Charles de Sainte-Marthe was a man of the French Renaissance: both a poet of the school of Clement Marot (and inspirer of the Pléiade) and a Protestant intellectual. He was in the service of Marguerite of Navarre, and wrote a funeral oration for her; he died as Lieutenant Criminel of Alençon, writing Latin paraphrases of the Psalms of deep theological ambiguity. His works in both French and Latin are quoted and discussed copiously, including his Platonizing poetry.