François Rabelais

François Rabelais was born around 1494, probably near Chinon in the Touraine region of France, the son of a lawyer. He became a Franciscan friar and studied Greek, but Greek books were viewed with suspicion by his superiors, and he moved to a Benedictine house. He later left monastic life, studied medicine at the University of Montpellier and became a physician at a hospital in Lyon. In 1532 he published Pantagruel, a comic tale about a giant and his adventures, under the pen name Alcofribas Nasier, an anagram of his name. Gargantua, about Pantagruel's father, followed. The books mix crude humor, wordplay and fantastic adventures with satire of monks, scholars, lawyers and church authorities, and they include the famous Abbey of Thélème, whose only rule is 'Do what you will'. The theologians of the Sorbonne condemned the books, but Rabelais had powerful protectors, including the du Bellay family, and he traveled to Rome with them. Further books followed. He died in Paris in 1553.

François Rabelais is also an author in the library: author page and works.

Faith: Began as a Franciscan friar, then became a Benedictine, before turning to medicine; his beliefs are debated. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911) (via Wikisource)