His own flock speedily espoused the doctrines of the
Reformation, but when he proceeded to Mauleon and tried to preach there,
the Basques refused to listen to him, and hacked the pulpit to pieces,
the Bishop being precipitated upon the flagstones, and so grievously
injured that he died.
Beside the divines who sought an asylum at Nerac, there were various
noted men of letters, foremost among whom we may class the Queen's two
secretaries, Clement Marot, the poet, and Peter Le Macon, the translator
of Boccaccio's _Decameron_. This translation was undertaken at the
Queen's request, as Le Macon states in his dedication to her, and it
has always been considered one of the most able literary works of the
period. With Marot and Le Macon, but in the more humble capacity of
valet, at the yearly wages of one hundred and ten livres, there came the
gay Bonaventure Desperiers, the author of _Les Joyeux Devis_; (1) other
writers, such as John Frotte, John de la Haye and Gabriel Chapuis, were
also among Margaret's retainers.
1 _Livre de Depenses de Marguerite d'Angouleme_.
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