BERTAUT, Jean. - French bishop and poet, born at Donnay, diocese of Bayeux, in 1552, died at Séez (Savoia) on 8 June 1611. His learning brought him great honour with Henry III and Henry IV, so that he became the court poet.
A Petrarchist and disciple of Ronsard and Desportes, he first treated rather sentimentally frivolous and gallant themes, and later, after becoming bishop of Séez in 1606, he devoted himself chiefly to religious subjects, which he developed with fluent prolixity and almost always without any personal character. In his paraphrases of the Psalms, however, his poetry is more spontaneous and does not lack deeply felt lyrical accents. We may mention the *Cantique en forme de confession* and the *Cantique sur la naissance de N. S. Fébus-Christ*.