HEROET

heroet, antoine, surnamed la maison-neuve (d. 1568), french poet, was born in paris of a family connected with the famous chancellor, francois olivier. his poetry belongs to his early years, for after he had taken orders he ceased to write profane poetry, no doubt because he considered it out of keeping with his calling, in which he attained the dignity of bishop of digue. his chief work is _la parfaicte amye_ (lyons, 1542) in which he developed the idea of a purely spiritual love, based chiefly on the reading of the italian neo-platonists. the book aroused great controversy. la borderie replied in _l'amye de cour_ with a description of a very much more human woman, and charles fontaine contributed a _contr' amye de cour_ to the dispute. heroet, in addition to some translations from the classics, wrote the _complainte d'une dame nouvellement surprise d'amour_, an _epistre a francois i^er_, and some pieces included in the now very rare _opuscules d'amour par heroet, la borderie et autres divins poetes_ (lyons, 1547). heroet belongs to the lyonnese school of which maurice sceve may be regarded as the leader. clement marot praises him, and ronsard was careful to exempt him with one or two others from the scorn he poured on his immediate predecessors. see h. f. cary, _the early french poets_ (1846).