lowed
himself to be won over temporarily by the ideas of the reformers, and
though he publicly separated himself from Protestantism it had a marked
effect on his mind. A fall from his horse compelled him to retire into
private life about 1589, and he spent his last years in writing his
_Memoirs_ of the illustrious men and women whom he had known. He died on
the 15th of July 1614.

Brantome left distinct orders that his manuscript should be printed; a
first edition appeared, however, late (1665-1666) and not very complete.
Of the later editions the most valuable are: one in 15 volumes (1740);
another by Louis Jean Nicolas Monmerque (1780-1860) in 8 volumes
(1821-1824), reproduced in Buchan's _Pantheon litteraire_; that of the
Bibliotheque elzevirienne, begun (1858) by P. Merimee and L. Lacour, and
finished, with vol. xiii., only in 1893; and Lalanne's edition for the
Societe de l'Histoire de France (12 vols., 1864-1896). Brantome can
hardly be regarded as a historian proper, and his _Memoirs_ cannot be
accepted as a very trustworthy source of information. But he writes in a
quaint conversational way, pouring forth his thoughts, observations or
facts without order or system, and with the greatest frankness and
naivete. His works certainly gave an admirable picture of the general
court-life of the time, with its unblushing and undisguised profligacy.
There is not a _homme illustre_ or a _dame galante_ in all his gallery
of portraits who is not stained with vice; and yet the whole is narrated
with the most complete unconsciousness that there is anything
objectionable in their conduct.

The edition of L. Lalanne has great merit, being the first to indicate
the Spanish, Italian and French sources on which Brantome drew, but it
did not utilize all the existing MSS. It was only after Lalanne's
death that the earliest were obtained for the Bibliotheque Nationale.
At Paris and at Chantilly (Musee Conde) all Brantome's original MSS.,
as revised by him several times, are now collected (see the
_Bibliotheque de l'ecole des Chartes_, 1904), and a new and definitive
edition has therefore become possible. Brantome's poems (which amount
to more than 2200 verses) were first published in 1881; see Lalanne's
edition.

BRANTOME, a town of south-western France, in the department of Dordogne,
20 m. N. by W. of Perigueux by steam-tramway. Pop. (1906) 1230. The town
is built, in great part, on an island in the river