Note 206 — Chapter IV

The singing of Clement Marot’s version of the Psalms was not distinctively Protestant. The first edition of the translation, including thirty Psalms, appeared in Paris in 1541 and in Geneva in 1542. The Geneva edition had an appendix, entitled La maniére d’administrer les sacrements selon la coutume de l’Église ancienne et comme on l’observe à Genève, and was undoubtedly a Protestant book; but the Paris edition contained instead rhymed versions of the Lord’s Prayer, of the Apostles’ Creed, and of the angel’s salutation to the Virgin. The book was a great favourite with Francis I., who is said to have sung some of the Psalms on his deathbed. It was very popular at the Court of Henri II., where it became fashionable for the courtiers to select a favourite Psalm, which the King permitted them to call “their own.” Henri’s “own” was Ps. xlii., Comme un cerf altéré bramc après l’eau courante. He was a great huntsman. Catherine de Medici’s was Ps. vi. The Psalm-singing at the Pré-aux-Clercs, however, was regarded as a manifestation against the Court, and d’Andelot was imprisoned for his persistent attendance.