Charles the Bold, Last Duke of Burgundy, 1433-1477Putnam, Ruth
History
Charles the Bold, Last Duke of Burgundy, 1433-1477
Putnam, Ruth
Burgundy (France) -- History; Charles, Duke of Burgundy, 1433-1477; Switzerland -- History -- 1032-1499
"Now the king left the duke's territories without having taken
leave nor said adieu to the Countess of Charolais,[20] although he
was in her neighbourhood, and he left behind him the queen, his
wife. The said queen had neither hackneys nor vehicles with which
to follow her husband. Therefore, the king ordered her to borrow
the hackneys of the countess and chariots, too. Heartily did the
countess accede to this request in spite of the fact that the
thing seemed to her rather strange that a noble king, and one who
had received so much honour and service from the House of Burgundy
and had promised to recognise it when the hour came, should thus
depart thence without saying a word. However, in spite of all, the
countess would gladly have given the queen the hackneys as a gift
if they had been asked, and she sent them to her by one of her
equerries named Corneille de la Barre, together with chariots and
waggons. And thus the queen left the country just as her husband
had done without saying a word either to the duke or the countess,
and Corneille went with her on foot to bring back the hackneys
when the queen had arrived at the place of her desire."
Philip had difficulty in persuading his quondam guest to show outward
respect to his father's memory. The duke clad himself and his suite
in deep mourning before setting out to join Louis at Avesnes, whither
representatives from the University of Paris and from all parts of the
realm had flocked to greet their new sovereign.
It was a great concourse that marched from Avesnes as escort to the
uncrowned king. Philip was magnificent in his appointments as he
entered Rheims, and behind him came his son,
"the Count of Charolais who, equally with his noble company of
knights and squires, attracted hearts and eyes in admiration of
his rich array wherein cloth of gold and jewelry, velvet and
embroidery were lavishly displayed. And the count had ten pages
and twenty-six archers, and this whole company numbered three
hundred horse."[21]
This was a Thursday after dinner. Louis had waited at St. Thierry. On
the actual day of the coronation, preliminaries absorbed so much time
that the long cavalcade did not enter Rheims until seven o'clock. The
king passed his night in a very pious and prayerful manner, taking no
repose until 5 A.M. While his suite were occupied at their toilets he
slipped off alone to church.
Finally all was ready for the grand ceremony. Very magnificent were
the duke's robes and ermine when, as chief among the peers, he
escorted his late guest to be consecrated king, and very devout and
simple was Louis. After the consecration, the king and his friends
listened to an address from the Bishop of Tournay, in which he
described in Latin the dauphin's sojourn in the Netherlands.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account