Born in Chinon, Touraine, son of a prosperous
lawyer, Rabelais began studying at the Benedictine abbey of
Seuilly and eventually became a Franciscan friar. He studied
Greek in Paris and medicine in Montpellier, practicing medicine
in Lyon.
His first great work was The Grand and Inestimable
Chronicles of the Grand and Enormous Giant Gargantua (Les
Grandes et Inestimables Cronicques du Grand et Énorme
Géant Gargantua) printed in 1532 and the four
sequels that followed it, an adventure story with two main
characters, a lusty young giant and his father. Through these
characters, Rabelais offered his readers a comical view of
his contemporary society, using social satire and political
insight. The books, printed under the pseudonym Alcofribas
Nasier, were very successful, despite being condemned as obscene
by the Sorbonne.
While Francis I was alive, Rabelais enjoyed
the support afforded by the king, who greatly enjoyed the
author’s literature. After Francis I died however, liberty
of thought began to be suppressed, forcing Rabelais to eventually
flee to Metz and then to Rome. His works are expressions typical
of the French Renaissance, reflecting the love of life and
individual liberty, through the use of his great imaginative
ability as well as his clever and expressive use of language.
