Salmon, one of the best Latin poets of the sixteenth century, was born at Loudun. His real name was John Salmon; but he took that of Macrin, from his having been frequently so called in ridicule by Francis I. on account of his extraordinary leanness. He was preceptor to Claudius of Savoy, count of Tende, and to Honorius the count's brother; and he wrote several pieces of poetry in lyric verse, which were so admired that he was called the Horace of his time. He died of old age, at Loudun, in 1535. Charles Macrin, his son, was not inferior to him as a poet, and surpassed him in his knowledge of the Greek tongue. He was preceptor to Catharine of Navarre, the sister of Henry IV., and perished in the massacre of St Bartholomew in 1572.