The book of the ladies: Illustrious Dames: The Reign and Amours of the Bourbon RégimeBrantôme, Pierre de Bourdeille
History
The book of the ladies: Illustrious Dames: The Reign and Amours of the Bourbon Régime
Brantôme, Pierre de Bourdeille
France -- Biography; France -- Court and courtiers; Queens; Women -- Biography
After her comes her sister, Anne de France, a shrewd woman and a cunning
if ever there was one, and the true image of King Louis, her father. The
choice made of her to be guardian and administrator of her brother,
King Charles [VIII.], proves this, for she governed him so wisely and
virtuously that he came to be one of the greatest of the kings of
France, who was proclaimed, by reason of his valour, Emperor of the
East. As to his kingdom she administered that in like manner. True it is
that because of her ambition she was rather mischief-making, on account
of the hatred she bore to M. d’Orléans, afterwards King Louis XII. I
have heard say, however, that in the beginning she loved him with love;
so that if M. d’Orléans had been willing to hear to her, he might have
had better luck, as I hold on good authority. But he could not constrain
himself, all the more because he saw her so ambitious, and he wished his
wife to depend upon him as first and nearest prince to the crown, and
not upon herself; while she desired the contrary, for she wanted to hold
the highest place and to govern in all things.
She was very vindictive in temper like her father, and always a sly
dissembler, corrupt, full of deceit, and a great hypocrite, who, for the
sake of her ambition, could mask and disguise herself in any way. So
that the kingdom, beginning to be angry at her humours, although she was
wise and virtuous, bore with them so impatiently that when the king went
to Naples she no longer had the title of regent, but her husband, M. de
Bourbon, received it. It is true, however, that she made him do what she
had in her head, for she ruled him and knew how to guide him, all the
better because he was rather foolish,--indeed, very much so; but the
Council opposed and controlled her. She endeavoured to use her
prerogative and authority over Queen Anne, but there she found the boot
on the other foot, as they say, for Queen Anne was a shrewd Bretonne, as
I have told already, who was very superb and haughty towards her
equals; so that Madame Anne was forced to lower her sails and leave the
queen, her sister-in-law, to keep her rank and maintain her grandeur and
majesty, as was reasonable; which made Madame Anne very angry; for she,
being virtually regent, held to her grandeur terribly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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