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Read Ebook: Old Court Life in France vol. 1/2 by Elliot Frances Minto Dickinson
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Ebook has 1304 lines and 89437 words, and 27 pages
II--CHARLES DE BOURBON 6
IV--THE QUALITY OF MERCY 20
V--ALL LOST SAVE HONOUR 28
VI--BROKEN FAITH 33
X--A FATAL JOUST 58
XX--ST. BARTHOLOMEW 129
XXX--THE ORIEL WINDOW 235
NOTES 317
PAGE
PORTION OF THE ROOF OF THE CH?TEAU OF CHAMBORD 2
CH?TEAU OF AZAY LE RIDEAU 6
DOOR OF THE CHAPEL, CH?TEAU OF AMBOISE 16
HENRY, DUKE OF MONTMORENCI, MARSHAL OF FRANCE 24 From a portrait by Balthasar Moncornet.
THE CHEVALIER BAYARD 40 After A. de Neuville.
QUEEN ELINOR 44
CH?TEAU OF AMBOISE 48
DUCHESSE D'?TAMPES 52
CH?TEAU DE CHAMBORD 56
SPIRAL STAIRCASE, CH?TEAU OF BLOIS 78
COU?Y 86
THE GARDENS OF THE TUILERIES, PARIS 90
A GATE OF THE LOUVRE, AFTER ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY 102
HENRI DE GUISE 122 From a drawing in the Louvre.
NOTRE-DAME, PARIS 126
ADMIRAL GASPARD DE COLIGNY 132 From a drawing by Fran?ois Clouet.
CATHERINE DE M?DICIS 140
CH?TEAU DE BLOIS 150
DIANA DE POITIERS, BY JEAN GOUJON 164 From the Ch?teau of Anet, now in the Louvre.
THE CASCADE OF ST. CLOUD 174 From an engraving by Rigaud.
GENERAL VIEW OF FONTAINEBLEAU 190 From an old print.
MARIE DE M?DICIS 204 From a steel engraving.
COU?Y--INTERIOR, SHOWING THICKNESS OF WALLS 218
CARDINAL RICHELIEU 270
CH?TEAU OF NANTES 280
OLD COURT LIFE IN FRANCE.
We are in the sixteenth century. Europe is young in artistic life. The minds of men are moved by the discussions, councils, protests, and contentions of the Reformation. The printing press is spreading knowledge into every corner of the globe.
His reign educated Europe. If ambition led him towards Italy, it was as much to capture the arts of that classic land and to bear them back in triumph to France, as to acquire the actual territory. Francis introduced the French Renaissance, that subtle union of elaborate ornamentation with purity of design which was the renovation of art. When and how he acquired such exact appreciation of the beautiful is unexplained. That he possessed judgment and taste is proved by the monuments he left behind, and by his patronage of the greatest masters of their several arts.
The wealth of beauty and colour, the flowing lines of almost divine expression in the works of the Italian painters of the Cinque-cento, delighted the sensuous soul of Francis. Wherever he lived he gathered treasures of their art around him. Such a nature as his had no sympathy with the meritorious but precise elaboration of the contemporary Dutch school, led by the Van Eycks and Holbein. It was Leonardo da Vinci, the head of the Milanese school, who blended power and tenderness, that Francis delighted to honour. He brought Cellini, Primaticcio, and Leonardo from Italy, and never wearied of their company. He established the aged Leonardo at the Ch?teau de Clos, near his own castle of Amboise, where the painter is said to have died in the arms of his royal patron.
As an architect, Francis left his mark beyond any other sovereign of Europe. He transformed the gloomy fortress-home--embattled, turreted, and moated--into the elaborately decorated, manorial ch?teau. The bare and foot-trodden space without,
Such was Francis, the artist. As a soldier, he followed in the steps of Bayard, "Sans peur et sans reproche." He perfected that poetic code of honour which reconciles the wildest courage with generosity towards an enemy. A knight-errant in love of danger and adventure, Francis comes to us as the perfect type of the chivalrous Frenchman; ready to do battle on any provocation either as king or gentleman, either at the head of his army, in the tournament, or in the duello. He loved all that was gay, bright, and beautiful. He delighted in the repose of peace, yet no monarch ever plunged his country into more ruinous and causeless wars. Though capable of the tenderest and purest affection, no man was ever more heartless and cruel in principle and conduct.
In such an idyllic life of love, of solitude, and of thought, full of the humanising courtesies of family life, was formed the paradoxical character of Francis, who above all men possessed what the French describe as "the reverse of his qualities." His fierce passions still slumbered, his imagination was filled with poetry, his heart beat high with the endearing love of a brother and a son. His reckless courage vented itself in the chase, among the royal forests of Amboise and of Chanteloup, that darkened the adjacent hills, or in a tustle with the boorish citizens, or travelling merchants, in the town below.
CHARLES DE BOURBON.
Bourbon is only twenty-six, but he is already a hero. He has braved death again and again in the battle-field with dauntless valour. In person he is tall and handsome. In manners, he is frank, bold, and prepossessing; but when offended, his proud nature easily turns to vindictive and almost savage revenge. Invested with the double dignity of General of the royal forces and Constable of France, he comes to Amboise to salute the King and the princesses, who are both strangely interested in his career, and to take the last commands from Francis, who does not now propose accompanying his army into Italy.
There is a restless, mobile expression on Bourbon's dark yet comely face, that tells of strong passions ill suppressed. A man capable of ardent and devoted
At the top of the grand staircase are posted one hundred archers, royal pages conduct the Constable through the range of state apartments.
The King receives Bourbon in the great gallery hung with tapestry. He is seated on a chair of state, ornamented with elaborate carving, on which the arms of France are in high relief. This chair is placed on a raised floor, or dais, covered with a carpet. Beside him stands the grand master of the ceremonies, who introduces the Constable to the King. Francis, who inclines his head and raises his cap for an instant, is courteous but cold. Marguerite d'Alen?on is present; like Bourbon, she is unhappily mated. The Duc d'Alen?on is, physically and mentally, her inferior. When the Constable salutes the King, Marguerite stands apart. Conscious that her brother's eyes read her thoughts, she blushes deeply and averts her face. Bourbon advances to the spot where she is seated in the recess of an oriel window. He bows low before her; Marguerite rises, and offers him her hand. Their eyes meet. There is no disguise in the passionate glance of the Constable; Marguerite, confused and embarrassed, turns away.
"Has your highness no word of kindness for your kinsman?" says the Constable, in a low voice.
"You know, cousin, your interests are ever dear to me," replies she, in the same tone; then, curtseying deeply to the King, she takes the arm of her husband, M. d'Alen?on, who was killing flies at the window, and leaves the gallery.
"Yet her highness pleaded eagerly with your Majesty for his advancement."
"Yes, yes; that was to please our mother. Suzanne de Bourbon was her cousin, and the Regent promised her before her death to support her husband's claims."
Meanwhile, the Constable receives, with a somewhat reserved and haughty civility, the compliments of the Court. He is conscious of an antagonistic atmosphere. It is well known that the King loves him not; and whom the King loves not neither does the courtier.
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