GODEAU, ANTOINE. — Prelate and man of letters, b. at Dreux in 1605, d. at Vence in 1672. He frequented the Hôtel de Rambouillet and the literary gatherings at the home of Conrart, from which the Académie Française was to emerge, of which G. was among the first members when Richelieu officially constituted II.
In his early youth he was fond of worldly life, but after being made a bishop by Richelieu himself, he led a very austere existence, writing hagiographies and treatises on religious devotion, which contrast sharply with his early works. He enjoyed great renown even during his lifetime; his best work is *La morale chrétienne* (3 vols., Paris 1709), reprinted under the title *Theologia moralis* (2 vols., Augsburg 1774).
BIBL.: R. de Kerveler, A. G., Paris 1870; A. Comet, A. G., ibid. 1900; G. Doublet, G. évêque, ibid. 1911; P. David, L'épître d'A. G. à la reine Louise de Gonzague, in *Petit Courrier de France et de Pologne*, Oct.-Nov. 1930.