, a native of Bayeux, one of the first French writers who aspired
, a native of Bayeux, one of the
first French writers who aspired to elegance, flourished
about 1430. He was secretary to the kings Charles VI.
and VII. and employed in several embassies. His compositions in prose excelled those that were poetical, and he
spoke as well as he wrote, so that he was esteemed the father of French eloquence. The following curious anecdote relating to him is recorded: Margaret of Scotland,
first wife to the dauphin, afterwards Lewis XI. as she
passed through the Louvre, observed Alain asleep, and
went and kissed him. When her attendants expressed
their surprize that she should thus distinguish a man remarkable for his ugliness, she replied, “I do not kiss the
man, but the mouth that has uttered so many charming
things.
” His works were published by the elder Du
Chesne, in 1617, 4to; the first part consisting of his
works in prose, viz. the “Curial;
” a “Treatise on Hope;
”
the “Luadrilogus Invectif,
” against Edward III.; and
others, partly spurious; and the second part containing
his poems, which are for the most part obscure and tedious. Alain Chartier died at Avignon in 1449. We find
much difference in the biographers of Chartier, some ascribing to him the “Chroniques de St. Denys,
” Paris, History
of Charles VII.
” likewise attributed to him, is given by Du
Chesne to Berri, first herald to Charles VII. and by Moreri
to Gilles de Bouvier.