Bonnivard, François De

Related Category: Swiss History: Biographies

(both: fräNswä´ də bônēvär´), c.1493–1570, Swiss patriot and historian. The prior of St. Victor, near Geneva, he supported the revolt of Geneva against Charles III of Savoy, who imprisoned him from 1519 to 1521. He was again imprisoned from 1530 to 1536 in the castle of Chillon, romanticized in Lord Byron's poem “Prisoner of Chillon.” Released by the Bernese, he later became a Protestant. Geneva honored him with a pension. His chronicle of Geneva was first published in 1831.