Lives of Fair and Gallant Ladies. Vol 1Brantôme, Pierre de Bourdeille
History
Lives of Fair and Gallant Ladies. Vol 1
Brantôme, Pierre de Bourdeille
Erotic literature
◆Henri III., 1574–1589, last king of the House of Valois; succeeded
Charles IX.
◆Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, surnamed _Tête de fer_. He had
married Marguerite, sister of Henri II. It was during this journey
that the Duchess Marguerite tried to obtain from her nephew Henri
III. the retrocession of several fortresses which France still
held. (Litta, t. VI., tav. xiv.)
[42] P. 66:
◆Sainte-Soline abandoned Strozzi at the battle of the Iles Ter
Tercères.
[43] P. 67:
◆Capaneus was one of the mythical seven heroes who marched from
Argos against Thebes (Aeschylus, _Septem contra Thebas_). “During
the siege, he was presumptuous enough to say, that even the fire
of Zeus should not prevent his scaling the walls of the city; but
when she saw his body was burning, his wife Euadné leaped into the
flames and destroyed herself.”
◆Alcestis was a daughter of Pelias, and the wife of Admetus, King of
Pheræ in Thessaly. According to the legend, Apollo having induced
the Fates to promise Admetus deliverance from death, if at the
hour of his decease his father, mother or wife would die for him,
Alcestis sacrificed herself for her husband’s sake. But Heracles
brought her back again from the underworld, and “all ended well.”
The story is the subject of Euripides’ beautiful play of _Alcestis_.
[44] P. 68:
◆Tancred, one of the chief heroes of the First Crusade, was the son
of Odo the Good, of Sicily. Date of his birth is uncertain; he died
1112. Type of the gallant soldier and adventurer and the “very
perfect, gentle knight.”
◆Philippe I.—1060–1108.
◆See Guillaume de Tyr, liv. XI., who tells this anecdote about
Tancrède. Bertrade d’Anjou, the wife of Foulques, had been carried
off by Philip I., to whom she bore, among other children, Cécile,
who married Tancrède.
◆Compare this Albanian savagery with the story of Councillor Jean
Lavoix, who lived with the wife of an attorney named Boulanger. The
wife having decided to discontinue that liaison, the Councillor
grew so furious that he caused her to be slashed and disfigured,
although he could not get her nose cut off. He was pardoned after
having paid his judges. The following song was written about him:
Chasteauvillain, Poisle et Levois,
Seront jugez tous d’une voix
Par un arrest aussi leger
Que fust celluy de Saint-Leger.
Car le malheur est tel en France
Que tout se juge par la finance.
(Bib. Nat., ms. français, 22563, f^o 101.)
[45] P. 70:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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