The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of AustriaTremayne, Eleanor E.
History
The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria
Tremayne, Eleanor E.
Margaret, of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands, 1480-1530; Netherlands -- History -- Charles V, 1506-1555
The poor 'amant' hopes that pilgrims will come and weep over his
grave, and ends by a touching farewell to his mistress:--
'Or, adieu donc, reyne de toutes femmes,
La fleur des fleurs, le parangon des gemmes,
Adieu, madame, et ma maistresse chère,
Pour qui la mort me vient montrer sa chère.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fay moy graver sur ma lame marbrine
Ces quatre vers, au moins, si j'en suis digne.
Then comes the epitaph quoted above. L'amant vert finally addresses
his mistress from the tomb, and describes his descent into Hades,
where he meets Mercury and converses with him in the Elysian fields.
Rénacle de Florennes sang Margaret's praises in Latin verse, and it
was largely due to her influence that the emperor appointed him his
private secretary. The four Everards and Jean Second all added their
tribute in her honour; whilst Adrian of Utrecht, the future Pope, and
the learned Cornelius Agrippa remained through life her firm and
devoted friends.
During the sixteenth century the beautiful industry of tapestry-making
reached almost its highest point of perfection. After the fall of
Arras in 1477 the workmen from that town settled in Bruges, Brussels,
and Tournay. Amongst the great tapestry-workers were Stephen of
Brumberghe, John of Roubrouck, Perquin d'Ervine, Peter van Oppenem,
John van den Brugghe, etc., but the prince of tapestry-makers was
Peter van Aelst, who for more than thirty years turned out tapestries
innumerable from his workshops, the most celebrated being 'The Acts of
the Apostles.' Although during the Middle Ages the designs chiefly
represented religious subjects from the Old and New Testaments, in the
sixteenth century, with the influence of the Renaissance, there crept
in a taste for mythological and historical scenes such as those in the
Hôtel de Ville at Brussels, or the Legend of Notre Dame du Sablon,
which latter contains contemporary portraits of Margaret and her
nephews and nieces;[146] or the Legend of Trajan, the Story of
Herkenbald, and the History of Julius Caesar attributed to the designs
of Roger van der Weyden. John de Maubeuge, or Mabuse, and Bernard van
Orley also exercised a wide influence over the industry, and their
beautiful compositions were much sought after. With Van Orley a
secular feeling prevailed even in his religious subjects. His saints
and angels, Virgins and Apostles, appear almost pagan in design. It is
easy to follow the different phases of this beautiful industry in such
pieces as 'The Acts of the Apostles' in the Vatican, 'Saint Gregory's
Mass' at Nuremberg, 'The Story of Psyche' at Fontainebleau, 'The
Triumphs of Bacchus,' the 'Rape of the Sabines,' etc.
[146] Now in the Musée du Cinquantenaire, Brussels.
[Illustration: LEGEND OF 'NOTRE DAME DU SABLON'
FROM THE TAPESTRY IN THE MUSÉE DU CINQUANTENAIRE, BRUSSELS
_It contains portraits of Margaret and her Nephews and Nieces_]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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