in many forms. To those who began this journey with me in Fall 2012: Chris Bowles, Joe Buscemi, Russ Freure, Alice Glaze, Ian Muller, Maysoon Sheikh, Josh Tavenor, Matt Wiseman, and Anne Vermeyden, thank you for walking together. My friends v have been tremendously supportive over the last four years, and I could not have finished without them. Each of you has contributed to this process and your influence goes far beyond a simple name in a list. To Karen, Ron, Kara, and Henry Cornies, Glynis Burkhalter, Caley McCarthy, Adina Bujold, Anne Laarman, Geoff Keelan, Ashleigh Corwin, Jennifer Wohlgemuth, Andrew Moore, Jocelyn Hunt: Thank you! Your love, support, tissues, and laughter have helped me to remember my own identity in the midst of this process. My work bears the marks of their care. Thank you to my family who believed in me, even when this venture seemed crazy. To my soon to be in-laws who made a journey down to 401 to witness my defense. And to Serge whose love knows no bounds. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF FIGURES Vii CHAPTER I Introduction 1 CHAPTER II Historiography, Methodologies, and Sources 20 CHAPTER III The Modus Parisiensis at the Collège de Guyenne 60 CHAPTER IV T he Crossroads: The Collège and the Reformation 99 CHAPTER V Becoming Bordelais: The Collège in Urban and National Identity 144 CHAPTER VI Civic Dynamism and Humanist Contributions to 190 Bordeaux's French Identity CHAPTER VII Conclusion 226 BIBLIOGRAPHY 244 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Inscription du Collège de Guienne, 1543. 127 Figure 2. Armes de Bordeaux et de France, c. 1530-1535 175 1 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, business leaders in Bordeaux were concerned with what they perceived as a lack of moral education which, in their view, had contributed to the economic crisis.1 Thus, they opened the Bordeaux MBA, whose curriculum focused on three main components: Business and markets, the humanities, and personal efficacy and development. To endorse their emphasis on moral and ethical education, they aligned themselves with the heritage of the Collège de Guyenne, which, according to their website, had existed in one form or another from the third to the eighteenth centuries in Bordeaux, and had now been revived in the twenty-first.2 In relation to the history of the Collège de Guyenne, on their website, they invoke the name of Ausonius (c. 310-395), the poet turned professor, and Fernando Gouvea (1497-1548), the Portuguese professor who, at the invitation of the Jurade of Bordeaux, left the Collège de Sainte Barbe in Paris to teach at Guyenne. They name Michel de Montaigne as "le plus illustre de nos anciens élèves, qui nous parle et nous inspire encore aujourd'hui avec ses Essais."3 This history contains several errors. The first is the direct connection of the sixteenth-century Collège de Guyenne to the Roman educational institutions of both the third century and fourth century when Ausonius lived and taught at Bordeaux. The second error is in the name Fernando Gouvea, who was actually André de Gouveia. Despite these errors, the portrayal of the history of the Collège de Guyenne recorded on l'École de Commerce Humaniste's website is a reminder that beliefs about the Collège de Guyenne's antiquity and greatness have persisted in Bordelais imagination. More importantly, it demonstrates the view that education is a solution to contemporary problems, which Bordeaux 1 Bordeaux MBA: Collège International de Commerce, "Notre Histoire," http://www.bordeaux-mba.fr/parents/notre- histoire.html (accessed April 29, 2016). 2 http://www.bordeaux-mba.fr/parents/notre-histoire.html 3 http://www.bordeaux-mba.fr/parents/notre-histoire.html 2 did in 2008 and in 1533. The Collège de Guyenne and the regents who taught there provide insight into college education in the sixteenth century. The educational work at the Collège de Guyenne followed the larger trends of the early modern European context. Yet, the Collège de Guyenne was unique to the context of Bordeaux. While the regents implemented the modus parisiensis, the widely exported educational programme based on that of the colleges at Paris, they adapted it to fit the political vision of the city of Bordeaux. The Collège de Guyenne was a local college, yet it operated in a vibrant community that functioned at the intersection of an international network. The experience at Bordeaux, which was in many ways specific to its context, provides insight into broader civic and national transitions experienced across France in this period. This dissertation aims to address the issue of sixteenth-century education as a solution to contemporary problems by investigating the relationship of the regents at the Collège to the city of Bordeaux to understand their roles as teachers, scholars, citizens, and how they balanced the competing drives for stasis and change. More importantly, this thesis examines the Collège de Guyenne as a political institution during a period of upheaval and transformation. L'École de Commerce Humaniste's website, which signals widespread concerns about the value of education in times of crisis, demonstrates the relevance of a new investigation into the Collège de Guyenne, with a particular focus on 1533 to 1583, the first fifty years of the Collège, when it was at its apex. While the Collège provided education to the city's elite until it closed in 1793, it was during the Collège's first fifty years that it experienced the heightened excitement of the Renaissance, the fear, uncertainty, and violence of the Reformation, the shifting priorities of the French monarchy, and the economic and political transitions of Bordeaux.