Pey de Garros

Who was Pey de Garros?

Pey de Garros, or Pèir de Garròs in modern Gascon, was the most important Occitan poet of the Renaissance. He was instrumental in the evolution of the Gascon dialect into a literary language.

Garros was born at Lectoure, France. He studied law, theology, and Hebrew at the University of Toulouse and served as the avocat-général of Pau for a time. He strove to restore the Gascon dialect to prominence, translating the Psalms of David in 1565 into Gascon dialect, and publishing a volume of Gascon poetry in 1567. He died in Pau.

This translation was a request from Queen Jeanne d'Albret who tried to establish Calvinism in the Kingdom of Navarre and her other possetion. She also ordered another version in bearnese dialect to Arnaud de Salette.