ved in
the Spanish army in Africa, volunteered for the relief of Malta from the
Turks, and again for the expedition destined to assist Hungary against
Soliman, and in other ways led the life of a knight-errant. The
religious wars in his own country gave him plenty of employment; but in
the reigns of Charles IX. and Henri III. he was more particularly
attached to the suite of the queen dowager and her daughter Marguerite.
He was, however, somewhat disappointed in his hopes of recompense; and
after hesitating for a time between the Royalists, the Leaguers, and the
Spaniards, he left the court, retired into private life, and began to
write his memoirs, partly in consequence of a severe accident. He seems
to have begun to write about 1594, and he lived for twenty years longer,
dying on the 15th of July, 1614.

The form of Brantome's works is, as has been said, peculiar. They are
usually divided into two parts, dealing respectively with men and women.
The first part in its turn consists of many sub-divisions, the chief of
which is made up of the _Vies des Grands Capitaines Etrangers et
Francais_, while others consist of separate disquisitions or essays,
_Des Rodomontades Espagnoles_, 'On some Duels and Challenges in France'
and elsewhere, 'On certain Retreats, and how they are sometimes better
than Battles,' etc. Of the part which is devoted to women the chief
portion is the celebrated _Dames Galantes_, which is preceded by a
series of _Vies des Dames Illustres_, matching the _Grands Capitaines_.
The _Dames Galantes_ is subdivided into eight discourses, with titles
which smack of Montaigne, as thus, 'Qu'il n'est bien seant de parler mal
des honnestes dames bien qu'elles fassent l'amour,' 'Scavoir qui est
plus belle chose en amour,' etc. These discourses are, however, in
reality little but a congeries of anecdotes, often scandalous enough.
Besides these, his principal works, Brantome left divers _Opuscula_,
some of which are definitely literary, dealing chiefly with Lucan. None
of his works were published in his lifetime, nor did any appear in print
until 1659. Meanwhile manuscript copies had, as usual, been multiplied,
with the result, also usual, that the text was much falsified and
mutilated.

The great merit of Brantome lies in the extraordinary vividness of his
powers of literary presentment. His style is careless, though it is
probable that the carelessness is not unstudied. But his irregular,
brightly coloured, and e