Pierre Belon

French historian

• Born: c. 1517
• Birthplace: La Soultière, near Le Mans, France
• Died: April 1564 or 1565
• Place of death: Paris, France

Pierre Belon wrote monographs on birds, trees, and marine life, contributing to the advancement of botany and zoology. His studies of dolphin embryos and bird skeletons signal the founding of modern embryology and comparative anatomy. His descriptions of eastern lands introduced Europeans to Ottoman culture and fueled a contemporary interest in exotic travel literature.

Early Life

Pierre Belon (pyehr beh-lohn) was born in La Soultière, a former hamlet in northwestern France. His date of birth is based on early published portraits depicting him at age thirty-six. Little is known for certain about his family origin or his early education. According to autobiographical comments contained in his work Cronique de Pierre Belon, médecin (wr. 1562-1565, pb. 2001; chronicle of Pierre Belon, physician), he spent much of his youth in lower Brittany, where he became familiar with the regional flora and fauna. As a young man, probably around 1535, he entered the household of René du Bellay, bishop of Le Mans, who provided him the opportunity to follow his curiosity.

In 1540, Belon visited Germany, studied botany under Valerius Cordus at the University of Wittenberg, and explored with Cordus mines and forests in Germany and Bohemia. On his return to France in 1542, Belon went to Paris to study medicine and soon obtained a position as an apothecary in the service of Cardinal François de Tournon, one of the chief artisans of French foreign policy. Belon’s knowledge of several languages, including Latin, some German, and his native French, and his desire to travel and study nature directly, made him an obvious choice for some of the cardinal’s diplomatic missions abroad.

During trips to Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Italy (1543-1544), he collected information on plants, trees, and animal life, which contributed to his expertise in natural history. In 1546, he was a cultural attaché on an expedition to Constantinople organized by Monsieur d’Aramon. Over the course of three years, Belon explored various regions in the Middle East and Asia Minor, including the island of Crete, all the while recording his observations for future publication.

Life’s Work

Shortly after his return from the Levant in 1549, Belon accompanied Tournon on a trip to Rome, then returned the following year to Paris to resume his study of medicine and prepare his works for publication. From 1551 to 1558, he published in rapid succession a series of books that established his reputation as one of Europe’s leading natural historians. Accusations that Belon published under his own name work that belonged to Pierre Gilles, a contemporary naturalist and fellow traveler in d’Aramon’s expedition to the Middle East, appear unfounded.

Belon’s first published work, L’Histoire naturelle des éstranges poissons marins (pb. 1551; natural history of unusual marine animals), is a noteworthy contribution to ichthyology the study of fish. Along with descriptions of several major species of marine life, ranging from sturgeons and breams to tuna and hammerhead sharks, the work contained lifelike woodcut illustrations prepared by the Parisian artist François Pérrier. It also included an in-depth study of dolphin and porpoise anatomies. Historians of science call attention to the work’s detailed study of the cetacean embryo, which preceded the foundation of modern embryology. Equally noteworthy is the author’s comparison of a dolphin’s cerebrum with that of a human.

Two years later Belon published a similar work called De aquatilibus (pb. 1553; on aquatic animals), another illustrated work that greatly expanded his catalog of aquatic mammals, amphibians, and fish. It was later translated into French under the title De la nature et diversité des poissons (pb. 1555; on the nature and diversity of fishes).

Belon was interested in herbs, plants, and trees as well. In De arboribus coniferis, resiniferis, aliis quoque nonnullis sempiterna fronde virentibus (pb. 1553; on coniferous, resinous, and other evergreen trees), Belon described eight major categories of resin-bearing conifers, each category preceded by an accurate illustration. In Remonstrances sur le default du labour et culture des plantes (pb. 1589; remonstrance on the neglect of horticulture), addressed to the royal councilor, he asserted the necessity of collecting and acclimating nonnative plants and trees in France. In De admirabili operum antiquorum . . . praestantia (pb. 1553; on the wondrous preeminence of antique works), he delved into the majesty of the Egyptian pyramids and the ancient art of embalming corpses.

Belon was also a dedicated ornithologist. His L’Histoire de la nature des oyseaux (pb. 1555; natural history of birds) provides descriptions and illustrations of more than 150 different birds classified into six major groups based on habitat or behavior. The book’s first section discusses the general nature of birds and concludes with a comparative study of human and avian skeletons founded on valid homologies. The work’s illustrative woodcuts attributed to the artistry of Pierre Goudet are remarkable for their accuracy and realism. That another version of Belon’s natural history of birds soon appeared along with a host of exotic images in Portraits d’oyseaux, animaux, serpens, herbes, arbres, hommes et femmes d’Arabie et Egypte (pb. 1557; portraits of birds, animals, snakes, plants, trees, men and women of Arabia and Egypt) attests to the avid curiosity of contemporary readers.

The author’s most enduring work, Observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses memorables trouvées en Grèce, Asie, Judée, Egypte, Arabie, et autres pays étranges (pb. 1553; observations of several curiosities and memorable things found in Greece, Asia, Judæa, Egypt, Arabia, and other foreign countries), contains eyewitness descriptions of antique ruins, exotic customs, and animals and plants encountered during his travels in the Ottoman Empire and neighboring regions. The author’s curiosity touched on subjects as diverse as the ruins of legendary ancient Troy, women’s attire in Cairo, giraffes, chameleons, winged reptiles, and local myth.

Having noted that in Egyptian lore there are wide variations in the artistic representation of the Sphinx, Belon denied that such an animal could have ever existed. If the Sphinx had existed, he argued, its numerous portraits would reveal greater uniformity. Bookbinder and printer Christophe Plantin of Antwerp published a Latin version of the work in 1579. Excerpts appeared in English translation in John Ray’s A Collection of Curious Travels and Voyages (1693).

Belon lived in troubled times. France’s opposition to the Habsburg Dynasty and to England produced numerous wars during the reigns of Francis I and Henry II, making just about any form of travel inherently dangerous. Sometime between 1554 and 1555, Belon was captured by Spanish soldiers on his way to Metz. He was, however, released unharmed. Between 1561 and 1562, as the first signs of the impending French Wars of Religion (1562-1598) became evident, he undertook trips to Poissy, Lyon, Moulins, and Bourges without incident. It appears likely that he served as a messenger for the royal family and its ministers, conducting official business under the cloak of scientific research. One April night of 1564 or 1565, as he was returning to his Paris lodgings through Bois de Boulogne, he was attacked, robbed, and killed by unknown individuals.

Significance

Belon was a foundational figure in Renaissance natural history. His detailed descriptions, classifications, and graphic representations of birds, marine life, and coniferous trees rate among the period’s many outstanding achievements. Historians of science cite, in particular, his illustrated comparison of human and avian skeletons, his study of porpoise embryos, classification attempts, and discoveries of new species as important contributions to the progress of natural history, but they are quick to note that his finest intuitions predate the foundations of modern science.

As a cultural historian, Belon provided firsthand observation of foreign cultures, describing social and religious practices, local industry, art, architecture, geography, climate, and historical artifacts. His naturalistic approach to the singularities he encountered helped dispel many common superstitions of his day, among them the belief that distant lands were full of monstrosities beyond the purview of nature’s laws.

Bibliography

Barsi, Monica. L’Enigme de la chronique de Pierre Belon: Avec édition critique du manuscrit Arsenal 4651. Milan, Italy: LED, 2001. Offers current information on Belon’s life and work, the first complete edition of his Cronique de Pierre Belon, médecin, and a good bibliography. Written entirely in French, this work is intended for specialists.

Cole, Francis Joseph. A History of Comparative Anatomy: From Aristotle to the Eighteenth Century. 1944. Reprint. New York: Dover, 1975. Discusses Belon’s contributions to science and, in particular, to zoology, and considers him a pioneer in comparative anatomy.

Hellyer, Marcus, ed. The Scientific Revolution: The Essential Readings. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2003. The section titled “Natural History and the Emblematic World View,” by William B. Ashworth, Jr., discusses Belon’s place in the history of Renaissance science, before the advent of modern scientific discourse.

Huppert, George. “Antiquity Observed: A French Naturalist in the Aegean Sea in 1547.” International Journal of the Classical Tradition 2 (1995): 275-283. Discusses how Belon exposed common superstitions through careful observation and rational thought.

Huppert, George. The Style of Paris: Renaissance Origins of the French Enlightenment. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999. Section one, titled “Portrait of a Discreet Philosophe,” describes how Belon resisted cultural prejudice in writing his major work.