François Rabelais

c. 1483 – c. 1553

François Rabelais was a French Renaissance writer, physician, and former monk, famous for the satirical and exuberant novels Pantagruel and Gargantua. His works, condemned by the Sorbonne for their irreverence, combine vast humanist learning with bawdy comedy and gave the language the adjective 'Rabelaisian'. His birth date is uncertain, with estimates ranging from about 1483 to 1494.

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Life events

Born near Chinon in Touraine
c. 1483

Rabelais was born near Chinon, probably at the family estate of La Devinière; his birth year is disputed, with dates proposed between about 1483 and 1494.

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Became a Franciscan friar at Fontenay-le-Comte
c. 1520

By the early 1520s Rabelais was a Franciscan friar at the convent of Le Puy-Saint-Martin in Fontenay-le-Comte, where he studied Greek and corresponded with humanist scholars.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Transferred to the Benedictine order
c. 1524

Around 1524, with papal permission, Rabelais left the Franciscans for the Benedictine abbey of Maillezais after his Greek books were confiscated.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Enrolled in medicine at the University of Montpellier
17 September 1530

Rabelais registered at the faculty of medicine in Montpellier on 17 September 1530 and received his bachelor's degree within weeks.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Appointed physician at the Hôtel-Dieu in Lyon
1532

In 1532 Rabelais became a physician at the Hôtel-Dieu de Notre-Dame de la Pitié in Lyon, then a major center of printing and humanism.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published Pantagruel
1532

In 1532 Rabelais published Pantagruel under the anagrammatic pseudonym Alcofribas Nasier; the book was soon condemned by the Sorbonne.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published Gargantua
c. 1534

Rabelais published Gargantua, the prequel to Pantagruel containing the famous abbey of Thélème, around 1534.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Traveled to Rome with Cardinal Jean du Bellay
1534

In 1534 Rabelais accompanied his patron Jean du Bellay to Rome as his physician, the first of several Italian journeys under du Bellay protection.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Named curate of Meudon
1551

In 1551 Jean du Bellay granted Rabelais the parish of Meudon near Paris, from which he resigned shortly before his death.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in Paris
c. 1553

Rabelais died in Paris in 1553; the traditional date of 9 April 1553 is not fully certain.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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