BERTAUT, JEAN. - French bishop and poet, born at Donnay, diocese of Bayeux, in 1552, died at Séez (Savoy) on 8 June 1611. Owing to his learning, he was held in great esteem by Henry III and Henry IV, and thus became the official court poet.
A Petrarchist and disciple of Ronsard and Desportes, he initially treated frivolous and gallant subjects in a rather sentimental manner; later, having become bishop of Séez in 1606, he devoted himself chiefly to religious themes, which he developed with fluent prolixity and almost always without any personal character. In his paraphrase of the Psalms, on the other hand, his poetry is more spontaneous and does not lack deeply felt lyrical accents. Worth recalling are the Cantique en forme de confession and the Cantique sur la naissance de N. S. Jésus-Christ.