Notary and poet
He was born in Saint-Rambert en Bugey just before 1550, in the midst of the religious quarrels that were tearing France apart, and from which Savoy was not spared.
Barely old enough to study, he was enrolled in his native town's Collège, a fine institution where he soon stood out from the crowd for his lively, playful, mocking intelligence, where Gallic gaiety and Bugiste gausserie combined with solid instruction, delicate taste and finesse of mind.
He had a solid education, a lively and playful intelligence, and a finesse of mind, as evidenced by his writings.
We're not sure where he studied, perhaps in Turin, like Claude Guichard, also born in Saint-Rambert around 1545. The latter had been sent to the University of Turin and showed great facility in history and philosophy. He also struck up a close friendship with another poet of the period, Antoine Favre. We can therefore imagine that these characters met and befriended each other in Turin. Antoine Favre may well have shown Claude Mermet the way to poetry.
Claude Mermet, having completed his studies, and proud of a few applauded verses, sought his path and believed he had found it when he was appointed principal of the college of which he had been a pupil.
Then, amidst the books and the teachers, he became aware of the enormous gaps in the pedagogical works available to his pupils.
He then undertook one of his best-known works: " La pratique de l'Orthographe Françoise" (The Practice of French Orthography ), which events prevented him from publishing at the time, and which only saw the light of day ten years later. This work was published in Lyon by Basile Bouquet in 15893. Only one copy is known, and it was republished in 1973.
His verses and his reputation were known to Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, who appointed him ducal notary in Saint-Rambert, at the age of just twenty-five.
He ended his life as a châtelain and died in Saint-Rambert en Bugey in 1620.
Claude MERMET's work is rich in satirical studies of the mores and characters of his time.
His works Le Temps Passé and La Boutique des Usuriers confirm his observant, critical and witty spirit.
In his literature, he took a keen interest in women and their condition in :
- le bon droit des femmes
- le moyen de garder les femmes d'être mauvaises
- lavis du mariage
We owe him singular works entitled:
- Traité de consolation aux maris (1583)
- Le Devoir des femmes et la manière de les empécher d'être méchantes (1583)
- La Grande Boutique des usuriers.
- L'aventure extraordinaire dun soldat qui mangea son cheval et son épée.
- A translation of Sophonisbe (1583)
- Le Temps passé - Lyon (1585)
His quatrain sur les amis, which René Favre de la Valbonne placed on his fortified house at Premeiry, is worth quoting.
Les Amis de l'heure présente
Ont la nature du melon
Il faut essayer cinquante
Avant den trouver un bon
We also quote
Tu dis que tu es gentilhomme par la faveur d'un parchemin.
If a rat gets in your way, you'll simply be a man.