GILLE’S LIFE AT HOME IN BRITANNY
1430–1439
_The personal Appearance of Gilles de Retz. An Epitome of his Life.
His Extravagance and ruinous Expenditures. His Inheritance.
His Sales and Transfers of Property. His Love for the Theatre.
Mysteries. That of the Siege of Orleans. Mysteries at Nantes.
The Cathedral. Expensive Visit to Orleans. Maison de la Suze.
The Decree of the King interdicting his Sale or Incumbrance of
Property. The increasing Demand for Money drives him to Magic in
Search for the Philosopher’s Stone and the Transmutation of base
Metals into Gold. Magic._
There are but two known portraits of Gilles de Retz. That in the palace
at Versailles is purely imaginative, and was only made to complete the
series of the Marshals of France. It is not known by whom or at what
time the other was made. In 1438, Gilles was thirty-five years old,
tall, handsome, and well formed. He showed in his face, figure, and in
every movement, his pride and spirit. He had a high, rather than broad,
forehead; his nose was prominent and slightly aquiline; the nostrils
were large and thin, and, on occasions of anger, spread and quivered in
an interesting and threatening manner. His lips were rather thin but
well coloured, and had a tinge of delicate and refined sensuality.
Like many of the Breton race, his complexion was fair, his eyes large
and blue, and his eyebrows and lashes long and black. His hair was also
long and black, and beard the same. It was soft and silky, and with its
raven blackness became shiny, giving it a tinge of blue-black, which
may have served as a foundation for his pseudonym in that country. His
neck was neither too short, too long, nor yet too large, but seemed a
column full of nervous strength, calculated to support solidly and well
his head and brain, with whatever of pride, audacity, and confidence it
might have. His shoulders were square, his body long, his waist small,
while the bust and hips were large and fairly placed upon the muscular
legs, which stood straight under him, giving his body firm support.
His fingers were long and tapering, his hands small, and their fair
complexion, when brought in contact with his velvet costume and lace
ruffles, showed them to good advantage. Thus, he had the physical
appearance of an athlete trained in all the exercises of the body; of
much strength, a good walker, a good rider, and capable of any feat at
arms.
Michelet (_Hist. de France_, vol. v., pp. 208–213) describes Gilles as
of “_bon entendment, belle personne et bonne façon, lettré de plus, et
appréciant fort ce qui parlaient avec élégance la langue latine_.”
Lemire says (p. 39) that Gilles, when he appeared before the Court, was
dressed in pantaloons, skin-tight, after the fashion of the day, and
shirt and vest, all of white wool, with boots also white. Over this
was a doublet of pearl-grey silk embroidered with gold, with a hood of
ermine; a sash of scarlet about his waist which supported a poniard
with red velvet scabbard. He wore his military and seigniorial medals
and orders, and about his neck a chain of gold with a reliquary. From
the latter he never parted.
How much of this description is actual and how much imaginary will
probably never be known; but in the attractiveness of his person
and manner, Gilles de Retz compared with the best of his race in
that country, and the foregoing might have been a fairly truthful
representation. He seems the model of a gentleman of his time; his
life being divided between the chase, war, and his adventures. He had
beauty, force, riches, and occupied the highest rank among the nobility
of his province. To him, nature and fortune had been blindly prodigal
in their gifts.
On Gilles’s return from service in the army of France, after the
murder of Joan of Arc, he retired to his château, dwelling alternately
at Machecoul and Tiffauges, with an occasional visit to his Hôtel de
la Suze in Nantes. He engaged in no serious business, but apparently
resigned himself to domestic pleasures and happiness. He established
himself in a princely fashion. The interiors of his châteaux were
decorated in the most magnificent and luxurious manner possible. He
maintained a small army, the members of which were in his own pay. He
was passionately fond of music; he purchased instruments and organised
all sorts of musical competitions and displays. He established a
religious hierarchy, having as a member of his own household a pseudo
bishop with a large retinue, and all the necessary paraphernalia,
including rich vestments for his servants and expensive decorations for
his chapels.
This luxurious, magnificent, expensive mode of living was carried
on for so long a time, increasing to such an alarming extent, that
his brother René presented a memoir or petition to the King, called
in history _Mémoires des Héritiers_, wherein these expenditures and
extravagances were set forth at as great length and with as much detail
and redundant phrase as though it were a bill in equity. This memoir
ended with the prayer that the King should pass a decree against
Gilles, interdicting him from making sale, transfer, or alienation, or
mortgaging or pledging any of his property. This process is not unknown
to French law. Without having the law of primogeniture as in England,
the heirs yet had certain rights which, consequent upon the death of
Gilles, would accrue to them under the law of France, and thus it was
that the King was prayed to take the necessary steps for the protection
of the rights of the heirs. In this proceeding his brother, René de la
Suze, seems to have been the principal and moving spirit, although he
was afterwards aided and abetted by his cousin, Guy de Laval.
From the _Mémoires des Héritiers_ we get a knowledge of the property of
Gilles de Retz. The list of his lands, possessions, and income, with
his family ancestry, through which he received them, was as follows:
From the house of Rais, left by Joan la Sage, first the title of Baron
and then the rank of Dean of Barons in the duchy of Brittany, with its
châteaux and dependencies in great number, of which the principal only
are named--Machecoul, Saint-Étienne-de-Mer-Morte, Pornic, Prinçay (or
Princé), Vue, Ile de Bouin, etc.
From the house of Montmorency-Laval, the original ancestry of his
father,--independent of his adoption by Joan la Sage,--the seigniories
of Blaison, of Chemillé, of Fontaine-Milon, and of Grattecuisse in
Anjou; of Ambrières, Saint-Aubin-de-Fosse-Louvain, province of Maine;
and others in Brittany.
From the house of Craon, through his grandfather and his mother,
the Hôtel de la Suze at Nantes; the seigniories and châteaux of
Briollay, Champtocé, and Ingrandes, province of Anjou; of Sénéché,
Loroux-Botereau, Bénate, Bourgneuf-en-Rais, Voulte, and others.
From his wife, on their marriage, Tiffauges, Pouzauges, Chabanais,
Confolens, Châteaumorant, Savenay, Lombert, Grez-sur-Maine, with
“_plusiers autres terres fort belles, et leurs dépendencies_.”
The value of this immense property has been estimated at four and a
half millions of francs, though this may be exaggerated. His personal
property was valued at one time at a hundred thousand golden crowns,
and his income was variously estimated from thirty to sixty thousand
pounds per annum.
It was alleged that he had made sales and transfers of property in an
improvident manner and to an unjustifiable extent, dissipating to that
extent his patrimony, to the damage of his estate and the detriment of
his heirs. These were given somewhat in detail in the _Mémoires_, etc.,
viz.:
To Gauthier de Brussac, Captain-at-arms, the towns and
seigniories of Confolens, Chabanais, Châteaumorant, and Lombert;
To Jean de Marsille, the châtellenie, land, and seigniorie of
Fontaine-Milon in Anjou;
To Messire William de la Jumelière, the château and lands of
Blaison, of Chemillé, in Anjou;
To Hardouin de Bueil, Bishop of Angers, the land and seigniory
of Grattecuisse, the châtellenie and château of Saveny, half
the forest of Brecilien;
To Messire Guy de la Roche-Guyon, the château and lands of
Motte-Achard, and of Maurière, in Poitou;
To Jean Malestroit, Bishop of Nantes (who was soon to
be his judge), the château and lands of Prigné, of Vue,
Bois-aux-Treaux in the parish of Saint-Michel-Sénéché, and _un
grand nombre de terres situés dans le clos du pays de Rais pour
une somme énorme_;
To William de Fresnière and Guillemot le Cesne, merchants
of Angers, the lands and seigniories of Ambrières,
Saint-Aubin-de-Fosse-Louvain in the province of Maine;
To Jean de Montecler, one of his men-at-arms, and to Guillemot
le Cesne, aforesaid, the lands and seigniories of Voulte and
Sénéché;
To Jean Rabateau, president of the parliament, the lands and
seigniories of d’Auzence, de Cloué, and de Lignon;
To William (apothecary at Poitiers), Jean Ambert, and Jacques
de l’Epine, the lands Brueil-Mangon-lez-Poitiers;
To Georges Tremoille, late favourite of the king, now in
retirement, twelve hundred “reaux” of gold on the rents of
Champtocé, to pay interest money on twelve thousand “reaux” of
gold formerly borrowed from him;
To Perrinet Pain, bourgeois and merchant of Angers, much
interest money on loans secured on his lands and seigniories;
To the Chapter of Notre Dame, Nantes, his superb Hôtel de la
Suze;
To Jean le Ferron, Saint Étienne-de-Mer-Morte, etc., etc., etc.
During some period, most likely in his younger days and before his
services in the army, Gilles de Retz became enamoured of the theatre.
His taste in this luxury was in the same extravagant style as the
chapels, the bishop, and his religious secretaries.
There have been many histories of the theatre and the drama in France
written by French historians. _Histoire du Théâtre en France_, Paris,
1881, two volumes, Monsieur Petit de Julleville; _Histoire de la
Société Française au Moyen Âge_, Paris, 1880, by Monsieur Rosières;
_Mise en Scène des Mystères_, Paris, 1885, by M. Paulin, Paris; _Le
Drame Chrétien_, by M. Marius Sepet; _Tableau de la Littérature au
Moyen Âge_, by M. Villemain; _Histoire du Théâtre Français_, Paris,
1745 to 1749, fifteen volumes, by les Frères Parfaict; _Dictionnaire
du XIX^{me} Siècle_, by La Rousse; and there may be many others, but
with them all, our understanding of the extravagance and expenditure,
and the consequent elegance and richness attained by theatres in France
during the period in which we are now interested, would be incomplete
without a study of the life of Gilles de Retz. His love for the theatre
manifested itself not simply in looking at the spectacle and hearing
the play, but in organising, arranging, and presenting the plays of the
time in theatres established and conducted by himself. Some of these
presentations were in his own châteaux, but others were given in the
neighbouring cities--Nantes, Angers, Blois, Orleans, and minor places
in the provinces of Brittany, Maine, Anjou, Touraine, and Poitou.
One cause of his indulgence in theatrical display appears to have been
the desire to make himself popular with the people. That he loved the
theatre and its plays, and that they gave him pleasure, is not to be
doubted, but after all, it is supposed that his ambition to shine among
the people formed the real foundation.
The theatre had always been intended as a means of amusement. An
attempt was made in France and the Latin countries during the fifteenth
century, to combine in the theatre instruction of a religious kind with
pleasure and amusement. This attempt was fostered by the clergy, and,
in its execution, theatrical plays were performed in sundry chapels
and sanctuaries. Whether the Passion Play at Oberammergau is a revival
or continuation of this custom, is suggested but not decided. But such
plays were common enough in the fifteenth century and met with favour
in the Church. In its origin, this departure was exclusively religious,
and was adopted by the Church as an ingenious and original continuation
of the education of the people in the mysteries of the Christian
religion. Originally, it employed only sacred topics, and used only
terms taken from the ritual, or from the Bible, and was altogether in
prose Latin.
With the lapse of time, the imagination of authors, and the progress of
popular language, theatrical representations passed from the chapels
and holy places to the public places, and the Latin language was
superseded by the vulgar. The priests who had conducted the play gave
way to laymen, and the liturgy of the drama was superseded by other
compositions. While religious scenes were continued and religious
thoughts were the principal inspiration, yet there came interruptions
and lapses. Secular and historic pieces were put upon the boards.
These were occasionally fixed together and played, first one and
then another, without attempt at regularity or continuation, as we in
the present day may have everything from tragedy to farce in the same
season at the same theatre. In the fifteenth century the favourite
representations were the “Mysteries” and next the “Moralities,” and
after these, dramas and farces. The former were religious or historic
dramas, calculated as much for religious or historical instruction
and entertainment as for pleasure and amusement. The Last Judgment,
the Birth of Christ, the Baptism in Jordan, the Marriage in Cana, and
other Mysteries in the life of Christ were presented, usually on holy
days, at Christmas, Easter, Ascension Day, and Pentecost. In not a few
cases the theatre was in the open air, and this custom has been kept
up in Brittany and certain provinces in France to the present day.
While there are regular theatre halls in the cities, yet throughout the
country are travelling troupes of mountebanks, jugglers, conjurers,
etc., with trained dogs and other animals, who, arriving at a small
town in the afternoon, pitch their tents upon the market-place or any
other open square which can be secured, advertise the play by beating
of drums or ringing of bells, charge one sou for a stand-up admission,
and two sous for admission and a seat. The stage is made by unrolling a
strip of carpet upon the ground or pavement. And here will be performed
the sublime tragedy, the touching drama, and the roaring farce.
In the fifteenth century the plays, especially the Mysteries, whether
religious or historic, were elaborate and extensive. The scene of the
play varied according to its necessity and so was changed from town
to country, from open street to walled town, the audience and actors
being moved with it, as in certain ancient Greek theatres. An immense
amount of decoration was required, which, however, was not usually a
painted canvas stretched upon a frame, representing the desired object;
but these scenes were made of the real thing, and the decoration,
especially of the streets and walls about, were of hangings, usually
of tapestry, though in cases of need any gaily coloured stuffs, like
coverlets, bed-spreads, table-cloths, or carpets would be pressed
into service. This custom exists in Brittany to the present day. The
author well remembers one of the holy days in August, 1882, when,
visiting the village of Savenay near Nantes, which by chance was one
of the seigniories of Gilles de Retz, he witnessed the decoration of
the village. The well-to-do residents brought out their tapestries and
hung them along the fronts of their houses and garden walls; the poorer
people, their carpets and coverlets, or anything which helped to make
a gay appearance; while in one particular residence a bolt of white
cotton cloth was brought out and stretched along the wall, covering it
for a distance of fifty or sixty yards. This kind of decoration is not
uncommon, and even in Nantes and Angers a greater amount of tapestry
may be seen on a single holy day than otherwise during a year’s
residence.
Where required by the action of the drama, the scenes were built in
the fashion of scaffolds. In the Mystery of the Creation the lower
scaffold represented the earth, while the second or upper represented
the heavens. In the Last Judgment and the Resurrection it consisted
of two great scaffolds, making three stones one above another, the
upper one of which represented Paradise, with God upon His throne, the
Virgin, the Christ, the angels; all the holy things. The middle stage
represented the earth with the mortals engaged in their everyday
duties; while the lower one represented Sheol with the Prince of
Darkness in command, and the demons, small and great, engaged in their
supposed task of keeping up the fires and of stirring up the spirits of
the damned. The description of all this interests us in its relation to
Gilles de Retz only because of its extravagance and immense expenditure.
The historic Mystery was also a favourite. The Mystery of the Siege of
Orleans appears to have been the most popular and the most frequently
played. But there were others: the Passion of Metz, the Mystery of
Paris, that of Saint Michel of Angers, of Saint Barbe. Gilles de Retz
organised, equipped, and presented no less than ten of these Mysteries.
They were long, too; the Moralities contained about twelve hundred
verses; while the Mysteries had many thousand verses, that of the Siege
of Orleans having twenty thousand five hundred and twenty-nine lines;
and they not infrequently required an entire day in the performance.
The presence and aid of five hundred persons were required on some of
these grand occasions.
One of the first paragraphs in the chapter on the extravagant and
ruinous folly of Gilles in the _Mémoire des Héritiers_, tells that the
establishment, organisation, and equipment of these theatres and the
performance of the plays was at the expense of Gilles. The succeeding
paragraphs enlarge upon his immense and ruinous expenditures in this
regard. The decoration, apparel, apparatus, the costumes of all the
actors, were ordered by him. He required the best of everything, while
the question of expense or even of value seemed as nothing. When he
wanted them, he wanted them, and they were purchased at the asking
price. Each person had his special costume according to his rôle and
dignity; the beggar, the varlet, the huntsman, as well as the soldier,
knight, and noble, the fair ladies, the saints in heaven, were all
accoutred and equipped with stuffs of such richness as would magnify
the greatness and power of the author and owner of it all, and gratify
his inordinate ambition. Gold, silver, velvet, precious stones, rich
armour, luxurious harness, fine embroidery, silken stuff, satin, and
all the marvels of art in profusion. When the ornaments of the Church
were required in any scene or play, there were copes, chasubles,
dalmatics, albs, and all the ecclesiastical robes so rich and
sumptuous. His ecclesiastical paraphernalia was at the command of the
theatre.
The follies and ambition of Gilles not only required his theatrical
costumes and property to be of the richest and most expensive stuffs,
but in his maladministration they were bought at highest prices,
payment frequently made with promises greatly increasing their cost.
With all this, his pride was such that he never permitted the same
dress to be worn twice; everything was required to be made anew for
each representation, or for each series of representations. New
costumes seem to have been his particular fad in that day, so that
he could use the same terms which now appear in the playbills of the
city--“entirely new and elegant costumes.” Having been once used, they
were thrown aside or sold at whatever could be gotten for them. This
meant to buy at the highest price and sell at the lowest, a system
which we well know produces financial ruin. His ambition and desire to
please led him into foolish and useless expenditures. All his theatres
and the plays rendered by him were free; the people who attended
paid nothing. Gilles paid the expenses of the entire entertainment.
Consequently, one can easily understand the statements made in the
_Mémoirs_ of the ruin wrought by these representations, the cost of
each one being thirty, forty, and fifty thousand francs (six, eight,
and ten thousand dollars).
Gilles’s favourite play was the Mystery of the Siege of Orleans. Here
he was not only actor but principal. It was a drama in verse though
not in rhyme. It was based upon the events of that memorable siege.
Quicherat says of it that its historic value is _nil_, not because the
author has removed it from the domain of history, but for the contrary
reason, that he was quite too near, both in space and time, to the
events as they happened, and was, therefore, unable to take the rôle
of historian, and make deductions. He could not form conclusions,
nor announce principles: all that he did was to recount the actions
and events as they happened day by day. He was a recorder, not an
historian. The drama or poem was largely romance; while recounting the
daily progress of the siege, it was not a veritable or trustworthy
journal thereof. The words put into the mouths of the various actors
were probably never spoken by them, certainly never were heard by the
author. But they were the speech of the day; they were news gathered at
the time and which might have appeared in the daily newspapers, if such
things had then existed. It is because of their nearness to the events
that they are not history. How long the Mystery of the Siege of Orleans
continued to be represented in the theatre as a drama is immaterial.
One hundred and forty personages have been introduced upon the stage,
not counting the groups of soldiers, peasants, citizens, musicians,
etc. The Marshal de Retz figured in it as one of the prominent actors,
in close relation to the King and to Joan of Arc. Not only is his
name mentioned, but he himself had a speaking part and was present on
the stage. Naturally he would take his own part and appear under his
own name in the play; and this was both a compliment to his courage
and ability as a soldier, and his versatility as an artist. While it
kept him constantly before the people, it gave him an opportunity to
gratify his ambition. It is useless to give any description of it, for
it is simply the representation of the siege of Orleans written by one
who, while he did not copy the journal, had it under his hand while
writing the drama. Because it is in verse, it will not be practicable
to translate much or any of it, but a few paragraphs will be given in
which Gilles de Retz figured, and will be inserted (Appendix C) for the
purpose of bringing out his part.
A description of one of these Mysteries has been given us by Monsieur
Paul Saunière. Its presentation took place in the Place Notre Dame
before the Cathedral at Nantes, on May 21, 1439, under the direction,
and at the expense, of Gilles de Retz. It was the Mystery of the Lord
Jesus Christ and of the Virgin Mary. It was written by a young poet,
Jean Lanoë, and Gilles de Retz is reported to have paid him the sum
of ten golden crowns. Whether the story told by Saunière is absolute
verity, is of slight consequence. There can be little doubt that
it represents truthfully the custom of the period relating to such
spectacles, and is a fair description thereof. Much of it is recognised
as in accordance with habits and customs of that country in the present
day.
All public proclamations and announcements by official authority in the
provinces are made through the aid of either trumpet or drum, but in
Brittany with the trumpet. The herald or other officer, when making
an official sale, begins generally at the City Hall, makes the round
of the city, sounding his trumpet at prominent places, calling the
people together to hear his announcement, which he makes _viva voce_,
and so passes on to the next place, repeating the performance. Lost
children are cried in the same way, except that when done by a private
individual a bell is used.
In the present case, the herald-at-arms was richly dressed in the
livery of his master, the Baron de Retz, accompanied by a guard of
four soldiers, or men-at-arms, who escorted him and kept the crowd at
a distance while he blew a call on his trumpet; and then he made his
announcement, which is given as follows:
“We, noble and powerful Baron, Gilles de Retz, Marshal of
France, Lord of Champtocé, Tiffauges, Machecoul, Saint
Étienne-de-Mer-Morte, Pornic, and other places, do by these
presents make known, that by the express permission of the
high and powerful Lord Seignieur, Jean de Malestroit, by the
Grace of God and the Holy Father, the Bishop of Nantes, there
will be given on the 21st day of the present month, at two
o’clock afternoon, at the Place of Notre Dame, a presentation
of a Mystery concerning the life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, and of Madam, the Holy Virgin, His Mother.”
When the herald ceased, the soldiers closed up the circle that had
been made around him and prepared to escort him to another place,
while the crowd cried, “Liesse, Liesse, to the Marshal--Liesse to our
Lord Bishop!” The herald and his men-at-arms departed and the crowd
dispersed.
The locality of the presentation of this spectacle adjoined the
cathedral on its right as one stands facing it. This Mystery had but
a single scene, and required but a single stage. This stage, intended
for the use of the actors, was flanked on either side by an alcove or
balcony; that on the left, intended for the high dignitaries of the
Church and the city, the nobles, and other persons of distinction was
decorated with long and heavy curtains of blue velvet bordered with
gold, the upper portion thereof being provided with rings to slide upon
a curtain rod, by which means the occupants of the alcove could be cut
off from the view of the multitude. This balcony bore the arms of the
archbishop and those of the city of Nantes. The balcony on the opposite
side of the alcove was arranged with curtains in the same way, but it
was draped with red velvet decorated with a border of white velvet and
gold braid and tassels. This balcony bore two coats of arms, both
belonging to the Baron de Retz--one was the house of Retz itself, gold
with _croix de sable_; the other, that of Machecoul, _trois chevrons
de gueules sur le champ d’argent_. The stage for the actors formed
the centre of the alcove, but was brought to the front to enable the
populace to see it, and was decorated with red velvet bearing the coat
of arms of the city of Nantes.
As the hour for the spectacle approaches, the crowd gathers in the
place, and soon it is a mass of people, bourgeoisie and peasantry, most
of them wearing the peculiar costumes of the country.
[Illustration: A street in Nantes--Ancient houses.]
The archbishop with his suite could reach his balcony by a private
way. The Baron de Retz occupied his hotel called Maison de la Suze in
the Rue Notre Dame. This Maison de la Suze has been destroyed, and no
representation of it is in existence. There are, however, many other of
the ancient streets lined on either side with houses belonging, if not
to that precise epoch, to the one immediately following, and as such
may here be given with propriety as presenting a reasonably faithful
idea of the city. Many of these houses are historic and have been
occupied by persons of renown and distinction. Similar houses are to be
seen in other towns of Brittany--Vannes, Quimper, Angers, Laval, Dinan.
These houses are usually built of frames of wood with great beams and
posts as shown, and not infrequently the principal beams across the
front of the house bear a carved inscription. The author has seen these
in Vannes and Auray, of which the following are samples:
PAX HVNC DOMVN ET OMNIBUS HABITAN IRVS IN EA ICI JAN FOLLIART
MA FAICT FAIRE LAN 1560.
AV NOM DE DIEV, DIEV SOICT EN MES AFFAIRES. YVES LEKME ET
PERRINE LEBAR SA COMPAGNE ONT FAICT FAIRE SE LOGIS EN IVING
1565.
Returning to the spectacle of the Mystery: The Baron de Retz passes
out from his great double gates or doors which form the entrance to
his Maison de la Suze, accompanied by his guards of honour, whose
glittering armour reflects brilliantly the rays of the sun. With
their halberts, they press back the crowd to make way for the Baron
and his suite. By his side, and within easy reach, walks one of his
men-at-arms, holding a casque upturned, more or less filled with
coined money, of which the Baron occasionally takes a handful and
scatters among the crowd, first on one side and then on the other.
Arrived at the balcony intended for him, the guards of honour open
their ranks, press back the crowd, take their station at the foot
of the steps and along the front of the balcony, while the Baron,
accompanied by his suite, among which were his chapel, as it is called,
comprising his bishop and some thirty ecclesiastics of divers names
and functions, mount the balcony and take their places, the Baron, of
course, at the front and centre. It is said that his display of church
and ecclesiastical dignitaries was unwarranted, that it had never
been authorised by the Pope, that his Bishop had no ecclesiastical
jurisdiction, nor was he lawfully entitled to perform the functions
or support the dignity, and it was also said that his appearance in
this character had always irritated, if it did not anger the Bishop of
Nantes.
The description of this spectacle has not been preserved to us, though,
as with the Mystery of Orleans, of which a few copies of the libretto
have been preserved, this spectacle at Nantes excited the populace
and aroused their enthusiasm, to which they gave vent with cries of
joy and great huzzas. The dignitaries were present with many of their
suite, in gorgeous dress and costumes, their men-at-arms with casque
and cuirass, Damascene steel and shining halbert and scabbard. Their
coats-of-mail were fire-gilt, and covered them from waist to knees;
gloves and boots of red leather completed a brilliant and striking
costume. The prelates, on the other hand, with their magnificent
official robes of scarlet and gold and silver, with the curtains and
hangings of such royal magnificence, all served as a background for the
play of the Mystery which, being of the Infant Jesus and the Virgin
Mary, excited the deep-seated religious fervour and enthusiasm of the
people. They manifested their joy and enthusiasm in the usual way of
crowds, but the principal share was devoted to the Baron de Retz. This
was the pleasure reserved for him; this was the compensation for his
great expenditure. It gratified his ambition, tickled his vanity, gave
him pleasure, justified his expenditure, confirmed his extravagant
habits, and led him farther in the course which ended in his ruin.
It would scarcely be possible at this late date, to obtain a more
complete report of the prodigalities of Gilles de Retz than is
furnished by the _Mémoires des Héritiers_, which, as it was sufficient
for the King, should be sufficient for us; but there will occasionally
crop out of the historical desert of this ancient time a record which,
by giving information on a particular subject, lifts the veil from
his life and gives us glimpses into certain extravagances, whereby we
may imagine the result. One of these, lately found among the archives
at Orleans, and contributed by M. Doinel, is a memorandum of a visit
of Gilles to that city from September, 1434, to August, 1435. He was
accompanied by his suite and retinue, military and ecclesiastic. His
brother, René de la Suze, was with him, which was the only time they
are shown to have been together, and, curiously enough, it must have
been while the _Mémoires des Héritiers_, if not already presented, were
being prepared, or at least contemplated; for the decree of the King
was published within the next two years; yet no mention is made therein
of René’s presence on this trip.
Arrived at Orleans, Gilles de Retz installed himself, with his personal
adjutants, at the Hôtel Croix d’Or (Golden Cross), while his suite
and high officers with their respective retinues, were installed at
the other hotels, until, as the minute says, there was not a hotel in
all Orleans but was occupied, if not filled, by him or by the officers
and men of his suite. His “college,” that is, the ecclesiastics,
twenty-five or thirty persons, were installed at the _Écu_ (Crown)
_de Saint Georges_; the choir and their leader at the _Enseigne de
l’Épée_ (Sign of the Sword); his armourer, Hector Broisset, at the
_Coupe_; his brother, René de la Suze, at the _Petit Saumon_ (Little
Salmon); his councillors, Gilles de Sillé, Guy de Bonnière, Guyot de
Chambrays, Guillaume Tardif, and Guy de Blanchfort, with his captain
of the guard, Loys l’Angevin, at the _Grand Saumon_ (Great Salmon);
his chevaliers, Monseignieurs de Martigné, Foulques Blasmes, Jean de
Rains, and Bauleis, at the _Image de Sainte Marie Madeleine_; Jean de
Montecler, with Colin le Godelier; his _Rais le herault_ (herald) and
suite, with men-at-arms, at the _Tête Noire_; his chariots and horses,
with those of his brother René, at the _Roche-Boulet_; the vicar of
the chapel, the priest Le Blond and his barber, and the horses of
the “college” at _l’Enseigne du Fourbisseur_; the Seignieur Jean de
Veille, Bois-Roulier, his provost, George the trumpeter, at the house
of Jeannette la Pionne; Thomas his _enlumineur_, at _le Dieu d’Amour_
(God of Love); while men-at-arms, servants, lackeys, and followers,
occupied the _Cheval Blanc_ (White Horse), _l’Homme Sauvage_ (Savage
Man), and _l’Écu d’Orléans_ (the Crown of Orleans).
While at Orleans, in 1434, he made thence, during the autumn, a trip to
the Bourbonnais country, stopping for a time at Montlucon, at the hotel
_l’Écu_ (Crown) _de France_. When his hotel bill for eight hundred
and ten _reaux d’or_ was presented, he could pay only four hundred
and ninety-five, and his two servitors, Jean de Sellier and Huet de
Villarceau, became his guarantors of payment. Everything during the
trip was at his expense. They all travelled on horseback, unless it
was some high dignitary or _quelque malade_ (sick) who had a chariot.
Horses and all expenditures were furnished by him, and preparing
for such a trip, everybody was provided with new, striking, and,
consequently, expensive costumes, suitable for the suite of such a rich
and puissant Baron.
On his return to Brittany in August, 1435, it was found that his
travels during the year had cost the round sum of eighty thousand
golden crowns. The _Mémoires_ say this trip left a train of “devoured
revenues, lands sold, seigniories mortgaged, works of art and
valuables hypothecated, with considerable debts and unpaid loans _très
onéreux_, which menaced ruin and opened an abyss threatening to engulf
everything.”
Among the records found at Orleans was one which, made under the
circumstances relating to his expenses and financial condition, throws
a strong side-light on his character, bringing out the recklessly
spendthrift side of it, and would go a long way towards justifying
the King’s decree of the interdiction of the sale and mortgage of any
property, which, it is not to be forgotten, shortly followed this visit
to Orleans.
This paper, prepared by Gilles, provided:
“Saturday, xxvi day of March, MCCCCXXXIIII (1435 N.S.). The
noble and puissant lord, Monsieur Gilles, Seignior of Retz,
Count of Brienne, Lord of Champtocé and Pouzauges, Marshal of
France, has lately, for the good of his soul, and looking to
our Lord Jesus Christ, on behalf of himself, his late father,
mother, relatives and friends, all sinners, made a foundation
_in memory of the Holy Innocents_, at Machecoul in Rais, Duchy
of Brittany.”
By this paper he appoints a full corps of priests, “vicar, dean,
archdeacon, treasurer, canons, chapter, and college”; for the support
and maintenance of this establishment he gives in trust, in due and
formal language, to the King of Sicily and Duke of Anjou his castle and
_châtellenie_ of Champtocé, and to the Duke of Brittany one-half the
Barony and lands of Rais. He confirmed this gift before notaries named.
He declared the two princes named should act as his trustees; and,
providing for their possible refusal to act, he names respectively, and
in succession, as future trustees, the King, the Emperor, the Pope; in
case they all refuse, the lands shall be divided between the knights of
the Orders of Saint John and of Saint Lazare.
All the Princes named refused, and each, as far as he could,
interdicted and prohibited Gilles from carrying out his project. It
accordingly fell through. Yet, at the moment of his establishing this
priestly organisation, he was engaged, as we shall see farther on, in
the commission of the most horrible and unnatural of crimes, for which
he was, before the end of the decade, to be ignominiously executed.
His Maison de la Suze has been described, whether actually or only
from similar houses of the epoch, is now impossible to tell; but it is
said to have eclipsed, in its luxury and taste, the palace of the Dukes
of Brittany. It was ornamented and decorated to a high degree. All
countries were laid under tribute to furnish riches for its decoration:
Italy for its painting and sculpture, Spain for its Cordovan leather,
Flanders for its tapestry, Venice and Bohemia for their crystals and
glassware, the Orient for its magnificent stuffs, and Persia for its
tiles and _faience_; while, without doubt, the ceramics of his own
and neighbouring provinces, like Tours, Orleans, Gien, Quimper, and
Poitou (the latter the forerunner of Limoges), were represented in the
luxurious fittings of the houses and châteaux of Gilles, the Baron de
Retz.
The _Mémoire des Héritiers_, setting forth the extravagant and ruinous
expenditures by which the principal of the estate was being dissipated,
was duly presented to the King and the necessary proof offered to
establish its allegations. The date is not given, but it should have
been about 1432–33. In 1435–36, the King, having become satisfied
of the truth of the matters alleged, through his Council of State
and by letters patent, issued his decree of prohibition against the
alienation or incumbrance by Gilles de Retz of any of his lands or
seigniories. This decree has been preserved to us in Guepin’s _Histoire
de Nantes_, pp. 131–133.
The Decree of Interdiction by the King, against the sale and
incumbrance of his property commences with a description of the
various noble families from which Gilles de Retz had descended; his
titles, his property, baronies, châteaux, seigniories, his marriage,
the properties of his wife--that is to say, Pouzauges, Tiffauges,
Chabenais, Confolens, Château-Morant, Savenay, Lombert, Grez-sur-Maine,
and other beautiful properties, the rental value of which amounted to
six or seven thousand livres (pounds, about three hundred thousand
francs, actual value); that from his said marriage, he derived also
personal property of the value of one hundred thousand golden crowns;
that he held in Grosses Baronies thirty thousand livres of true
domains; that from his office of Marshal of France he received grand
salary and pension from the King, with numerous gratuities; so that
he had a yearly income of forty or fifty thousand livres or more. The
said Gilles, after the decease of his father, took the administration
of his estate to himself and used it according to his pleasure; he
established himself in an estate grander than that to which he really
belonged; kept two hundred horsemen, maintained a chapel of singers
in his château numbering twenty-five or thirty persons, chaplain,
clerks, children, and others; these were taken with him when he
travelled; and in all things he managed his affairs so as to have in
his château, because of the said chapel, more than fifty men or persons
at his expense, and as many horses; he had also in said chapel a great
quantity or number of ornaments, cloth of gold, silk, chandeliers
and _censoirs_, crosses, plates, dishes, etc.; these were of such
sumptuosity that they cost three times more than their value; he had
several organs, one of which, carried by six men, was taken with him
wherever he went; he often purchased cloth-of-gold at sixty or eighty
crowns per _aune_ (ell) when it was not worth more than twenty-five,
and a pair of “orfrays” (embroidered cloth of gold) at three or four
hundred crowns, when they were not worth more than one hundred; he
kept in the said chapel a dean, choir-leader, or singing-master, an
archdeacon, vicar, schoolmaster, etc., as in the cathedral, and one
of these priests or officers he undertook to establish and treat as a
bishop; he paid to some of these four hundred crowns, and to others
three hundred; he dressed them in robes with scarlet trains trimmed
with plush and fur, with fine hats; all were kept and served with the
most costly and expensive viands; the service of all these so-called
priests (holy men) was nothing but vanity, without devotion and in
defiance of good order. The said Gilles sent on several occasions to
the Pope in the endeavour to obtain permission or authority that his
choristers, or leaders, should be mitred as prelates, or like the
canons of the church at Lyons. He made excessive gifts in wine, viands,
and _hypocras_, to all who desired to eat or drink, keeping open house
for that purpose, and those who had the government of his affairs lived
like great lords; while the commoners frequently had naught, _ni boire
ni manger_, when they came to table.
He played games, farces, _morisques_, and, on occasion, he performed
the Mysteries of Pentecost and Ascension, on high scaffolds under which
were _hypocras_ and strong wines, as in a cave.
The said Gilles constituted one of his familiars, Roger de Briqueville,
as his procureur, agent, or attorney-in-fact, empowered to marry his
daughter, Marie, at a time when she was only four or five years of age,
to whatever man should seem good to the said de Briqueville, against
the custom prevailing in the country to marry the daughters, issue of
such high nobility, only with the assent of their parents and friends.
He took it into his head to deal in alchemy, hoping thus to obtain the
Philosopher’s Stone; sent to Germany and to different countries in
search of the masters of this art, and brought to his château Monsieur
Anth. of Palermo, making, with him, outrageous expenses from which no
one derived any profit; in all of which things he acted without sense
or understanding, and in a foolish, if not crazy, manner. It is found
that he sold and alienated certain lands (describing them).
For these reasons, the King, being fully informed and having fully
ascertained of the evil government of the said Sieur de Retz, through
his Grand Council, issued his interdiction and prohibition against any
alienation, transfer, mortgage, or pledge, by the said Gilles de Retz,
of any of his lands or seigniories.
The King enjoined upon his Parliament the duty of carrying this decree
of interdiction into effect; and under severe penalties, he forbade
any captains, guards, tenants, or persons in charge, from attorning or
delivering up to any stranger (to the title) any château or fortress of
Gilles de Retz until Parliament should so order.
This decree was published “at the sound of the trumpet” at the
principal places concerned--Orleans, Tours, Angers, Champtocé,
Pouzauges, Tiffauges, Saint-Jean-d’Angely, and other places. The Duke
of Brittany refused to accept, register, or publish the decree, and
it was in vain that the “_femme, parents, et les amis_” of Gilles
solicited him. It is alleged that this was to enable the Duke to
take advantage of the necessities of Gilles, and purchase his lands
at ruinous prices. He purchased some and took mortgages on others;
Champtocé, Bourgneuf, Bénate, and Prinçay or Princé, were mortgaged for
the sum of 100,000 crowns of gold, to be repaid within six years. In
this way did Gilles, during these eight years of his life, dissipate
the sum of _deux cents mille écus_ (200,000 crowns) of the heritage.
The King’s interdiction of the sale or mortgage of any of his property
aggravated Gilles’s situation by increasing his difficulties in
obtaining money. He had no scruples about borrowing money of whomsoever
he could, and if repayment could be put off a sufficient length of
time, would promise the return of it doubled or trebled, as the
creditor demanded. The situation must have been irritating to Gilles,
and doubtless proved his incentive to magic, by which he hoped to
discover the Philosopher’s Stone, and, thereby, the means of converting
the baser metals into gold. Whatever he may have done, or thought, in
this direction prior to the passing of the decree, it seems that later
he entered into closer relation with the alchemist and magician, and
sought to study and practise the “black art” to a greater degree than
he ever had done before.
From this on, we have to treat Gilles as a changed man, not only in his
conduct, but in his character and desires. He separated from his wife,
but established her in the château of Champtocé, while he installed
himself with his retinue, including his magician, in the two châteaux,
one at Machecoul, which he had received from his father, Guy de Laval,
but principally at Tiffauges, which he had received from his wife.
Here we have to treat of him no longer as a soldier, or as a noble of
France, but in his character of magician, necromancer, debtor, robber,
murderer.
Under these circumstances what course was Gilles to pursue, and what
could he do to retrieve his fallen fortunes? He required money, he
was spending more than his income; he was selling off his property
and reducing his principal in the vain attempt to liquidate his debts
and provide for his present expenses. He did not have strength of
character to adopt a rigorous reduction of expenses and live on a
moderate and conservative plan; indeed, such would hardly have been
natural. The great man of a neighbourhood, who, having been entrusted
with large sums of money; or the banker or trader who, being deeply
indebted, endeavours to restore his broken fortunes by retrenchment of
expenditures, only precipitates the catastrophe he seeks to avert. The
ostensibly rich man who proposes to make himself better able to meet
the demands of his business by disposing of his horses and carriage,
closing up his houses, selling his yacht, giving fewer entertainments
to his friends, instead of proving himself successful and inviting
confidence in his ability to pull through, will prove the architect of
his own doom. Therefore, what was Gilles de Retz to do? What he did,
was to rely upon the success of his scheme for the discovery of the
Philosopher’s Stone, in the hope to thus replenish his empty coffers.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]