The Grands Rhétoriqueurs or simply the "Rhétoriqueurs" is the name given to a group of poets from 1460 to 1520 (or from François Villon to Clément Marot) working in Northern France, Flanders and the Duchy of Burgundy whose poetic production was dominated by (1) an extremely rich rhyme scheme and experimentation with assonance and puns and (2) experimentation with typography and the graphic use of letters, including the creation of verbal rebuses. The group is also credited with promoting alternation between "masculine" rhymes (lines ending in a sound other than a mute "e") and "feminine" rhymes (lines ending in a mute "e").
Poets considered "Grands Rhétoriqueurs" include:
- Georges Chastellain (1415-1474)
- Jean Molinet (1435-1507)
- Jean Marot (1450-1526) father of Clément Marot
- Jean Meschinot (active from 1450-1490)
- Jean Robertet (active from 1460-1500)
- Guillaume Crétin (1461-1525)
- Jean Lemaire de Belges (1473-1516)
- Jean Bouchet (1476-1555)
- André de La Vigne (active from 1485-1515)
- Octavien de Saint-Gelays (active from 1490-1505)
- Jean d'Auton (active from 1499-1528)
- Pierre Gringoire (active from 1500-1535)
The following poets are sometimes also grouped with the rhétoriqueurs:
- Guillaume Alexis (active from 1450-1490)
- Jeacques Millet (active from 1450-1466)
- Henri Baude (active from 1460-1495)
- Jean Castel (active from 1460-1480)
- Roger de Collerye (1470-1538)
- Jean Parmentier (active from 1515-1530)
The expression "rhétoriqueurs" comes from the publication of several treatises on versification in French in the 15th century that used the term "rhetoric" in their titles, such as in Arts de seconde rhétorique ("Arts of Second Rhetoric", "first rhetoric" being prose and "second rhetoric" being verse), or "rhétorique vulgaire" ("vernacular" as opposed to "Latin" rhetoric). The implication in these poetic manuals was that rhyming was a form or branch of rhetoric.
The "rhétoriqueurs" were not a homogeneous group or organized literary movement, and there were great differences between each author's individual creative project. Nevertheless, these authors show great similiarities in poetic invention and sound experimentation and represent a period of literary transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. The multiplicity of readings in certain texts has been compared to 15th century polyphonic music from the Burgundian School and Netherlanders School (such as the music of Ockeghem), and their fascination with "copia", verbal games and the difficulties of interpretation link them to such Renaissance figures as Erasmus and Rabelais.
From the late 1540s on, many of the "rhétoriqueurs" were rejected by the French circle of poets around Pierre de Ronsard (sometimes called La Pléiade) who considered them representatives of an outdated medieval tradition. Some of this disdain may have also been tied to class and chauvinism: many of the "rhétoriqueurs" were non-noble poets and writers working for the court of the Duchy of Burgundy, while Ronsard's circle was entirely French and dominated by nobles.
The "Grands Rhétoriqueurs" were largely forgotten, except by specialists, until the 19th and 20th centuries. Their verbal games and aural experimentation have been praised by contemporary literary groups, including the writers of the Oulipo movement.