The lecture gives an introduction to literary and cultural problems in France of the  XVIth century. It aims to show the cultural and social basis of this period and the most famous literary works. Principal trends will be described (humanism, Neo-Platonism, petrarkism), as well as literary forms, poetry schools, and the actual state of the research on the subject. It will help to understand the works discussed during the classes and to prepare themselves to the examination in  Hstory of French literature of the XVIth century.