(PIERRE DE BOURDEILLE)
(1527-1614)
Every historian of the Valois period is indebted to Brantôme for
preserving the atmosphere and detail of the brilliant life in which he
moved as a dashing courtier, a military adventurer, and a gallant
gentleman of high degree. He was not a professional scribe, nor a
student; but he took notes unconsciously, and in the evening of his life
turned back the pages of his memory to record the scenes through which
he had passed and the characters which he had known. He has been termed
the "valet de chambre" of history; nevertheless the anecdotes scattered
through his works will ever be treasured by all students and historians
of that age of luxury and magnificence, art and beauty, beneath which
lay the fermentation of great religious and political movements,
culminating in the struggle between the Huguenots and Catholics.
[Illustration: ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME]
Brantôme was the third son of the Vicomte de Bourdeille, a Périgord
nobleman, whose family had lived long in Guienne, and whose aristocratic
lineage was lost in myth. Upon the estate stood the Abbey of Brantôme,
founded by Charlemagne, and this Henry II. gave to young Pierre de
Bourdeille in recognition of the military deeds of his brother, Jean de
Bourdeille, who lost his life in service. Thereafter the lad was to sign
his name as the Reverend Father in God, Messire Pierre de Bourdeille,
Abbé de Brantôme. Born in the old château in 1527, he was destined for
the church, but abandoned this career for arms. At an early age he was
sent to court as page to Marguerite, sister of Francis I. and Queen of
Navarre; after her death in 1549, he went to Paris to study at the
University. His title of Abbé being merely honorary, he served in the
army under François de Guise, Duke of Lorraine, and became Gentleman of
the Chamber to Charles IX. His career extended through the reigns of
Henry II., Francis II., Charles IX., Henry III., and Henry IV., to that
of Louis XIII. With the exception of diplomatic missions, service on
the battle-field, and voyages for pleasure, he spent his life at court.
About 1594 he retired to his estate, where until his death on July 15th,
1614, he passed his days in contentions with the monks of Brantôme, in
lawsuits with his neighbors, and in writing his books: 'Lives of the
Illustrious Men and Great Captains of France'; 'Lives of Illustrious
Ladies'; 'Lives of Women of Gallantry'; 'Memoirs, containing anecdotes
connected with the Court of France'; 'Spanish Rodomontades'; a 'Life' of
his father, François de Bourdeille; a 'Funeral Oration' on his sister
in-law; and a dialogue in verse, entitled 'The Tomb of Madame de
Bourdeille.' These were not published until long after his death, first
appearing in Leyden about 1665, at the Hague in 1740, and in Paris in
1787. The best editions are by Fourcault (7 vols., Paris, 1822); by
Lacour and Mérimée (3 vols., 1859); and Lalande (10 vols., 1865-'81).
What Brantôme thought of himself may be seen by glancing at that portion
of the "testament mystique" which relates to his writings:--
"I will and expressly charge my heirs that they cause to be
printed the books which I have composed by my talent and
invention. These books will be found covered with velvet,
either black, green or blue, and one larger volume, which is
that of the Rodomontades, covered with velvet, gilt outside
and curiously bound. All have been carefully corrected. There
will be found in these books excellent things, such as
stories, histories, discourses, and witty sayings, which I
flatter myself the world will not disdain to read when once
it has had a sight of them. I direct that a sum of money be
taken from my estate sufficient to pay for the printing
thereof, which certainly cannot be much; for I have known
many printers who would have given money rather than charged
any for the right of printing them. They print many things
without charge which are not at all equal to mine. I will
also that the said impression shall be in large type, in
order to make the better appearance, and that they should
appear with the Royal Privilege, which the King will readily
grant. Also care must be taken that the printers do not put
on the title-page any supposititious name instead of mine.
Otherwise, I should be defrauded of the glory which is my
due."
The old man delighted in complimenting himself and talking about his
"grandeur d'âme." This greatness of soul may be measured from the
command he gave his heirs to annoy a man who had refused to swear homage
to him, "it not being reasonable to leave at rest this little wretch,
who descends from a low family, and whose grandfather was nothing but a
notary." He also commands his nieces and nephews to take the same
vengeance upon his enemies "as I should have done in my green and
vigorous youth, during which I may boast, and I thank God for it, that I
never received an injury without being revenged on the author of it."
Brantôme writes like a "gentleman of the sword," with dash and _élan_,
and as one, to use his own words, who has been "toujours trottant,
traversant, et vagabondant le monde" (always trotting, traversing, and
tramping the world). Not in the habit of a vagabond, however, for the
balls, banquets, tournaments, masques, ballets, and wedding-feasts which
he describes so vividly were occasions for the display of sumptuous
costumes; and Messire Pierre de Bourdeille doubtless appeared as elegant
as any other gallant in silken hose, jeweled doublet, flowing cape, and
long rapier. What we value most are his paintings of these festive
scenes, and the vivid portraits which he has left of the Valois women,
who were largely responsible for the luxuries and the crimes of the
period: women who could step without a tremor from a court-masque to a
massacre; who could toy with a gallant's ribbons and direct the blow of
an assassin; and who could poison a rival with a delicately perfumed
gift. Such a court Brantôme calls the "true paradise of the world,
school of all honesty and virtue, ornament of France." We like to hear
about Catherine de' Medici riding with her famous "squadron of Venus":
"You should have seen forty or fifty dames and demoiselles following
her, mounted on beautifully accoutred hackneys, their hats adorned with
feathers which increased their charm, so well did the flying plumes
represent the demand for love or war. Virgil, who undertook to describe
the fine apparel of Queen Dido when she went out hunting, has by no
means equaled that of our Queen and her ladies."
Charming, too, are such descriptions as "the most beautiful ballet that
ever was, composed of sixteen of the fairest and best-trained dames and
demoiselles, who appeared in a silvered rock where they were seated in
niches, shut in on every side. The sixteen ladies represented the
sixteen provinces of France. After having made the round of the hall for
parade as in a camp, they all descended, and ranging themselves in the
form of a little oddly contrived battalion, some thirty violins began a
very pleasant warlike air, to which they danced their ballet." After an
hour the ladies presented the King, the Queen-Mother, and others with
golden plaques, on which were engraved "the fruits and singularities of
each province," the wheat of Champagne, the vines of Burgundy, the
lemons and oranges of Provence, etc. He shows us Catherine de' Medici,
the elegant, cunning Florentine; her beautiful daughters, Elizabeth of
Spain and Marguerite de Valois; Diana of Poitiers, the woman of eternal
youth and beauty; Jeanne d'Albret, the mother of Henry IV.; Louise de
Vaudemont; the Duchesse d'Étampes; Marie Touchet; and all their
satellites,--as they enjoyed their lives.
Very valuable are the data regarding Mary Stuart's departure from France
in 1561. Brantôme was one of her suite, and describes her grief when
the shores of France faded away, and her arrival in Scotland, where on
the first night she was serenaded by Psalm-tunes with a most villainous
accompaniment of Scotch music. "Hé! quelle musique!" he exclaims, "et
quel repos pour la nuit!"
But of all the gay ladies Brantôme loves to dwell upon, his favorites
are the two Marguerites: Marguerite of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre, the
sister of Francis I., and Marguerite, daughter of Catherine de' Medici
and wife of Henry IV. Of the latter, called familiarly "La Reine
Margot," he is always writing. "To speak of the beauty of this rare
princess," he says, "I think that all that are, or will be, or have ever
been near her are ugly."
Brantôme has been a puzzle to many critics, who cannot explain his
"contradictions." He had none. He extolled wicked and immoral characters
because he recognized only two merits,--aristocratic birth and hatred of
the Huguenots. He is well described by M. de Barante, who
says:--"Brantôme expresses the entire character of his country and of
his profession. Careless of the difference between good and evil; a
courtier who has no idea that anything can be blameworthy in the great,
but who sees and narrates their vices and their crimes all the more
frankly in that he is not very sure whether what he tells be good or
bad; as indifferent to the honor of women as he is to the morality of
men; relating scandalous things with no consciousness that they are
such, and almost leading his reader into accepting them as the simplest
things in the world, so little importance does he attach to them;
terming Louis XI., who poisoned his brother, the _good_ King Louis,
calling women whose adventures could hardly have been written by any pen
save his own, _honnêtes dames_."
Brantôme must therefore not be regarded as a chronicler who revels in
scandals, although his pages reek with them; but as the true mirror of
the Valois court and the Valois period.
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