this gown of cloth of gold, that being her ducal garment and her robe of
grandeur, the which was becoming and permissible in her to show her
sovereignty and dignity of duchess. Our widows of to-day dare not wear
precious stones, except on their fingers, on some mirrors, on some
“Hours,” and on their belts; but never on their heads or bodies, unless
a few pearls on their neck and arms. But I swear to you I have seen
widows as dainty as could be in their black and white gowns, who
attracted quite as many and as much as the bedizened brides and maidens
of France. There is enough said now of this foreign widow.
9. _Catherine de Clèves, wife of Henri I. de Lorraine, Duc de Guise._
Madame de Guise, Catherine de Clèves, one of the three daughters of
Nevers (three princesses who cannot be lauded enough either for their
beauty or their virtues, and of whom I hope to make a chapter), has
celebrated and celebrates daily the eternal absence of her husband [Le
Balafré, killed at Blois 1588]. But oh! what a husband he was! The
none-such of the world! That is what she called him in several letters
which she wrote to certain ladies of her intimacy whom she held in
esteem, after her misfortune; manifesting in sad and grievous words the
regrets of her wounded soul.
10. _Madame de Bourdeille._
Madame de Bourdeille, issuing from the illustrious and ancient house of
Montbéron, and from the Comtes de Périgord and the Vicomtes d’Aunay,
became a widow at the age of thirty-seven or thirty-eight, very
beautiful (in Guyenne, where she lived, it was believed that none
surpassed her in her day for beauty, grace, and noble appearance); and
being thus in fine estate and widowed, she was sought in marriage and
pursued by three very great and rich seigneurs, to whom she answered:--
“I shall not say as many ladies do, who declare they will never marry,
and give their word in such a way that they must be believed, after
which nothing comes of it; but I do say that, if God and flesh do not
give me any other wishes than I have at present, it is a very certain
thing that I have bade farewell to marriage forever.”
And then, as some one said to her, “But, madame, would you burn of love
in the flower of your age?” she answered: “I know not what you mean. For
up to this hour I have never been even warmed, but widowed and cold as
ice. Still, I do not say that, being in company with a second husband
and approaching his fire, I might not burn, as you think. But because
cold is easier to bear than heat, I am resolved to remain in my present
quality and to abstain from a second marriage.”
And just as she said then, so she has remained to the present day, a
widow these twelve years, without the least losing her beauty, but
always nourishing it and taking care of it, so that it has not a single
spot. Which is a great respect to the ashes of her husband, and a proof
that she loved him well; also an injunction on her children to honour
her always. The late M. Strozzi was one of those who courted her and
asked her in marriage; but great as he was and allied to the
queen-mother, she refused him and excused herself kindly. But what a
humour was this! to be beautiful, virtuous, a very rich heiress, and yet
to end her days on a solitary feather-bed and blanket, desolate and cold
as ice, and thus to pass so many widowed nights! Oh! how many there be
unlike this lady--but some are like her, too.
APPENDIX.
I.
(See page 30.)
Under Louis XII. the French fleet and the English fleet met, August 10,
1513, off the heights of Saint-Maché, in Lower Bretagne. The English
fleet, eighty vessels strong, attacked that of France, which had but
twenty. The French made up for numbers by courage and ability. They
seized the advantage of the wind, fouled the enemy’s ships and shattered
them, and sent more than half to the bottom. The Breton Primauguet was
captain of “La Cordelière;” the vessel constructed after the orders of
Queen Anne; it could carry twelve hundred soldiers besides the crew. He
was attacked by twelve English vessels, defended himself with a courage
that amounted to fury, sunk a number of the enemy’s vessels, and drove
off the rest. One captain alone dared approach him again, flinging
rockets on board of him, and so setting fire to the vessel. Primauguet
might have saved himself in the long-boat, as did some of the officers
and soldiers; but that valiant sailor would not survive the loss of his
ship; he only thought of selling his life dearly and taking from the
English the pleasure of enjoying the defeat of the French. Though all
a-fire, he sailed upon the flag-ship of the enemy, the “Regent of
England,” grappled her, set fire to her, and blew up with her an instant
later. More than three thousand men perished in this action by cannon,
fire, and water. It is one of the most glorious pages in our maritime
annals.
French editor of “Vie des Dames Illustres,”
Garnier-Frères. Paris.
II.
(See page 44.)
This is doubtless the _Discours merveilleux de la vie, actions, et
déportemens de la reine Catherine de Médicis_, attributed to Théodore de
Bèze, also to de Serres, but with more probability to Henri Étienne;
coming certainly from the hand of a master. It was printed and spread
about publicly in 1574 with the date of 1575; inserted soon after in the
_Mémoires d’État sous Charles IX._, printed in 1577 in three volumes,
8vo, and subsequently in the various editions of the _Reccuil de
diverses pièces pour servir à l’histoire du règne de Henri III._
French editor.
III.
(See page 91.)
M. de Maison-Fleur was a gentleman of the Bordeaux region, a Huguenot,
and a somewhat celebrated poet in his day, whose principal work, _Les
Divins Cantiques_, was printed for the first time at Antwerp in 1580,
and several times reprinted in succeeding years. For details on this
poet, see the _Bibliothèque Française_ of the Abbé Goujet.
French editor.
IV.
(See page 92.)
We see, ’neath white attire,
In mourning great and sadness,
Passing, with many a charm
Of beauty, this fair goddess,
Holding the shaft in hand
Of her son, heartless.
And Love, without his frontlet,
Fluttering round her,
Hiding his bandaged eyes
With veil of mourning
On which these words are writ:
DIE OR BE CAPTURED.
V.
(See page 94.)
_Translation as nearly literal as possible._
In my sad, sweet song,
In tones most lamentable
I cast my cutting grief
Of loss incomparable;
And in poignant sighs
I pass my best of years.
Was ever such an ill
Of hard destiny,
Or so sad a sorrow
Of a happy lady,
That my heart and eye
Should gaze on bier and coffin?
That I, in my sweet springtide,
In the flower of youth,
All these pains should feel
Of excessive sadness,
With naught to give me pleasure
Except regret and yearning?
That which to me was pleasant
Now is hard and painful;
The brightest light of day
Is darkness black and dismal;
Nothing is now delight
In that of me required.
I have, in heart and eye,
A portrait and an image
That mark my mourning life
And my pale visage
With violet tones that are
The tint of grieving lovers.
For my restless sorrow
I can rest nowhere;
Why should I change in place
Since sorrow will not efface?
My worst and yet my best
Are in the loneliest places.
When in some still sojourn
In forest or in field,
Be it by dawn of day,
Or in the vesper hour,
Unceasing feels my heart
Regret for one departed.
If sometimes toward the skies
My glance uplifts itself,
The gentle iris of his eyes
I see in clouds; or else
I see it in the water,
As in a grave.
If I lie at rest
Slumbering on my couch,
I hear him speak to me,
I feel his touch;
In labour, in repose,
He is ever near me.
I see no other object,
Though beauteous it may be
In many a subject,
To which my heart consents,
Since its perfection lacks
In this affection.
End here, my song,
Thy sad complaint,
Of which be this the burden:
True love, not feigned,
Because of separation
Shall have no diminution.
VI.
(See page 235.)
This book, entitled _Les Marguerites de la Marguerite des princesses_,
is a collection of the poems of this princess, made by Simon de La Haie,
surnamed Sylvius, her _valet de chambre_, and printed at Lyon, by Jean
de Tournes, 1547, 8vo.
The _Nouvelles_ of the Queen of Navarre appeared for the first time
without the name of the author, under the title: _Histoire des Amants
fortunés, dediée à l’illustre princesse, Madame Marguerite de Bourbon,
Duchesse de Nivernois_, by Pierre Boaistuau, called Launay. Paris, 1558
4to. This edition contains only sixty-seven tales, and the text has been
garbled by Boaistuau. The second edition is entitled: _Heptameron des
Nouvelles de très-illustre et très-excellente princesse Marguerite de
Valois, reine de Navarre, remis en son vrai ordre_, by Charles Gruget,
Paris, 1559, 4to.
_French editor._
* * * * *
In 1841 M. Genin published a volume of Queen Marguerite’s letters, and
in the following year a volume of her letters addressed to François I.
Since then Comte H. de La Ferrière-Percy has made her the subject of an
interesting “Study.” This careful investigator having discovered her
book of expenses, kept by Frotté, Marguerite’s secretary, has developed
from it a daily proof of the beneficent spirit and inexhaustible
liberality of the good queen. The title of the book is: _Marguerite
d’Angoulême, sœur de François I^{er}_. Aubry: Paris, 1862.
The poems of François I., with other verses by his sister and mother,
were published in 1847 by M. Aimé Champollion.
Notes to Sainte-Beuve’s Essay.
VII
(See page 262.)
The Ladies given in Discourse VII. appear under the head of “The Widows”
in the volume of _Les Dames Galantes_, a very different book from the
_Livre des Dames_, which is their rightful place. As Brantôme placed
them under the title of Widows, he has naturally enlarged chiefly upon
the period of their widowhood.
French editor.
INDEX.
ANNE DE BRETAGNE, Queen of France, wife of Charles VIII. and of Louis XII., her inheritance, lovers, and first marriage, 25, 26;
her beauty, wisdom, and goodness, 26;
spirit of revenge, 27, 28;
second marriage, 29;
the first queen to hold a great court, a noble school for ladies, 29, 30;
how King Louis honoured her, 30-32;
her death and burial, 32-34;
her noble record, 34, 35, 37;
her tomb at Saint-Denis, 39;
the founder of a school of manners and perfection for her sex, 42, 43;
Sainte-Beuve’s remarks upon her, 40-43, 219.
ANNE DE FRANCE (Madame), daughter of Louis XI., 216-218.
BLANCHE DE MONTFERRAT, Duchesse de Savoie, 293-297.
BOOK OF THE LADIES (The), Brantôme’s own name for this volume, 1.
BOURDEILLE (Madame de), 297, 298.
BOURDEILLE (Pierre de), Abbé de Brantôme, his name for the present volume, 1;
origin and arms of his family, 3, 4;
general sketch of his life and career, 4-19;
his retirement, 20;
his books, his will, 21;
titles of his books, when first printed, 22, 23.
CASTELNAUD (Pierre de), his account of Brantôme, 1-3.
CATHERINE DE CLÈVES, wife of Henri de Lorraine, Duc de Guise, “le Balafré,” 297.
CATHERINE DE’ MEDICI, Queen of France, wife of Henri II., 44;
sketch
of the Medici, 45-48;
her marriage to the dauphin, 48-50;
personal appearance and tastes, 51-54;
her mind, 54;
conduct as regent and queen-mother, Brantôme’s defence of it, 57-72;
her liberality and public works, 74;
her accomplishments and majesty, 75-77;
her court, 77-80, 81, 82;
Henri IV.’s opinion of it, 83;
her death at Blois, 83;
Sainte-Beuve’s estimate of her, 85-88;
H. de Balzac’s novel upon her, 86;
Mézeray’s opinion of her, 85;
her daughter Élisabeth’s fear of her, 145, 146; 164, 165, 167, 289, 290, 300.
CHARLES IX., King of France, his funeral attended by Brantôme, 35-37; 198, 264, 265, 271, 272.
CHARLOTTE DE FRANCE (Madame), daughter of François I. and Queen Claude, died young, 223.
CHASTELLARD (Seigneur de), his journey with Brantôme in attendance on Marie Stuart to Scotland, 99;
his story and death, 117-120.
CHRISTINE of Denmark, wife of the Duc de Lorraine, 283-291.
CLAUDE DE FRANCE (Madame), daughter of Louis XII. and Anne de Bretagne, wife of François I., died young, 223.
CLAUDE DE FRANCE (Madame), daughter of Henri II. and Catherine de’ Medici, wife of the Duc de Lorraine, 229-231.
CORDELIÈRE (La), man-o’-war built by Anne de Bretagne, which fought the “Regent of England,” both ships destroyed, 30, 299.
DARGAUD (M.), his impulsive history of Marie Stuart, 122.
DIANE DE FRANCE (Madame), Duchesse d’Angoulême, illegitimate daughter of Henri II., 231-234.
ÉLISABETH DE FRANCE, Queen of Spain, daughter of Henri II. and Catherine de’ Medici, second wife of Philip II. of Spain, 137-151, 229, 230, 270, 271.
ÉLISABETH DE FRANCE, Queen of Spain, daughter of Henri IV. and Marie de’ Medici, her portraits by Rubens, 212.
FLEUR-DE-LIS, how connected with the Florentine lily, 45.
FRANÇOIS I., King of France, 219, 220, 236, 237, 238, 241, 245-249, 254.
GERMAINE DE FOIX, wife of King Ferdinand of Spain, 142, 143.
GUISE (Henri I., Duc de), le Balafré, 117, 198, 199, 273, 283, 288.
GUISE (Catherine de Clèves, Duchesse de), 283, 289.
HENRI II., King of France, 231, 232.
HENRI III., King of France, 177, 178, 180, 184, 196-198, 234, 267, 280, 283, 285, 286, 292.
HENRI IV., King of France, opinion of Catherine de’ Medici, 83, 87, 88; 176, 180, 181, 201, 209;
remark at the coronation of Marie de’ Medici, 210; 234.
ISABELLE D’AUTRICHE, Queen of France, daughter of Maximilian II., wife of Charles IX. of France, 262-270.
ISABELLA OF BAVARIA, wife of Charles VI. of France, first brought the pomps and fashions of dress to France, 157.
JEANNE D’AUTRICHE, wife of Jean, Infante of Portugal, 270-273.
JEANNE DE FRANCE (Madame), daughter
of Louis XI., married to and divorced by Louis XII., 215, 216.
LABANOFF (Prince Alexander), his careful research into the history of Marie Stuart, 121.
L’HÔPITAL (Michel de), chancellor of France, epithalamium on the marriage of Marie Stuart and François II., 124;
his changed feeling, 131, 132.
LOUIS XII., King of France, 25, 29, 30, 31, 32, 39, 41-43.
LOUISE DE FRANCE (Madame), daughter of François I. and Queen Claude, died young, 223.
LOUISE DE LORRAINE, Queen of France, wife of Henri III., 280-282, 283.
MAGDELAINE DE FRANCE (Madame), daughter of François I. and Queen Claude, wife of James V. of Scotland, 223, 224.
MAINTENON (Madame de), a pendant to Anne de Bretagne, 43.
MAISON-FLEUR (M. de), 91, 97, 300.
MARGUERITE DE VALOIS, Queen of Navarre, sister of François I., wife of Henri d’Albret, King of Navarre, grandmother of Henri IV., 234;
her poems, 235;
her devotion to her brother, 237-240, 245, 249;
interest in the phenomenon of death, 242;
her “Nouvelles,” 242, 243, 244;
Sainte-Beuve’s essay on her, 243-261;
her learning and comprehension of the Renaissance, 244, 245;
her letters, 249;
Erasmus’ opinion of her, 250, 251;
favours, but does not belong
to, the Religion, 251-255;
her writings, the Heptameron, 255-260;
the patron of the Renaissance, 261;
her works, 303.
MARGUERITE DE FRANCE (Madame), daughter of François I. and Queen Claude, wife of the Duc de Savoie, 224-229.
MARGUERITE, Queen of France and of Navarre, daughter of Henri II. and Catherine de’ Medici, wife of Henri
IV., Brantôme visits her at the Castle of Usson and dedicates his work to her, 19;
mention of her in his will, 22;
his discourse, 152-193;
her beauty and style of dress, 153-163;
her mind and education, 164-166;
marriage to Henri IV., 167;
Brantôme’s argument in favour of the Salic law, 168-175;
difficulty of religion between herself and her husband, 176;
her dignity and sense of honour, 178-180;
retirement in the Castle of Usson, 183;
on ill terms with her brother Henri III., 184;
her beautiful dancing, 185;
her liberality and generosity, 186-190;
love of reading, 191;
corresponds with Brantôme, 191;
Sainte-Beuve’s essay on her, 193;
reasons why she began her Memoirs, 195;
faithfulness to the Catholic religion, 195;
intimacy with her brother d’Anjou, Henri III., 196, 197;
her love for Henri Duc de Guise, le Balafré, her marriage to Henri IV., 198;
the Saint-Bartholomew, 201;
her Memoirs, 202, etc.;
anecdote of a Princesse de Ligne, 205;
friendship with her brother, Duc d’Alençon, 206;
her letters, 208;
her life at Usson, 209;
divorce from Henri IV., 209, 210;
return to Paris, eccentricities, appearance at the coronation of Marie de’ Medici, 210-212;
comparison with Marie Stuart, 213;
her real merit, 213, 231.
MARGUERITE DE LORRAINE, wife of the Duc de Joyeuse, 282, 283.
MARIE D’AUTRICHE, wife of the Emperor Maximilian II., 291-293.
MARIE D’AUTRICHE, sister of the Emperor Charles V. and wife of Louis, King of Hungary, 273-280.
MARIE STUART, Queen of France and Scotland, her parentage, 89;
youthful accomplishments and beauty, 90-93;
marriage to François II., and widowhood, 93, 94;
her poem on her widowhood, 94-96, 294;
Charles IX.’s love for her, 96;
returns to Scotland,
Brantôme accompanies her, 97-101,
marriage to Darnley, 101;
Brantôme’s defence of her, 102;
her disasters, 103;
her imprisonment in England, 104;
her death, as related to Brantôme by one of her ladies there present, 105-115;
Sainte-Beuve’s essay on Marie Stuart and summing up of her life, 121-136, 289;
her poem on her widowhood, translation, 301.
MÉZERAY (François Eudes de), his History of France, his picture of Catherine de’ Medici, 85.
MIGNET (François Auguste), his invaluable History of Marie Stuart, 121, 122, 136.
MOLAND (M. Henri), his essay on Brantôme used in the introduction to this volume, 1.
NIEL (M.), librarian to Ministry of the Interior, his collection of original portraits and crayons of celebrated persons of the 16th century, 86, 87.
PATIN (Gui), his feelings in Saint-Denis before the tomb of Louis XII. and Anne de Bretagne, 40, 41.
PHILIP II. of Spain, 138, 139, 142.
RENÉE DE FRANCE (Madame), daughter of Louis XII. and Anne de Bretagne, wife of the Duke of Ferrara, 220-223.
RŒDERER (Comte), his Memoirs on Polite Society, study of Louis XII. and Anne de Bretagne, 41-43.
RONSARD (Pierre de), 91, 124, 156, 157, 160, 185, 224.
SAINTE-BEUVE (Charles-Augustin), his remarks on Anne de Bretagne, 40-43;
his estimate of Catherine de’ Medici, 85-88;
his essay on Marie Stuart, 121-136;
on Marguerite de Navarre, 193-213;
on Marguerite de Valois, 243-261.
SALIC LAW (the), Brantôme’s argument about it, 168-175.
TAVANNES (Vicomte de), Memoirs, 136.
VIGNAUD (M. H.), his introduction to Brantôme’s “Vie des Dames Illustres” used in the introduction to this volume, 1.
VINCENT DE PAUL (Saint), chaplain to Queen Marguerite de Navarre, 212.
YOLAND DE FRANCE (Madame), daughter of Charles VII. and wife of the Duc de Savoie, 214, 215.
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
The Reign and Amours of the Bourbon Regimé=> The Reign and Amours of the
Bourbon Régime {pg title}
M. le maréchal answered=> M. le Maréchal answered {pg 83}
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Taken chiefly from the Essays preceding the various editions of
Brantôme’s works published in the 18th and 19th centuries; some of which
are anonymous; the more recent being those of M. H. Vignaud and M. Henri
Moland.--TR.
[2] See Appendix.
[3] See Appendix.
[4] Here follow the names of ninety-three ladies and sixty-six
damoiselles; among the latter are “Mesdamoiselles Flammin (Fleming?)
Veton (Seaton?) Beton (Beaton?) Leviston, escossoises.” The three
first-named on the above list are the daughters of Henri II. and
Catherine de’ Medici.--TR.
[5] Henri III. convoked the States-General at Blois in 1588; the Duc de
Guise (Henri, le Balafré) was there assassinated, by the king’s order,
December 23, 1588; his brother, Cardinal de Bourbon, the next day.--TR.
[6] Honoré de Balzac’s volume, in the Philosophical Series of his
“Comedy of Human Life,” on Catherine de’ Medici, while called a romance,
is really an admirable and carefully drawn historical portrait, and
might be read to profit in connection with Brantôme’s account of
her.--TR.
[7] See Appendix.
[8] See Appendix.
[9] See Appendix.
[10] George Buchanan, historian and Scotch poet, who wrote libels and
calumnies against Marie Stuart in prison. (French editor.)
[11] She was the daughter of Henri II. and Catherine de’ Medici, married
to Philip II., King of Spain, after the death of Queen Mary of
England.--TR.
[12] Daughter of Henri II. and Catherine de’ Medici,--“La Reine
Margot.”--TR.
[13] Brantôme’s words are _gorgiasetés_ and _gorgiasment_; do they mark
the introduction of ruffs around the neck, _gorge_?--TR.
[14] The Salic law: so called from being derived from the laws of the
ancient Salian Franks,--according to Stormonth, Littré, and Cassell’s
Cyclopædia.--TR.
[15] Marguerite was married to Henri, King of Navarre, six days before
the massacre of Saint-Bartholomew, August, 1572.
[16] Marguerite lived eighteen years in the castle of Usson, from 1587
to 1605. She died in Paris, March 27, 1615, at the age of sixty-two,
rather less than one year after Brantôme. (French editor.)
[17] It is noticeable in the course of this “Discourse” that Brantôme
wrote it at one period, namely, about 1593 or 1594, and reviewed it at
another, when Henri IV. was in full possession of the kingdom, but
before the end of the century and before the divorce. (French editor.)
The passage to which the foregoing is a note is evidently an addition to
the text.--TR.
[18] The story goes that she refused to answer at the marriage ceremony;
on which her brother, Charles IX., put his hand behind her head and made
her nod, which was taken for consent. In after years, the ground given
for her divorce was that of being married against her will. The marriage
took place on a stage erected before the west front of the cathedral of
Notre-Dame; the King of Navarre being a Protestant, the service could
not be performed in the church. It was here, in view of the assembled
multitude, that Marguerite’s nod was forcibly given when she resolutely
refused to answer. Following Brantôme’s delight in describing fine
clothes, the wedding gown should be mentioned here. It was cloth of
gold, the body so closely covered with pearls as to look like a cuirass;
over this was a blue velvet mantle embroidered with _fleurs-de-lys_,
nearly five yards long, which was borne by one hundred and twenty of the
handsomest women in France. Her dark hair was loose and flowing, and was
studded with diamond stars. The Duc de Guise, le Balafré, with his
family connections and all his retainers, left Paris that morning,
unable to bear the spectacle of the marriage.--TR.
[19] Meaning the daughters of the kings of France only.--TR.
[20] She was daughter of Charles, Duc d’Angoulême, and Louise do Savoie,
great-granddaughter of Charles V., and sister of François I.--TR.
[21] See Appendix.
[22] See Appendix.
[23] The tomb of Marguerite and Philibert is still to be seen in the
beautiful church, and the above motto, which is carved upon it, has been
the theme of much antiquarian discussion.--TR.
[24] The picture of the Ball at Court, under Henri III., attributed to
François Clouet (see chapter ii. of this volume), was given in
celebration of her marriage. She advances, with her sweet and modest
face (evidently a portrait) in the centre of the picture. Henri III. is
seated under a red dais; next him is Catherine de’ Medici, his mother,
and next to her is Louise de Lorraine, his wife; leaning on the king’s
chair is Henri Duc de Guise, le Balafré, murdered by Henri III. at Blois
in 1588.--TR.