Talk:Bernard Palissy

Just what did he achieve?
I did my primary education in France several decades ago. Bernard Palissy was mentioned in social studies to drive home the point "if at first you don't succeed, try again." The textbook claimed that Palissy became obsessed with the idea of imitating Chinese porcelain, and he struggled so long and hard towards this goal that he was reduced to fueling his kiln with his house furniture before finally succeeding. The entry, based on the Britannica, states that Palissy never succeeded in making imitation china, and that western Europe of his day knew how to make fairly elaborate enameled china. He achieved some sort of success but we are not clearly told what it was. Until I encountered this entry, I had no idea that the elderly Palissy was a very early natural historian of sorts. A sort of Renaissance man, evidently.

Is his autobiography in print? Translated into English?202.36.179.65 02:56, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Not clear
It is not clear whether Palissy died a natural death, died of bad conditions or was executed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.147.58.41 (talk) 16:07, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
 * The site www.heritage-history.com says that Palissy was saved from execution by the duc de Mayenne. The site implies that Palissy died of bad conditions in prison. The site seems to be in favour of Protestantism and to have been translated from French. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.147.58.41 (talk) 16:18, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
 * The passage about Palissy seems to have been translated from French, not the whole site. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.147.58.41 (talk) 16:29, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

The French wiki page writes that he died from "hunger, cold, and poor treatment," but doesn't give a source. It sounds reasonable for now. I'm getting a biography that will, hopefully, answer the question. -Darouet (talk) 18:21, 5 November 2013 (UTC)