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
As in yet another case, did King Henry of England have his wife put to
death and beheaded, to wit Anne Boleyn, in order to marry another, for
that he was a monarch very ready to shed blood and quick to change his
wives. Were it not better that they should divorce them, according to
God’s word, than thus cruelly cause them to be slain? But no! they must
needs ever have fresh meat these folk, who are fain to sit at table
apart without inviting any to share with them, or else to have new and
fresh wives to bring them gear after that they have wasted that of
their first spouses, or else have not gotten of these enough to satisfy
them. Thus did Baldwyn,[15] second King of Jerusalem, who making it to
be believed of his first wife that she had played him false, did put
her away, in order to take a daughter of the Duke of Malyterne,[15]
because she had a large sum of money for dowry, whereof he stood in
sore need. This is to be read in the _History of the Holy Land_.[15]
Truly it well becomes these Princes to alter the Law of God and invent
a new one, to the end they may make away with their unhappy wives!
King Louis VII. (Le Jeune, the Young)[15] did not precisely so in
regard to Leonore, duchesse d’Acquitaine, who being suspected of
adultery, mayhap falsely, during his voyaging in Syria, was repudiated
by him on his sole authority, without appealing to the law of other
men, framed as it is and practised more by might than by right or
reason. Whereby he did win greater reputation than the other Kings
named above, and the name of good, while the others were called wicked,
cruel and tyrannical, forasmuch as he had in his soul some traces of
remorse and truth. And this forsooth is to live a Christian life! Why!
the heathen Romans themselves did for the most part herein behave more
Christianly; and above all sundry of their Emperors, of whom the more
part were subject to be cuckolds, and their wives exceeding lustful and
whorish. Yet cruel as they were, we read of many who did rid themselves
of their wives more by divorces than by murders such as we that are
Christians do commit.
Julius Caesar did no further hurt to his wife Pompeia, but only
divorced her, who had done adultery with Publius Clodius, a young
and handsome Roman nobleman. For being madly in love with her, and
she with him, he did spy out the opportunity when one day she was
performing a sacrifice in her house, to which only women were admitted.
So he did dress himself as a girl, for as yet had he no beard on chin,
and joining in the singing and playing of instruments and so passing
muster, had leisure to do that he would with his mistress. However,
being presently recognized, he was driven forth and brought to trial,
but by dint of bribery and influence was acquitted, and no more came of
the thing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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