Budé was also the first keeper of the royal library at the Palace of Fontainebleau, which was later moved to Paris, where it became the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

He went to the University of Orléans to study law, but for several years, having ample means, he led an idle and dissipated life.

When about twenty-four years of age, he was seized with a sudden passion for study, and made rapid progress, particularly in Latin and Ancient Greek.

[3] The work which gained him greatest reputation was his De Asse et Partibus Eius (1514), a treatise on ancient coins and measures.

He was held in high esteem by Francis I, who was persuaded by him, and by Jean du Bellay, Bishop of Narbonne, to found the Collegium Trilingue (afterwards the Collège de France) and the library at Fontainebleau, which was removed to Paris and was the origin of the Bibliothèque Nationale.