92 IK IT. (''(Diiihdii — Maistre Eloy du 3fonl, diet Costeiitin. 



cxpri'ssioii " liunible valet " wbicli is used above ma}' well be taken 

 ill tlie sense <>t' "liumble servant." 



In searcbiiig in Normandy for writers who lived in the i>eriod 

 under discussion, one's attention is at once drawn to Eloy d'Amerval, 

 the author of " La Grande Deablerie." A comparison of the places 

 of residence and periods of activity, however, of this writer and of 

 Eloy du Mont shows the improbability of the two being identical. 

 "La (Ti-aiide Deablerie" was printed in 1.508, and contains a "priv- 

 ilege " which implies that the author, at that time, was advanced in 

 3'ears : " De Maitre Eloy d'Amerval, sans doubtance, Venerable 

 Prestre, plein de prudence." Both the known productions of our 

 author are in the third decade of the sixteenth century. We know, 

 from the authority of Du Verdier,' and from Parfaict' that Elo)'- 

 d'Amerval was a priest in the village church at Bethune ; Eloy du 

 Mont, from his own statement, lived in Caen, and he was not a priest, 

 because in the dedication of " La Resurrection " (fol. 2, verso, line 

 14), he mentions his wife. 



Eloy du Mont was a teacher in Caen, where he speaks of teaching 

 his "petitz escoliers," and in his poems, announces the fact that the 

 "Poesies" are " Non composez de jacobins ou carmes Mais d'escol- 

 liers, domesticques arays." The term " petitz escoliers " leads one 

 to believe that he was not an instructor in the University of Caen 

 but in a school of lower grade. Furthermore, an examination of 

 the de))artmental archives of Calvados does not show his name on 

 the University roll.^ 



Our manuscript is not dated, but from evidence furnished by the 

 text we conclude that it was written towards the end of the third 

 decade of the sixteenth century. In the "Dizain de Fiance et 

 Italic" (fol. 47, recto), we find the following personal reference : 



Italiens ont moult France eniioblie 

 De deux grandz biens, de la langue latine, 

 D'un aultre bien qui vault qu'on ne I'oublie, 

 C'est de la sage et tresnoble daulphine. 



Catherine de Medicis married Henry II in 1533, but Henry did not 

 become "dauphin" until the death of his older brother P^rancis, in 

 1536. Three passages which we find imply that the "Poesies" 

 were written in times of peace ; fol. 1, verso (I): 



1 Du Verdier Bibl. fr. II. p. 325. 



- Parfaict Freres, Hist, du th. fr., II, p. 219. 



•'* Archives d^partmentales, Calvados. S^rie D, University de Caen. 



