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Title: King René d'Anjou and his Seven Queens Author: Edgcumbe Staley Release Date: September 24, 2015 [eBook #50049] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING RENÉ D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS*** E-text prepared by Clarity and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) KING RENÉ D’ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS [i] [ii] THE CEREMONIOUS ENTRY OF THE “LADY OF THE CREST” SAUMUR TOURNAMENT 1446 From “Le Livre des Tournois” Painted by King René KING RENÉ D’ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS BY EDGCUMBE STALEY AUTHOR OF “LORDS AND LADIES OF THE ITALIAN LAKES,” “GUILDS OF FLORENCE,” “FAIR WOMEN OF FLORENCE,” “TRAGEDIES OF THE MEDICI,” “DOGARESSAS OF VENICE,” “HEROINES OF GENOA AND THE RIVIERAS,” ETC. WITH COLOURED FRONTISPIECE AND THIRTY-FIVE OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS “FIDES VITAT SERVATA” King René’s Motto [iii] LONDON JOHN LONG, LIMITED NORRIS STREET, HAYMARKET MCMXII TO MY BROTHER VERNON AND HIS WIFE ETHEL CONTENTS PAGES CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY—KING RENÉ King René’s titles—His character—A beau-ideal Prince—His occupations—His work as an artist —Visits to Italy—Scrivani—“The Burning Bush”—“Souls in Purgatory”—“La Divina Commedia”—“St. Madeleine preaching”—“Preces Præ”—“Pas d’Armes”—“Livres des Heures”—René’s literary work—“Regnault et Jehanneton”—“Mortifiement de Vaine Plaisance”—“La Conquête de la Doulce Mercy”—“L’Abuzé en Court”—“Le Tracte des Tournois”—Charles d’Anjou-Orléans—Dance songs—Letters—Collections, books, curios, etc.—Work as a craftsman—Orders and Guilds—Agricultural tastes—The rose de Provence—Workshops—“Les Comptes de Roy René”—La Cheminée du Roy— Intercourse with his people—A troubadour King—Relics—A famous winecup 17- 29 CHAPTER II YOLANDA D’ARRAGONA—I. A Queen in labour—Natural children—Princess Juanita—“La Gaya Ciencia”—Troubadours— Iolande de Flandres—Bar-le-Duc—Highwaymen—Recruits—Fêtes galants—Court of Love—Juan I., King of Aragon—A beauteous damsel—L’Académie des Jeux Floraux—A royal Mainteneuse—Nails in their heads!—“Plucking the turkey”!—“Quite as good as you!”—“A gay woman”—A royal baptism—Princess Yolanda—The Salic Law—A bridegroom-elect—Mauled by a wolf—A silver throne—“The Queen!”—Bullfights—A royal trousseau—A brilliant cavalcade—Louis II. d’Anjou—Attractive girls—Castle of Montpellier—A royal progress—“The Loves of Louis and Yolanda”—A King-suitor in disguise—An ardent kiss—A royal marriage—Beautiful Arlésiennes—“A lovely creature!”—A splendid dowry—Gardens at Tarascon—Legend of St. Martha—A deadly dragon—State entry into Angers—The castle and its contents—“Mysteries”—Inartistic fare —Feastings—Yolanda Lieutenant-General of Anjou—English invasion—Rabbit with a medallion—Isabeau de Bavière—A wasp-like waist—Jewels—Catherine de Valois— Yolanda’s first-born—The “Black Death”—Queen-Duchess Marie—Princess Marie— Taxes and tax-gatherers—René d’Anjou born—St. Renatus—The Queen’s enterprise— Cutting off his tail!—Claimants for a throne—A piteous little Prince—A royal betrothal— Henry V. of England—Louis II. in Italy—His death 30- 66 CHAPTER III YOLANDA D’ARRAGONA—II. [iv] [v] [vi] [vii] [viii] Royal mourning—Cardinal Louis de Bar—Yolande a constitutional Sovereign—The Duke of Burgundy—Matrimonial alliances—Tournaments—Princess Margherita di Savoia—Louis III. fights for the crown of Naples—Queen Giovanna II.—Princess Isabelle de Lorraine—A stick for a bad woman!—René takes up arms—A vassal—Ordre de la Fidélité—The Van Eycks—Treasures—Gardens at Bar-le-Duc—Floral games—Fortune is a woman!—Battle of Baugé—Birth of Louis XI. of France—Jeanne d’Arc—A panel of matrons—Slanders— Queen Yolande’s daring—Charles VII. inert—René Duke of Barrois—A débauché Prince —A young widow—Preux chevaliers—A love-match—Princess Catherine de Champagne burnt to death—René and Isabelle married—René Duke of Lorraine—Battle of Bulgneville —A royal prisoner—A foisted child—A beretta crown—Prince Jean—Duke of Calabria— Princess Marie de Bourbon—Agnes Sorel, the most lovely girl in France—Queen Yolande in private life—The Castle of Saumur—Queen Yolande’s death—Her character—No trace of her grave—Théophaine la Magine—A quaint epitaph—The stained-glass windows of Le Mans Cathedral—“A good mother and a great Queen” 67- 93 CHAPTER IV ISABELLE DE LORRAINE Child marriages—“The Pride of Lorraine”—A mailed fist—Duchess’s bare feet—Satin skin— Cardinal matchmaker—Ten considerations—Woman’s wit supreme—A charming boy— Jean “sans Peur”—“Polluyon”—A Sovereign’s oath—“Noël! Noël!”—First free Parliament in France—Veterans—Antoine de Vaudémont—“You may go!”—Bulgneville—René a prisoner—Insecurity of life—The Duke’s terms—Two boy hostages—La Tour de Bar— René’s parole—Money the crux—René at Naples—The Golden Rose—A royal artist— Music and song—Duchess Margaret dies—“Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!”—The sword of Lancelot—A very young widow—Isabelle leads an army—Alfonso in check—King René free—Women of Genoa—On the throne—A troubled land—“Cette vraie Amazone!”— Fortune did not smile—“Too much blood”—A dastardly outrage—Peace—Princess Marguerite betrothed—Black armour—Jehanne de Laval—Black buffaloes—Grey hair— Splendid tournaments—Ordre du Croissant—Double nuptials—Henry VI. of England— Ferri carries off Yolande—Cupid’s “Lists”—The spectre of war—Death of Queen Isabelle —“My heart has lost its love!”—“Amour et Foy” 94- 142 CHAPTER V JEANNE D’ARC—“LA PUCELLE” “Give me René!”—Village of Domremy—Village feuds—A busy mother—A weird accouchement—Le Bois Chènus—Voices—St. Michael—Mad Jehanne—A coarse kirtle— She touched the hilt—Duke Charles’s strange visitors—A dash around the courtyard —“Vive la nostre Royne!”—A pilgrimage march—Priests and minstrels—A famous sword —Jeanne’s oriflamme—A dissolute Court—Charles VI. at Chinon—A winning hazard— Certain secrets—Jeanne’s double ordeal—Bishops and matrons—“La Pucelle” so named by Queen Yolande—Filles de Joie—White armour—An ultimatum—Divided counsels—The siege of Orléans—“The Maid” wounded—En route to Reims—The “Sacré”—Jeanne’s modesty—Her apotheosis—“Sire, I bid you farewell”—René the hero—Jeanne the heroine —To expel the hated English—The fall of Paris—“The Maid” a prisoner—Deserted by everyone—A mock trial—A human wreck—Burnt to death—A maiden’s heart and a white dove—“Ma Royne est mort!” René’s lament—Charles’s remorse—The memory of Jeanne d’Arc 143- 173 CHAPTER VI MARIE D’ANJOU [ix] “The little Queen of Bourges”—A master-stroke—A lovely bride, an ill-looking groom—An evil mother’s influence—Three fair witches—Yolande’s prestige—Woman’s power in France— Marie v. Agnes—Unhappy Charles VI.—The Châtelaine de Courrages—A gallows and a flagellation—Marriage of Charles and Marie—Impecuniosity—Never touched her below the chin!—Jacques Cœur’s loyal succour—Terrible disasters—A treacherous deed—Isabeau’s rage—Queen Marie’s speech—A lovely bevy of Maids of Honour—Outrageous fashions— Correcte’s crusade—“À bas les hennins!”—Scudding stones—Plain chapelles—A faint- hearted King—Queen Marie’s “I will”—Marie d’Anjou and Jeanne d’Arc—No place for the Queen!—Agnes Sorel, “la Belle des Belles”—Serge chemises—“The plaything of the most valiant King?”—Agnes’s four daughters—A loving son—Boxed her ears!—Agnes’s heart in gold—“Males femmes”—“Everything for France!”—Disasters and delirium—Marie in shade and shine—A pillion—Poor little Princess Margaret!—“A curse on life!”—A dissolute Prince—Slander and hypocrisy—The Bastard of Orléans—A tryst disturbed—The obscene Fête des Fous—A royal repast-Tours for delicacies—A famous pack of cards— The Queen as a business woman—Cocks and hens—Marie dies at Poitiers—“A good and devout woman” 174- 215 CHAPTER VII GIOVANNA II. OF NAPLES “Like Queen Giovanna!”—Anjou succession in Naples—A lover suffocated—King Ladislaus— Many suitors—Hard to please—A rare quality—Marriage ring torn off—Louis d’Anjou’s advance—A poor old Queen—Butterfly courtesans—A champion of physical beauty—A wily woman—The cord of St. Francis—A base-born athlete—The chief of the pages—The Queen’s master—Vampire kisses—Louis v. Alfonso—A romantic story—Fair Leonora— Not a tool of the Queen—Fierce rivals—Pulled the Queen’s hands—Giovanna in her lover’s arms—Flashing eyes—Beneath the lips—Superb entertainments—Giovanna discovers the liaison—René bravest of the brave—Treason—Duchess Covella Ruffo and her jewelled poniard—René at Naples—“Il galantuomo Re”—The Jews—Alfonso defeated and a prisoner—Belated pious deeds—Giovanna as the Virgin Mary!—An embassy from Naples —Many claimants for the throne—Isabelle a virago Queen—A macaroni basket—“I’ll not fight with a woman!”—Colossal orgies—A Spartan mother—Decisive battle of Troia—End of the Angevine dynasty—Jean, Duke of Calabria, raises the flag in vain 216- 252 CHAPTER VIII MARGUERITE D’ANJOU “The loveliest Princess in Christendom”—A storm-rocked cradle—A child’s kiss—Troubadours and glee-maidens—An eligible suitor—The love of all the boys—Neglected education—A delighted grandmother—Marriage tangles—Philippe, Count de Nevers, repudiated—Henry VI. of England looking for a Queen—The “Three Graces of Armagnac”—Cardinal Beaufort charmed with Marguerite—An unpainted face—“Oh fie! oh fie!”—An autograph letter— Splendid nuptials—La Confrèrerie de la Passion—Too poor to buy her own wedding dress —A peachy blush—Fine fashions—Gold garter chains—Sumptuous hair-dressing—A “Marguerite” flower-holder—A sorrowful parting—A truly royal train—The entente cordiale —The Queen short of ready cash—A stormy passage—Chicken-pox?—The King’s ring— A famous tire-woman—Extraordinary presents—Pageants—Queen Margaret crowned —“La Française”—The Queen’s strong character—The Duke of York nonplussed—Pious foundations—The King’s seizure—She had to play the man!—The Prince of Wales— York’s dastardly insinuations—A costly churching-robe—Civil war begins—Margaret leads the Lancastrians in person—Success and failure—York’s grey gory head—“Love Lady- Day”—Lord Grey de Ruthen’s treason—King Henry a prisoner in the Tower—“Fie on thee, thou traitor!”—The Queen in Scotland—King Louis’s double game—A shipwreck—A common robette—Galant Sir Pierre de Brézé—“Une Merrie Mol!”—The kiss of etiquette— Thorns—All the poets sing of Margaret—All is lost!—Margaret at home again—Earl of Warwick’s loyalty—A diplomatic marriage—The sea flouts Margaret—Perjured Lord Wenlock—A treacherous blow—The Prince murdered—“Bloody Edward”—The “she- wolf”—Hands tied behind her back—King Henry killed—The Queen in a dungeon—René’s pathetic letter—The great heroine of the Wars of the Roses—Repose at Reculée—A lioness at bay—“The grim grey wolf of Anjou”—A sad and lonely death 253- 305 CHAPTER IX JEHANNE DE LAVAL [x] Roses—“December” and “May”—A famous House—The Queen of Beauty—All in love with Jehanne—The champion’s crest—A tournament banquet—The Grand Prix—René struck with Jehanne—His Genoese innamorate—“Devils at home”—A second marriage desirable —The King bemoans Isabelle—No festivities—A moral allegory—A new course of life— Costly offerings—“Les Tards-Venus”—Court of Love at Les Baux—“La Passe Rose”—A coffin full of golden hair—Ruralizing royalty—Jehanne, nymph of the bosquets —“Pastorals”—“Regnault et Jehanneton”—All fall in love, and all fall out!—An allegory of chivalry—Cuer reads the strange inscription—Louis XI.’s outrageous behaviour—“L’Abuzé en Court”—René the victim—The Pageant of the Pheasant—An elysium of love—The Queen’s virtues—Her portrait—René’s school of architects—St. Bernardin, the King’s confessor—René’s heart—Pious Sovereigns—Relics—The crown of Catalonia—Queen Jehanne and Queen Margaret—Church spectacles—Magnificent hospitality—Demoiselle Odille—La Petite Hélène—Patroness of crafts—“The Golden Rose”—René’s green old age —“Le bon Roy est mort!”—Marie de la Chapelle’s children—Queen Jehanne retires to Beaufort—A studious widow—“I have no other rôle to play!”-“La Reine” in an iron cage— The Queen’s sweet death—Her will—Her monument and René’s—“Priez pour la bonne Jehanne” 306- 356 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Ceremonious Entry of the “Lady of the Crest” Frontispiece Queen Yolanda d’Arragona 30 Entry of a Queen into her Capital 40 Favourite Recreations 50 A Mystery 60 King Louis II. of Sicily-Anjou 68 Communion of a Knight 74 A Royal Repast 80 Street Scene in Aix 86 Queen Isabelle de Lorraine 94 King René (circa 1440) 106 Royal Patronesses and Crafts 118 “Cœur” and “the Island of Love” 130 “The White Queen”—Jeanne d’Arc 144 Expulsion of Gay Women 152 Siege of Orléans 160 Sacré of Charles VII. 168 Queen Marie d’Anjou 174 A Besieged Castle 184 King René and his Court 194 Queens, Judges, and Knights 204 Queen Giovanna II. da Napoli 216 Homage of a Vassal 226 King and Queen in Stone 236 King René and Guarini da Verona 246 Queen Marguerite d’Anjou 254 Before the “Lists” 268 King René in his Study 280 Agricultural Pursuits 292 Queen Jehanne de Laval 306 St. Madeleine preaching 320 “The Burning Bush” 334 King René (circa 1470) 348 [xi] [xii] PREFACE King René d’Anjou and his Seven Queens—yes, I stand by my title, and offer no apology to the captious and the curious. René was the most remarkable personality in the French Renaissance. How many English readers of the romance of history, I wonder, know anything about him but his name? Of his “seven Queens,” two only are at all familiar to the English public,—Marguerite d’Anjou and Jeanne d’Arc,—and their stories as commonly told are unconvincing. The other five are not known even by name to the majority of people; therefore I have immense pleasure in introducing them to any clientèle: Yolanda d’Arragona, Isabelle de Lorraine, Jehanne de Laval, Giovanna II. da Napoli, Jeanne d’Arc and Marguerite d’Anjou. This galaxy of Queens, fair and frail, will appeal as something entirely new in sentimental biography to those in search of novelty. Turgid facts of history and dryasdust statistics of the past are, of course, within everybody’s ken, or they are supposed to be—this is an age of snobbery! Piquant stories of the persons and foibles of famous men and women are my measure, and such you will have in plenty in my narratives. To get at my facts and fictions I have dug deep into the records of Court chroniclers, and I think I have blended very successfully the spirit of the troubadours and the spirit of the age of chivalry. At the end of the volume I have added a Bibliography, for the benefit of sententious students, and my Index is as full as possible, to assist the casual reader. The illustrations which adorn my pages have been gathered from many sources. I think they will greatly assist the appreciation of my work. With respect to portraits of my “Queens,” there are no extant likenesses of Yolanda and Jeanne: for the latter I have chosen to reproduce the historical imaginative fresco of M. Lepenveu, at the Pantheon in Paris; for the former the stained-glass window effigy at Le Mans Cathedral must do duty. Queen Isabelle is an enlargement of a miniature by René; Queen Marie is after a French picture of the School of Jean Focquet, now at the National Gallery, London, but wrongly entitled. Queen Giovanna II. is from an altar-piece in the National Museum at Naples. Queen Marguerite is from a miniature by her father,—her portraits in England are eminently unsatisfactory and non-contemporary,—Queen Jehanne is from the right wing of the Aix triptych, by Nicholas Froment. There is, I think, nothing more to add to my preface, so I leave “King René and his Seven Queens” tête-à-tête with my discerning public. If they are found to be entertaining company I am repaid. EDGCUMBE STALEY. CHRONOLOGY 1399. Marriage of Louis II. d’Anjou and Yolanda d’Arragona. 1408. Birth of René d’Anjou. 1411. Giovanna II. succeeds to throne of Naples. 1417. René adopted by Cardinal de Bar. 1420. Marriage of René and Isabelle de Lorraine. 1422. Marie d’Anjou marries Charles VII. 1424. René, Duke of Barrois. 1429. Jeanne d’Arc and René at Siege of Orléans. 1431. René, Duke of Lorraine; prisoner at Bulgneville. 1433. René’s campaign in Italy. 1434. René, King of Sicily, etc. 1435. Giovanna II. dies; René, King of Naples. 1437. René released finally from Tour de Bar. 1441. René retires from Italy. 1442. Queen Yolanda dies. 1445. Marriage of Marguerite d’Anjou and Henry VI. 1448. Order of the Croissant established. 1453. Queen Isabelle dies. 1455. Marriage of René and Jehanne de Laval. 1463. Queen Marie dies. 1465. René proclaimed King of Catalonia. 1470. Jean, Duke of Calabria, King of Catalonia, dies. [xiii] [xiv] [xv] 1473. René retires from Anjou, which is seized by Louis XI. 1480. René dies. 1482. Queen Marguerite dies. 1498. Queen Jehanne dies. KING RENÉ D’ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY “René, King of Jerusalem, the Two Sicilies, Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica; Duke of Anjou, Barrois, and Lorraine; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and Piemont,” so runs the preamble of his Will. To these titles he might have added Prince of Gerona, Duke of Calabria, Lord of Genoa, Count of Guise, Maine, Chailly, and Longjumeau, and Marquis of Pont-à-Mousson! He was famous as a Sovereign, a soldier, a legislator, a traveller, a linguist, a scholar, a poet, a musician, a craftsman, a painter, an architect, a sculptor, a collector, a sportsman, an agriculturist, and incidentally a chivalrous lover. About such a many-sided character there is much to tell and much to learn. His times were spacious; the clouds of Mediævalism had rolled away, and the Sun of Progress illuminated the heyday of the Renaissance; art and craft had come into their own. Venus disarmed Mars, Diana entranced Apollo, and Minerva restrained Mercury, and all the hierarchy of heaven was captive to the Liberal Arts. René d’Anjou, figuratively, seems to have gathered up in his cunning hand the powers of all the spiritual intelligences alongwith the life-lines of practical manifestations. He has come down to us as the beau-ideal Prince of the fifteenth century. “A Prince who had great and pre-eminent qualities, worthy of a better future. He was a great Justicier and an enemy to long despatches. He said sometimes, when they presented anything to signe, being a-hunting or at the warre, that the Pen was a kinde of Armes, which a person should use at all times”—so wrote the historian Pierre Mathieu, in his “History of Louis XI.,” in 1614. He goes on to say: “The reign of so good a Prince was much lamented, for he intreated his subjects like a Pastor and a Father. They say that when his Treasurer brought unto him the Royale Taxe,—which was sixteen florins for every kindled fire, whereof Provence might have about three thousand five hundred,—hee enformed himselfe of the aboundance or barenesse of the season; and when they told him, that a mistrall winde had reigned long, hee remitted the moiety and sometimes the whole taxe. Hee contented himself with his revenues, and did not charge his people with new tributes. Hee spent his time in paintings, the which were excellent, as they are yet to be seen in the city of Aix. Hee was drawing of a partridge when as they brought him newes of the loose of the Realme of Naples, yet hee could not draw his hande from the work and the pleasure hee took here in.… They relate that he dranke not wine, and when as the noble men of Naples demanded the reasons, he affirmed that it had made Titus Livius to lie, who had said that the good wine caused the French to passe the Alps.… He was perhaps better suited to make a quiet State happy than to reduce a rebellious one.” King René’s career and work as a Sovereign, a soldier, a legislator, a traveller, a poet, and a lover, are treated in full in the letterpress of this volume. His work as an artist, a craftsman, an agriculturist, and a collector, is here given under different headings, as introductory to the expression of his personal talents. I. Artistic Works of King René. René’s first efforts as a designer and painter were exhibited upon the walls of his prison-chamber at Tour de Bar, near Dijon, 1431-1435. Thence forward he decorated the walls and stain-glazed the windows of his various castles and palaces—Bar-le-Duc, Nancy, Angers, Saumur, Reculée, Tarascon, Marseilles, and Aix. Every bastide and maison inhabited by his Queens and himself was also similarly adorned, and many coloured church windows were due to his gentle art. Alas that so few vestiges of these admirable labours remain! French mobs are proverbial for iconoclastic propensities, and no land has suffered more than France from the suicidal mania of her sans-culottes. To fresco-painting, portraits, and glass-staining, the Royal artist added miniatures and penmanship. His “style” was formed and developed successively under such personal tuition as that of the brothers Van Eyck and Maistre Jehannot le Flament. Later on Jean Focquet of Tours and Nicholas Froment influenced him. A letter is extant of King René, addressed in 1448 to Jan Van Eyck, in which he asks for two good painters to be sent to Barrois. Visits to Rome, Florence, Naples, Milan, and other art cities of Italy, very greatly enlarged René’s métier. Intercourse with Fra Angelico da Fiesole, Fra Filippo Lippi, Paolo Ucello, the Della Robbia, and many other Tuscan artists, quickened his natural talent and guided his eye and hand. Leon Battista Alberti, Francesco Brunellesco, and Cennino Cennini, and their works in materia and literature, produced great results in the receptive faculties of the King- artist. At Naples he came in contact with Colantonio del Fiore, Antonio Solario—Il Zingaro—and Angiolo Franco, [xvi] [17] [18] [19] [20] and gathered up what they taught. Besides these immense advantages as a personal friend of great ruling Italian families, the Medici, the Pazzi, the Tornabuoni, the Visconti, the Sforza, the Orsini, and many others, René had opportunities enjoyed by very few. His own amiable individuality and his ample knowledge were the highest credentials in the pursuit of art and craft. René witnessed the consecration of the Duomo of Florence and the completion of the guild shrine of Or San Michele, and he was enrolled as an honorary member thereof. At Florence also he was thrown in contact with world famous scrivani— writers and illustrators of manuscript. The subsequent excellence of French miniaturists was largely due to King René’s example and encouragement. René’s more considerable paintings, which have been preserved, are as follows: 1. The Burning Bush, part of an altar triptych, at the Cathedral of Aix. Projected and begun by the King, it was finished by Nicholas Froment, 1475-76, and for it the artist received no more than 70 gulden (see illustration). 2. Souls in Purgatory, an altar-piece (7 × 5½), originally in hospital chapel at the Chartreuse of Villeneuve les Avignon. It is really a “Judgment,” with Christ and saints above the clouds, and twenty-four little figures in and out torment. The building was destroyed in 1793. 3. La Divina Commedia, an altar-piece (8 × 6), in the church of the Célestins at Avignon in distemper. It was due to René’s vision of his mistress, Dame Chapelle, upon the day of her death, which shocked him so greatly that he painted this composition to remove the painful impression he thus experienced. 4. Saint Madeleine preaching, now in the Hôtel Cluny. It was a whimsical conceit connecting the story of the sisters of Lazarus with René and his Queen Jehanne. It is conventional in treatment but finished most beautifully (see illustration). King René’s artistic speciality was miniatures. He illuminated many manuscripts. 1. Preces Præ. The Latin “Hours” of King René, a manuscript of 150 sheets of fine vellum, written very beautifully in small lettering, with superb capitals in gold and colours. The borders and miniatures are exquisitely painted. It is bound in red morocco. This precious volume was dedicated to Queen Isabelle, whose portrait is painted as a frontispiece (see illustration). It was one of the King’s wedding presents to his second Queen, Jehanne de Laval. The value of the Preces Præ is enhanced by numerous marginal notes of dates and details written by René’s hand. At the end by way of Finis is a clock-face, upon which is painted “R et J,” under the words “En Un,” all in a circle of gold. This treasure is now in the National Library in Paris, and there is a copy almost exactly in duplicate in the Imperial Library in Vienna. The date is 1454. 2. Pas d’Armes de la Bergère. A poem of Louis de Beauvau, Seigneur de la Roche et Champigny, Grand Seneschal of Angers, Ambassador to Pope Pius II., and a famous Champion in the “Lists.” It is a pastoral allegory, and extols the courage and chivalry of many famous knights—Ferri de Vaudémont, Philippe Lenoncourt, Tanneguy de Chastel, Jean de Cossa, Guy de Laval, and others. It was put forth in 1448 after the celebrated tournaments in Anjou, Lorraine, and Provence. King René illuminated it with portraits and miniature paintings at Tarascon, where he and Jehanne de Laval spent so many happy days ruralizing in 1457. At Aix, in the Library, is a manuscript Livres des Heures, dated 1458; at Avignon, in the Church of the Cordeliers, is another of the following year; at Poitiers, in the Library, is a “Psalter”; in the Musée de l’Arsenal of Paris, a Breviary (see illustration)—all exquisitely written and illuminated by the master-hand of the King. II. Literary Works of King René. The earlier works of the King are sufficiently remarkable as exhibiting his serenity in adversity and his uprightness as a legislator; his later poems are notable in revealing his chivalry as a knight-adventurer, and his tenderness as a dainty troubadour. René, whether as Sovereign, knight, or lover, led the taste of his age. His personality attracted everybody, and his character elevated all in fruitful emulation. His utterances and his writings, in spite of the freedom of manners and the piquancy of speech, were conspicuous for chastity of thought and delicacy of expression. Not a single dubious word or doubtful reference disfigures his pages: a man and King was he without reproach. The works which René composed as well as decorated place him in the forefront of poets. The principal are as follows: 1. Regnault et Jehanneton, or Les Amours du Bergier et de la Bergeronne. It is an idyllic pastoral. The manuscript occupies seventy sheets of fine vellum, written in black and crimson, very carefully and finely. The miniatures and capitals are very numerous, and display the greatest skill and taste in design and finish. This manuscript was written at Tarascon, after René and Jehanne’s romantic sojourn at his bastide on the Durance. 2. Mortifiement de Vaine Plaisance, or Tracte entre l’Ame devote et le Cœur. In manuscript, written very carefully in black and scarlet, with many exquisitely-painted miniatures and capital letters. This “Morality” covers fifty- five sheets of the finest vellum. The Royal writer was assisted by Jehan Coppre, a priest of Varronsgues. The frontispiece by René represents the King, fully robed, seated in his studio labouring with his pen and brush (see illustration). 3. La Conquête de la Doulce Mercy, or La Conquête par le Cuer d’Amour Espris. This is a manuscript with 138 [21] [22] [23] sheets of very smooth vellum written in red, black, and purple, with sixty-two miniatures and many capitals superbly painted. It is bound in red morocco, and is in the National Library in Paris. It bears the date 1457. René both wrote and illuminated it shortly before the death of Queen Isabelle. 4. L’Abuzé en Court. A manuscript covering fifty-seven sheets of very fine vellum. Where and how King René got his “skins” we do not know, but they are the finest and most perfect of any French or Italian manuscripts of the period. The colour and grain of the skin are very fine; only an artist-writer could have chosen such splendid folios. This manuscript is bound in walnut-wood boards covered with crimson velvet and embroidered. It contains fifty lovely miniatures and has rich capitals. René has in this case recorded the exact date of completion—July 12, 1473. 5. Very superb—perhaps King René’s chef d’œuvre—is Le Tracte des Tournois, a full description of his splendid tournament at Saumur, with the richest possible illustration. It is dedicated to Charles d’Anjou, his brother, who died in 1470; he was Count of Maine and Guise, and Governor of Lorraine. The frontispiece and two other illustrations are reproductions of the Royal artist’s designs. One of the most charming incidents in René’s long, useful, and moving life was his intercourse with Charles d’Anjou, son of the first Duke of Orléans, brother of Charles VI. of France. The young Prince was made a prisoner at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and remained in captivity in the Tower of London for twenty-five years. His constant complaint was: “I mourn with chagrin that no one does anything to release me!” This piteous appeal at length gained the heart of Duke Philippe of Burgundy, who effected his deliverance in 1440. Between King René and Duke Charles there passed, through spiritual affinity, a constant succession of delightful poetic souvenirs—the prisoner of La Tour de Bar and the prisoner of the Tower of London—comrades in sorrow, companions in joy! The form these missives took was that of rondeaux, or valentines, and in this category nothing could be more delicate and sensuous. A very favourite ending of the poems was— “Après une seule excepter, Je vous servirai cette conte, Ma douce Valentine gente, Puis qu’amour veuilt que on’y contente.” “With one only reservation, I will send you this narration, My gentle, natty Valentine, Since your love so well content is mine.” Charles d’Anjou died in 1465, greatly lamented by his poet-confidant. King René composed and wrote, and also set to music, very many motets and caroles (dance-songs). The former are still sung in village churches in Provence, and the latter danced at village fêtes. René was famous, too, as a polite letter-writer. Between 1468 and 1474 he despatched thirty-seven missives to Pope Sixtus IV. and others, chiefly relating to affairs in the kingdom of Catalonia. At the Château d’Angers, as well as at those of Nancy and Aix, King René had splendid collections of manuscripts and books. Rare works in Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, Turkish, and Latin, he collected in the several departments of Scripture, Philosophy, History, Geography, Natural History, and Physics. Writers and students naturally were attracted to such a sapient Prince. Three of the former in particular attached themselves to his patronage: Pierre de Hurion, Jehan de Perin, and Louis de Beauvau; and with them was René’s chief collaborator—Hervé Grellin. III. Craftman’s Works of King René. René was a great advocate for the combination and co-operation of the arts and crafts. In no sense was he a free- trader: his policy was to encourage native enterprise and to check destructive intrusion of aliens. To consolidate commercial interests and to safeguard industries, he established “Orders” or “Guilds” for workers. For example, at Tarascon he instituted “The Order of the Sturgeon,” for fisherfolk, which held an annual festival in July, called La Charibande, specially in honour of Le Roy des Gardons—“King of Roaches.” At Aix the King established “The Order of the Plough,” for agriculturists, and their fête-day was the Festival of the Assumption. He could hold the coulter with any of his farm labourers, and greatly delighted in matches of strength and speed. René’s interest in agriculture and stock-rearing did very much to make Anjou and Provence fruitful States. He naturalized the sugar-cane, and introduced many new trees and plants: the rose de Provence; the Œillet de Poëte—our Sweet William; the mulberry; and the Muscat grape. As patron of crafts, René especially encouraged workers in tapestry, vestments, costumes and tournament decorations, goldsmiths, jewellers, medalists, armourers, and masters of wood, stone, and metal, with operatives in textiles. In Provence, at Aix and Marseilles, he had workshops which he himself superintended, and where such instructors were employed as Jehan de Nicholas, Guillaume le Pelletier, Juan d’Arragona, Jehan le Gracieux, Luigi Rubbotino, Henri Henniquin, and Jehanne Despert. These may be names only, but their fame may be learnt by the study of useful industries in France. The Comptes de Roy René,—René’s business-books,—at Angers are full of orders, instructions, payments, etc., to work-people of all sorts and kinds. At each of King René’s residences, and more especially at Aix, he designed and erected a raised architectural loggia, [24] [25] [26] [27] or terrace, which at once gained the name of La Cheminée du Roy. Here he was wont to spend a good deal of his time in the enjoyment of the fresh air and the contemplation of the persons and avocations of his subjects within range. Here, too, he gave audience to all sorts and conditions of his subjects, passing the time of the day merely to many, but with some of them entering fully into matters proposed for his consideration. Craftsmen, tradesmen, and merchants, were accustomed to pass that way to expose commodities, and exhibit novelties which might tempt the Royal patronage. One salient object of this amiable habit was that, as he put it, “my children may see their father, and take cognizance of my state of health and my pursuits.” René lived and worked among and for his people, and none who approached him ever went away empty or dissatisfied. Nothing pleased him better than a morning salutation or an evening serenade by troubadour-jongleurs and other makers of music and of fun. Sometimes the municipal authorities made courteous protests to their liege Lord for the creation of crowds and obstruction to the free circulation of the traffic. To all such representations the King turned a ready ear, but also turned their pleas into subjects for good-humoured merriment. “You see,” he used to say, “I am something of a troubadour myself, and life’s serious moods require joyous elevation.” René was great in loving-cups, or, more correctly, their contents. Nothing pleased him more than to hand to anyone who had interested or amused him a delicious beverage, and often enough in the utmost good-humour he bade the recipient keep the cup as a memento of his interview—and “mind,” he added, “you drink my health and Queen Jehanne’s sometimes.” René’s consideration of and generosity to his servants and attendants was proverbial. The Comptes are full of instructions to his Treasurers to pay such and such sums of money or other benefactions. To Jehan de Sérancourt, an equerry, for example, he gave a purse of 200 ducats, “for thy skilful care of my favourite charger.” To Alain le Hérault, a valet and barber “a gold snuffbox and fifty ducats for his daughter’s confinement.” He was very fond of quoting the example of Marie d’Harcourt, mother of his son-in-law Ferri de Vaudémont, who died in 1476. She was affectionately called “the Mother of the Poor.” “She was rightly called; am not I, then, father too?” René was a great collector of works of art and curios, although, by the way, he was obliged very frequently to distribute his treasures in order to raise money for his warlike enterprises and philanthropic pursuits. A speciality was the acquisition of relics of saints and other venerable objects. In 1470 he and Queen Jehanne assisted at the translation of a piece of the True Cross, which he had obtained in Italy, to the Church of St. Croix at Angers. Lists of such treasures, and, indeed, of the treasures in general of his house, may be read in Les Comptes de Roy René. Many originally came from King John the “Good” of France, René’s great-grandfather, handed down by Louis I. and Louis II. of Sicily-Anjou. René had a penchant for rock-crystal objects and miniature carvings in wood. Among the former he possessed a very famous winecup, upon which he engraved the following quaint conceit: “Qui bien beurra Dieu voira. Qui beurra tout d’une baleine Voira Dieu et la Madeleine!” “Whoso drinks me God shall see. Whoso at one good breath drains me Shall God and the Magdalen see!” CHAPTER II YOLANDA D’ARRAGONA—“A GOOD MOTHER AND A GREAT QUEEN.” I. The Queen was in labour, and shivering groups of robust citizens and sturdy peasants were gathered in front of the royal castle of Zaragoza, eagerly awaiting the signal of a happy deliverance. The fervent wish of King Juan for a male heir was shared by his subjects, for his brother Martino, next in succession, was in delicate health; moreover, he had only one son, and he was a cripple. The succession to the throne was a source of anxiety to all good Aragonese. To be sure, there was a baby Princess already in the royal nursery, but whether her mother had been a lawful wedded wife, or no more than a barragana of the Sovereign, few knew outside the charmed circle of the Court. In the opinion of the men and women of the triple kingdom generally, this mattered little, for natural children were looked upon as strengthening the family; hijos de ganancia they were called. The Salic Law, however, barred the female heirs of the royal house, so little Juanita was of no importance. [28] [29] [30] YOLANDA D’ARRAGONA (KING RENÉ’S MOTHER) From Coloured Glass Window, Le Mans Cathedral To face page 30 Within the courtyard, about the royal apartments, and all through the precincts of the Presence, minstrels and poets thronged, as well as Ministers and officials; Queen Yolanda was the Queen of Troubadours, and the courtiers she loved best to have about her were merry maids and men—graduates of the “Gaya Ciencia.” The livelong night they had danced and postured, they had piped and sung. Each poet of the hilarious company had in turn taken up his recitative, printed by staccato notes, to be repeated in chorus and in step, until the fandangoes and boleros of the South were turned into the boisterous whirling jotas of Aragon. The first dawn of day brought into play lutes and harps, restrung, retuned cellos and hurdy-gurdies, and vihuelas de peñola, guitars with metal wires and struck with strong herons’ plumes, and so awoke the phlegmatic guardians of the castle. Sweet and harmonious Provençal voices blended with soft notes of melodious singers from Languedoc to the running accompaniment of the weird Basque music of the mountaineers. The Queen, upon her massive curtained bed of state, heard the refrains and felt the vibration of the lilting measures, and smiled pleasantly as she laid awake expectantly. At length the great tenor bell up in the chapel turret gave out the hour of six. The last note seemed to hang, and many a devout listener bent a reverent knee and bared his head, whilst the women-folk uttered fervent Aves. One single stroke of the metal clapper was followed, alas! immediately by another. “Two for a Princess!” resounded from lusty throats, but there was a tone of disappointment in the cry. The glaring morning sun, however, made no mistake, impartial in his love of sex. Dancing upon the phosphorescent ripples of the rolling Mediterranean, he shot golden beams within the royal chamber, and crimson flushed the cheeks of the royal mother and her child. It was the red-hot sun of Spain, and the day was red, too—the feast of San Marco, April 25, 1380. Christened within eight hours of birth—the custom in Aragon—and “Yolanda” named, the little Princess’s advent was speeded right away to distant Barrois, her mother’s home, by the Queen’s Chamberlain, trusty Cavalier Hugues de Pulligny. He had been summoned at once to the accouchement couch, and given to hold and identify the babe. With him he took the Queen’s mothering scarf—the token of a happy birth—and hied post-haste to lay it and his news at the feet of the anxious Duke and Duchess at Bar-le-Duc. His reward was a patent of nobility and 500 good golden livres. Yolanda, Queen-consort of Juan I., King of the triple kingdom of Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia—Violante de Bar —was the elder of the two daughters of Robert I., Duke of Bar, and his wife, Marie of France, daughter of King John II., “the Good.” Their Court was one of the chief resorts of the Troubadours and Jongleurs, who looked to the Duke’s famous mother, Princess Iolande of Flanders, as their queen and patroness. Bar, or Barrois, first gained royal honours [31] [32] when the Emperor Otto III., in 958, created his son and successor, Frederic, Count of Bar and Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. The succession was handed down for hundreds of years, and in 1321 Count Henry IV. married the Flemish Princess. Her jewels and her trousseau were the talk of half a century. Her gaiety, her erudition, and her skill in handicraft, were remarkable; her Court the most splendid in Europe. Bar was, so to speak, the golden hub of the great humming wheel of Franco-Flemish arts and crafts. Bordered by Luxembourg, Lorraine, Champagne, and Burgundy, the fountain-heads of rich and generous vintages, she took toll of all, and the Barroisiens were the healthiest, wealthiest, and the merriest folk in the French borderland. The influence of the bewitching and accomplished Princess-Countess Iolande was paramount, and she was ever adding to her fame by making royal progresses throughout her husband’s domains. Wherever she went, music and the fine arts, and every artistic cult and useful craft, prospered amazingly. Borne in a great swaying chariot, drawn by four strong white Flemish horses, the magnificence of her cortège led on one occasion, if not on more, nearly to her undoing. Travelling in the summer-time of the year 1361 to Clermont en Argonne, one of the ducal castles, she was, when not very far away from storied Laon, beset by an armed company of outlaws, who, however, treated her with charming courtesy. They caused the Princess and her ladies to descend from their equipage and step it with them as vis-à-vis under the greenwood tree. Then, not very gallantly, to be sure, they stripped their fair partners of their ornaments and despoiled the princely treasure, causing the Princess to sign a pardon for their onslaught. The adventure, however, did not end here, for Iolande was a match for any man, and on the spot she enrolled her highwaymen as recruits for Count Henry’s army! The almost fairy Princess-Countess survived her consort many years, and lived to see the county of Bar raised to a dukedom, and to dance upon her knee a little namesake granddaughter, Violante de Bar. Nothing gave her greater pleasure than the floral games of the troubadours, and one of these fêtes galants was enacted in 1363 at the Ducal Castle of Val de Cassel, where Duchess Marie had just brought into the world this very baby girl. The poets chose their laureate—one Eustache Deschamps-Morel, and Princess Iolande crowned him with bays. The ballade he composed for those auspicious revels is still extant—Du Métier Profitable—wherein he maintains that only two careers are open to happy mortals. “Ces deux ont partout l’avantage, L’un en junglant, l’autre à corner.” The sights and sounds, then, which first greeted the pretty child were merry and tuneful. She was reared on troubadour fare, on troubadour lore. Violante had three brothers, Édouard, Jehan, and Louis, and a younger sister Bonne, married to Nicholas, Comte de Ligny, but alas! buried with her first-born before the high-altar of St. Étienne at Bar-le-Duc. When Violante was in her seventeenth year, there came a royal traveller, disguised as a troubadour of Languedoc, to the Court of Love at Bar-le-Duc. His quest was for a bride. He was of ancient lineage; his forbears came from Ria, in a southern upland valley of the Eastern Pyrenees, and had ruled the land ’twixt barren mountain and wild seacoast for no end of years—Juan I., King of Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia. He had just buried Mahaud d’Armagnac, the young mother of his little daughter Juanita, and there was a gaping wound in his amorous heart which yearned for healing. The royal Benedict looked for a Venus with a dash of Diana and a measure of Minerva, and chroniclers say he had drawn blank the Courts of Spain and Southern France. Moreover, they tell a pretty tale of him which must now again be told. After wanderings manifold, the royal knight-errant found himself within the pageant-ground of Bar-le-Duc and at a “Court of Love.” There he broke shield and lance at tilt, and Prince Cupid pierced his heart. Mingling in the merry throng, King Juan found himself partnered by the most beauteous damsel his eyes had ever seen. She was the Princess Violante, daughter of the Duke. Before she realized what her gay vis-à-vis had said and done, he vanished. But upon her maiden finger glittered a royal signet-ring. Back to Zaragoza sped the gay troubadour, and in a trice a noble embassy was on its way to the Barrois Court to claim the hand of the fascinating Princess and to exchange the heavy ring of State for the lighter jewelled hoop of espousal. The entry of Queen Yolanda (Violante) into Zaragoza was a resplendent function, and, despite their habitual taciturnity, the citizens hailed the lovely consort of their King with heartiest acclamations. In her train came minstrels and glee-maidens from Champagne and Burgundy, from Provence and the Valley of the Rhine and Languedoc. Such merry folk were unknown in phlegmatic Aragon. To be sure, they had their poets, their dances and their songs, but they were the semi-serious pastimes of the sturdy Basque mountaineers. The Académie des Jeux Floraux of Toulouse,—newly founded in 1323, and better known there as the Collège du Gaye Sçavoir,—sent an imposing company of minstrels to greet the new Queen of Aragon at Narbonne—the city of romance and song—and to offer her a spectacular serenade beneath the balconies of the Archiepiscopal Palace, where she and her suite were accommodated. With them they bore golden flowers and silver with which Royal Violante should crown the laureates, and to Her Majesty they offered a great amaranth of gold, together with the diploma of a Mainteneuse. Acclaimed “Queen of Troubadours,” her motley train swept through the cities of the coast and crossed the Spanish frontier. One and all offered her their true allegiance—to live and dance and sing and die for Yolanda d’Arragona. If the Aragonese were noted for stubbornness,—and of them was curtly said: “The men of Aragon will drive nails in their heads rather than use hammers,”—they have a sound reputation for chivalry. King Iago II. established this [33] [34] [35] [36] characteristic in an edict in 1327. “We will,” ran the royal rescript, “that every man, whether armed or not, who shall be in company with a lady, pass safely and unmolested unless he be guilty of murder.” Courting an alegra señorita, whether of Aragon, Catalonia, or Valencia, was the duty of every lad, albeit the fair one jokingly called it “pelando la pava” (plucking the turkey). The royal romance was a charming example for all and sundry, and many an amorous French troubadour had his wings cut by Prince Cupid and never went home again at all, and many a glee-maiden, to boot, plucked a “turkey” of Aragon! King Juan threw himself unreservedly into the arms of his merry Minerva-Venus Queen: no doubt she “plucked” him thoroughly! A “Court of Love” was established at Zaragoza. All day long they danced, and all night through they sang, and at all times played their floral games, whilst dour señors scowled and proud dueñas grimaced. The revels of the “Gaya Ciencia” shocked their susceptibilities, until a crisis was reached in 1340, when the King sent embassies to all the French Courts to enlist the services of their best troubadours. A solemn session of the Cortes, wherein resided the actual power of the State,—the King was King only by their pleasure,—was called, “Podemos mas que vos”—“We are quite as good as you, or even better”—that was the moving spirit of Aragon. A resolution was passed demanding the suppression of “the feast of folly,” as the gay doings at Court were called, and the immediate expulsion of the foreign minstrels and their hilarious company. Here was a fix for the easy-going King,—dubbed by many “l’Indolente,” the Indolent,—between the devil and the deep sea. The Queen point-blank refused to say good-bye to her devotés, and her wiles prevailed to retain many a merry lover at her Court, for the stoutest will of man yields to the witchery of beauty in every rank of life! If Queen Yolanda was a “gay woman,” as historians have called her,—and no class of men are anything like so mendacious,—she was not the “fast” woman some of them have maliciously styled her. No, she was a loving spouse and a devoted mother. Perhaps, could she have chosen, she would have brought forth a boy; but, still, every mother loves her child regardless of sex or other considerations. She addressed herself zealously to the rearing of the little princess. No sour-visaged hidalgo and no censorious citizen was allowed the entrée to the nursery. Minstrels rejoiced at the...