They were succeeded by satirical and allegorical poems of equally vast proportions, some of which enjoyed unparalleled popularity, such as the Roman du renard and the Roman de la rose, from which Chaucer afterward adapted and partly translated his "Romaunt of the Rose." The fabliaux and several lighter kinds of poetry cultivated by the troubadours were also treated by the trouveres, who found here an appropriate field for their ingenuity and ready wit. Among those who excelled in the fabliaux was Rutebeuf, who lived in the reign of St. Louis. Songs were not neglected, and those of Abelard in the 12th century enjoyed a wide popularity. Audefroy le Bastard, Quesnes of Bethune, and the castellan of Coucy were among his most distinguished successors. Thibaud, count of Champagne and king of Navarre, deserves to be particularly mentioned; the songs in which he alludes to his love for Queen Blanche of Castile, the mother of King Louis IX. of France, have given him historical celebrity. The progress of prose was slower than that of poetry, but the 13th century presents two specimens showing that it had already acquired a certain degree of power and polish; these are the Chronicle of the Conquest of Constantinople," by Villehardouin (1207), remarkable for its soldier-like simplicity and straightforwardness, and the Memo ires in which Joinville tells of the heroic deeds and private virtues of the good king Louis IX. The whole literature of the 14th century culminates in Froissart's Chronicles, " which remain the model of this kind of writing, and present the liveliest pictures of society and manners during that period of war and gallant emprise.

Christine de Pisan and Alain Chartier deserve notice for their intelligent efforts toward the improvement of prose. This improvement is fully illustrated in the 15th century by the Memoires of Comines, which present a striking delineation of the characters of Louis XL and his contemporaries. Already a popular poet, Villon, had given evidence in his poems that French verse was able to reach a high sphere of excellence; and Duke Charles of Orleans that it had lost nothing of its gracefulness. The revival of classical learning and the religious reformation exercised a powerful influence on French literature in the 16th century. Its principal characteristics being freedom of thought and variety of style, writers cannot be judged according to a single standard. In originality Rabelais and Montaigne are entitled to the first rank. The former, whom Lord Bacon styled "the great jester of France," was a profound scholar, physician, and philosopher, and contented himself with the renown of a profane humorist. His nondescript romance, the "History of Gargantua and Pantagruel," is filled with strange tales, wild notions, amusing quibbles, and gross buffooneries, interspersed with a seasoning of good sense, sound philosophy, and raillery.

A writer of more refinement and keener wit was Montaigne, whose "Essays," one of the standards of French literature, are a series of free and familiar disquisitions upon every subject, couched in the most easy and winning style, but skeptical and cynical throughout. His views were partly reduced to a system by his friend and disciple Charron, in his treatises De la sa-gesse and Des trois verites. Meanwhile the reformation had been vindicated by Calvin in his Institution de la religion chretienne, a masterly piece of writing, which afforded convincing evidence that French prose had now acquired strength and gravity enough to become a fit vehicle of religious eloquence; and, later in the century, an admirable pamphlet, the Satire Menippee, and some speeches of the chancellor L'Hopital, proved it to be flexible enough for political purposes. Its capacity for lighter subjects had been previously demonstrated by the tales of Margaret of Navarre. Amyot invested it with new graces by happily blending Grecian and French beauties in his translation of Plutarch's Lives." In poetry this period was less successful. Clement Marot (1495-1544) had indeed exhibited elegance, grace, and wit, in his epistles, epigrams, and elegies; but he had merely given perfection to inferior branches of poetry.

Ron-sard attempted a higher flight; he tried to invest French verse with that power, variety, and inspiration which he so much admired in Greek metres; but his violent introduction of foreign forms and elements into the vernacular was far from attaining the fortunate results he anticipated; in spite of all his defects, however, he contributed to elevate the tone of French poetry. In the 17th century, Malherbe appeared as the reformer, or rather the regulator, of poetry; a man of fastidious taste and meagre imagination, he ridiculed the artistic luxuriance of Ronsard, and introduced a style of grammatical correctness and dry elegance which sometimes reached pomposity, but was destructive of feeling and enthusiasm. His polishing process was nevertheless of great service to poetical language; and his odes, stanzas, and other pieces present many beautiful lines, which are frequently quoted. Mathurin Re-gnier (1573-1613) was the earliest of the French satiric poets, and his verses are full of vigor. Balzac devoted his attention to the improvement of prose; and his semi-philosophical works, his epistles especially, were valuable at the time as models of careful and harmonious rhetoric.

Such were also, notwithstanding their mannerism, the frivolous but witty letters of his friend Voiture. Both were great favorites at the hotel Rambouillet, the headquarters of a society of wits and fashionable ladies, who acted as arbiters of good taste and elegance. Many social reunions were now in reality literary clubs, which gave particular attention to philological propriety; one of these, receiving from Cardinal Richelieu the title of the French academy, was especially appointed to establish certain rules for the French language, and make it not only elegant but capable of treating all matters of art and science." Leaving mere disquisitions about words to such societies, three great men now enriched French literature with works in which style was only a medium for conveying original conceptions or powerful thoughts. Pierre Corneille brought tragedy to a degree of grandeur which has not been surpassed on the French stage; Le Cid, Horace, Cinna, and Polyeucte are still the objects of admiration; while Pom-pee, Rodogune, Heraclius, Don Sanche, and Nicomede, though less perfect, abound with striking beauties.