Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur (and
abbé)
de Brantôme (c. 1540 –
15 July 1614) was a
French historian,
soldier and
biographer.
Brantôme was born in Perigord, Aquitaine, the third son of the baron de Bourdeille. His mother and maternal grandmother were both attached to the court of Marguerite of Navarre, on whose death in 1549 he went to Paris, and later (1555) to Poitiers, to finish his education.
He was given several benefices, the most important of which was the abbey of Brantôme, but had no inclination for an ecclesiastical career.
He became a soldier and came into contact with many of the great leaders of the continental wars. He travelled in Italy; in Scotland, where he accompanied Mary Stuart (then the widow of Francis II of France); in England, where he saw Elizabeth I (1561, 1579); in Morocco (1564); and in Spain and Portugal.
