[61]P. 103:◆Henri III., who had a short-lived affair with Catherine Charlotte de La Tremoille, the wife of Prince de Condé. But the victory was too easy; the princess was quite corrupt. Later on, the king prostituted her with one of his pages, with whom she conspired to poison her husband. The plot failed. When brought before the Court, she was pardoned; but a servant named Brilland was tornapart by four horses. It was also Henri III. who had debauched Marie de Clèves, the first wife of the same Prince de Condé.◆May very well refer to Henri de Lorraine, Duc de Guise, assassinated at Blois.◆Most probably refers to Marguerite de Valois, the king of Navarre, the Duc d’Anjou and the St. Bartholomew.
[61]P. 103:
◆Henri III., who had a short-lived affair with Catherine Charlotte de La Tremoille, the wife of Prince de Condé. But the victory was too easy; the princess was quite corrupt. Later on, the king prostituted her with one of his pages, with whom she conspired to poison her husband. The plot failed. When brought before the Court, she was pardoned; but a servant named Brilland was tornapart by four horses. It was also Henri III. who had debauched Marie de Clèves, the first wife of the same Prince de Condé.
◆May very well refer to Henri de Lorraine, Duc de Guise, assassinated at Blois.
◆Most probably refers to Marguerite de Valois, the king of Navarre, the Duc d’Anjou and the St. Bartholomew.
[62]P. 105:◆Louis de Béranger du Guasi, one of Henri III.’s favorites, assassinated in 1575 by M. de Viteaux. His epitaph is in theManuscrit français22565, fo901o(Bibliothèque Nationale). Brantôme, who boasts of being a swordsman, forgets that D’Aubigné was also one.◆A small town of Brittany (Dep. Ille-et-Vilaine), 14 miles from St. Mâlo. Has a cathedral of 12th and 13th centuries; the bishopric was suppressed in 1790.
[62]P. 105:
◆Louis de Béranger du Guasi, one of Henri III.’s favorites, assassinated in 1575 by M. de Viteaux. His epitaph is in theManuscrit français22565, fo901o(Bibliothèque Nationale). Brantôme, who boasts of being a swordsman, forgets that D’Aubigné was also one.
◆A small town of Brittany (Dep. Ille-et-Vilaine), 14 miles from St. Mâlo. Has a cathedral of 12th and 13th centuries; the bishopric was suppressed in 1790.
[63]P. 107:◆To take a journey to Saint-Mathurin was a proverbial expression which meant that a person was mad. Henri Estienne says that this is a purely imaginary saint; be that as it may, he was credited with curing madmen, and the satirical songs of the time are full of allusions to that healing power. (SeeJournal de Henri III, 1720 edition, t. II., pp. 307 and 308.)
[63]P. 107:
◆To take a journey to Saint-Mathurin was a proverbial expression which meant that a person was mad. Henri Estienne says that this is a purely imaginary saint; be that as it may, he was credited with curing madmen, and the satirical songs of the time are full of allusions to that healing power. (SeeJournal de Henri III, 1720 edition, t. II., pp. 307 and 308.)
[64]P. 108:◆Lalanne proves by a passage from Spartianus that this anecdote is apocryphal, or that at least Brantôme has embellished it for his own needs. (Dames, tom. IX., p. 116.)◆Hadrian (P. Aelius Hadrianus), 14th in the series of Roman Emperors, A. D. 117–138, succeeded his guardian and kinsman Trajan. His wife, Sabina, here mentioned, was a grand-daughter of Trajan’s sister Marciana.
[64]P. 108:
◆Lalanne proves by a passage from Spartianus that this anecdote is apocryphal, or that at least Brantôme has embellished it for his own needs. (Dames, tom. IX., p. 116.)
◆Hadrian (P. Aelius Hadrianus), 14th in the series of Roman Emperors, A. D. 117–138, succeeded his guardian and kinsman Trajan. His wife, Sabina, here mentioned, was a grand-daughter of Trajan’s sister Marciana.
[65]P. 109:◆Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (“The Philosopher”) succeeded Antonius Pius as Emperor in A. D. 168. Died 180. His wife Faustina (as profligate a woman as Messalina herself) was daughter of Pius. Author of the famousMeditations. His son Commodus, who succeeded him as Emperor, was a complete contrast in character to his father, being vicious, weak, cruel and dissolute.◆Another embellished passage. Faustine had died before Antoninus Commodus was emperor. Moreover, she was only washed(sublevare, says the text) with the blood of the gladiator. (J. Capitolin,Marc-Antoine le Philosophe, Chap. xix.)
[65]P. 109:
◆Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (“The Philosopher”) succeeded Antonius Pius as Emperor in A. D. 168. Died 180. His wife Faustina (as profligate a woman as Messalina herself) was daughter of Pius. Author of the famousMeditations. His son Commodus, who succeeded him as Emperor, was a complete contrast in character to his father, being vicious, weak, cruel and dissolute.
◆Another embellished passage. Faustine had died before Antoninus Commodus was emperor. Moreover, she was only washed(sublevare, says the text) with the blood of the gladiator. (J. Capitolin,Marc-Antoine le Philosophe, Chap. xix.)
[66]P. 113:◆A discreet and veiled allusion to the amours of Marguerite de Valois and of the Duchess de Nevers with La Môle and Coconas. Implicated in the affair of Field Marshals de Cossé and de Montmorency, La Môle, a Provençal nobleman, and Coconas, a Piedmontese, were beheaded on the square of Grève towards the end of April, 1574, and not killed in battle as Brantôme tries to insinuate. The two princesses, mad with despair, transported the bodies in their carriages to the place of burial, at Montmartre, and kept the heads, which they had had embalmed. (Mémoires de Nevers, I., p. 75, andLe Divorce satirique.)
[66]P. 113:
◆A discreet and veiled allusion to the amours of Marguerite de Valois and of the Duchess de Nevers with La Môle and Coconas. Implicated in the affair of Field Marshals de Cossé and de Montmorency, La Môle, a Provençal nobleman, and Coconas, a Piedmontese, were beheaded on the square of Grève towards the end of April, 1574, and not killed in battle as Brantôme tries to insinuate. The two princesses, mad with despair, transported the bodies in their carriages to the place of burial, at Montmartre, and kept the heads, which they had had embalmed. (Mémoires de Nevers, I., p. 75, andLe Divorce satirique.)
[67]P. 114:◆It is Philippe Strozzi, Field Marshal of France, who was born at Venice. Made lieutenant of the naval army in 1579 in order to further the pretensions of Antonio of Portugal, he was defeated, July 28, 1583, and put to death in cold blood by Santa Cruz, his rival. (Vie et mort ... de Philippe Strozzi.Paris, Guil. Lenoir, 1608.)
[67]P. 114:
◆It is Philippe Strozzi, Field Marshal of France, who was born at Venice. Made lieutenant of the naval army in 1579 in order to further the pretensions of Antonio of Portugal, he was defeated, July 28, 1583, and put to death in cold blood by Santa Cruz, his rival. (Vie et mort ... de Philippe Strozzi.Paris, Guil. Lenoir, 1608.)
[68]P. 119:◆Thomas de Foix, lord of L’Escu or Lescun, was the brother of Mme. de Chateaubriant, mistress of François Ier. He was captured at Pavia and carried, mortally wounded, to the home of the lady of whom Brantôme speaks. It was he who, by the surrender of Cremona in 1522, caused France to lose Italy. (Guicciardini, t. III., p. 473, Fribourg edition, 1775.)
[68]P. 119:
◆Thomas de Foix, lord of L’Escu or Lescun, was the brother of Mme. de Chateaubriant, mistress of François Ier. He was captured at Pavia and carried, mortally wounded, to the home of the lady of whom Brantôme speaks. It was he who, by the surrender of Cremona in 1522, caused France to lose Italy. (Guicciardini, t. III., p. 473, Fribourg edition, 1775.)
[69]P. 120:◆Paolo Jovio,Dialogo delle imprese militari ed amorose, 1559, p. 13.◆Blaise de Montluc, author of theCommentaires, a diabolical Gascon, made Field Marshal of France in 1574. The siege of La Rochelle, which is here mentioned, took place in 1573. For details on this personage, see the De Ruble edition of theCommentaires, 1854–74, 5 vols.◆Paulus Jovius (Paolo Giovio), Historian, was a native of Como; born 1483, died 1552.
[69]P. 120:
◆Paolo Jovio,Dialogo delle imprese militari ed amorose, 1559, p. 13.
◆Blaise de Montluc, author of theCommentaires, a diabolical Gascon, made Field Marshal of France in 1574. The siege of La Rochelle, which is here mentioned, took place in 1573. For details on this personage, see the De Ruble edition of theCommentaires, 1854–74, 5 vols.
◆Paulus Jovius (Paolo Giovio), Historian, was a native of Como; born 1483, died 1552.
[70]P. 122:◆In hisContre-Repentie(fol. 444, A. of hisWorks, 1576). Joachim du Bellay, the poet, was born about 1524 at Lire in Anjou, of a noble and distinguished family of that Province.After an unfortunate youth, his talents ensured him a welcome at the Court of François I. and his sister Marguerite de Valois, where he spent some years. Died young, after a life of ill health, in 1560.◆Francis Rabelais was born about 1483 at Chinon in Touraine, where his father was an apothecary. After a stormy youth and some years spent as a Monk in more than one Monastery of more than one Order, and later wandering the country as a vagabond secular priest, he was admitted Doctor in the Faculty of Medicine at Montpellier. Countless stories of his pranks and adventures are told, many no doubt mythical. He visited Rome as well as most parts of France in the course of his life. He died Curé of Meudon, about 1553.
[70]P. 122:
◆In hisContre-Repentie(fol. 444, A. of hisWorks, 1576). Joachim du Bellay, the poet, was born about 1524 at Lire in Anjou, of a noble and distinguished family of that Province.After an unfortunate youth, his talents ensured him a welcome at the Court of François I. and his sister Marguerite de Valois, where he spent some years. Died young, after a life of ill health, in 1560.
◆Francis Rabelais was born about 1483 at Chinon in Touraine, where his father was an apothecary. After a stormy youth and some years spent as a Monk in more than one Monastery of more than one Order, and later wandering the country as a vagabond secular priest, he was admitted Doctor in the Faculty of Medicine at Montpellier. Countless stories of his pranks and adventures are told, many no doubt mythical. He visited Rome as well as most parts of France in the course of his life. He died Curé of Meudon, about 1553.
[71]P. 123:◆Chastity-belts of this sort were already in use at Venice at the time.◆There is in the Hennin collection of prints at the Bibliothèque Nationale (t. III., fo64) a satirical print representing what Brantôme relates here. A lady returns to her husband the key; but behind the bed, the lover, hidden by a duenna, receives from the latter a key similar to the husband’s. This instrument of jealousy was thecingulum pudicitiæof the Romans, the “Florentine lock” of the sixteenth century. Henri Aldegraver also engraved on the sheath of a dagger a lady who is adorned with a lock of this kind. (Bartsch,Peintre-Graveur, VIII., p. 437.) These refinements in jealousy as well as the refinements in debauchery (of which Brantôme will speak later) were of Italian origin. (See on this subjectLa Description de l’Ile des Hermaphrodites, Cologne, 1724, p. 43.)
[71]P. 123:
◆Chastity-belts of this sort were already in use at Venice at the time.
◆There is in the Hennin collection of prints at the Bibliothèque Nationale (t. III., fo64) a satirical print representing what Brantôme relates here. A lady returns to her husband the key; but behind the bed, the lover, hidden by a duenna, receives from the latter a key similar to the husband’s. This instrument of jealousy was thecingulum pudicitiæof the Romans, the “Florentine lock” of the sixteenth century. Henri Aldegraver also engraved on the sheath of a dagger a lady who is adorned with a lock of this kind. (Bartsch,Peintre-Graveur, VIII., p. 437.) These refinements in jealousy as well as the refinements in debauchery (of which Brantôme will speak later) were of Italian origin. (See on this subjectLa Description de l’Ile des Hermaphrodites, Cologne, 1724, p. 43.)
[72]P. 124:◆Lampride,Alexandre Sévère, Chap. XXII.
[72]P. 124:
◆Lampride,Alexandre Sévère, Chap. XXII.
[73]P. 125:◆Nicolas d’Estouteville, lord of Villeconnin, and not Villecouvin, nobleman of the Chambre, died in Constantinople in February, 1567. He had gone to Turkey to forget a disappointment in love or in politics. Here is his epitaph:Le preux Villeconin en la fleur de ses ans,Hélas! a délaissé nos esbatz si plaisans,Laissant au temple sainct de la digne MemoireSon labeur, son renom, son honneur et sa gloire.
[73]P. 125:
◆Nicolas d’Estouteville, lord of Villeconnin, and not Villecouvin, nobleman of the Chambre, died in Constantinople in February, 1567. He had gone to Turkey to forget a disappointment in love or in politics. Here is his epitaph:
Le preux Villeconin en la fleur de ses ans,Hélas! a délaissé nos esbatz si plaisans,Laissant au temple sainct de la digne MemoireSon labeur, son renom, son honneur et sa gloire.
Le preux Villeconin en la fleur de ses ans,Hélas! a délaissé nos esbatz si plaisans,Laissant au temple sainct de la digne MemoireSon labeur, son renom, son honneur et sa gloire.
Le preux Villeconin en la fleur de ses ans,Hélas! a délaissé nos esbatz si plaisans,Laissant au temple sainct de la digne MemoireSon labeur, son renom, son honneur et sa gloire.
Le preux Villeconin en la fleur de ses ans,
Hélas! a délaissé nos esbatz si plaisans,
Laissant au temple sainct de la digne Memoire
Son labeur, son renom, son honneur et sa gloire.
[74]P. 127:◆Dr. Subtil, surname of J. Scott or Duns.
[74]P. 127:
◆Dr. Subtil, surname of J. Scott or Duns.
[75]P. 128:◆Saint Sophronie.◆See De Thou liv. XLIX. There were, at the court of France, other women who had escaped from Cyprus and who scarcely resembled this heroine. Témoin de la Dayelle, of whom Brantôme speaks in theDames illustres, in the chapter on the Medicis. (Journal de Henri III., 1720 edition, t. II., p. 142.)
[75]P. 128:
◆Saint Sophronie.
◆See De Thou liv. XLIX. There were, at the court of France, other women who had escaped from Cyprus and who scarcely resembled this heroine. Témoin de la Dayelle, of whom Brantôme speaks in theDames illustres, in the chapter on the Medicis. (Journal de Henri III., 1720 edition, t. II., p. 142.)
[76]P. 132:◆Guillot le Songeur is, according to Lalanne, Don Guilan el Cuidador of theAmadis de Gaule.◆“Guillot le Songeur,” a name applied to any Pensive man,—from the knight Julian le Pensif, one of the characters of theAmadis of Gaul.
[76]P. 132:
◆Guillot le Songeur is, according to Lalanne, Don Guilan el Cuidador of theAmadis de Gaule.
◆“Guillot le Songeur,” a name applied to any Pensive man,—from the knight Julian le Pensif, one of the characters of theAmadis of Gaul.
[77]P. 136:◆Danae, daughter of Acrisius, King of Argos, who confined her in brazen tower, where Jupiter obtained access in the form of a golden shower.
[77]P. 136:
◆Danae, daughter of Acrisius, King of Argos, who confined her in brazen tower, where Jupiter obtained access in the form of a golden shower.
[78]P. 137:◆An allusion to Duke Henri de Guise. His wife Catherine de Clèves had, in addition to her “bed lovers,” many other intrigues. (See theConfession de Sancy, Chap. VIII., notes.)
[78]P. 137:
◆An allusion to Duke Henri de Guise. His wife Catherine de Clèves had, in addition to her “bed lovers,” many other intrigues. (See theConfession de Sancy, Chap. VIII., notes.)
[79]P. 138:◆Trajan (M. Ulpius Trajanus), Emperor A. D. 98–117. His wife Plotina, here mentioned, was a woman of extraordinary merits and virtues, according to the statements of all writers, with one exception, who speak of her. She persuaded her husband to adopt Hadrian who became his successor; but Dion Cassius is the only author who says a word as to her intercourse with the latter having been of a criminal character, and such a thing is utterly opposed to all we know of her character.
[79]P. 138:
◆Trajan (M. Ulpius Trajanus), Emperor A. D. 98–117. His wife Plotina, here mentioned, was a woman of extraordinary merits and virtues, according to the statements of all writers, with one exception, who speak of her. She persuaded her husband to adopt Hadrian who became his successor; but Dion Cassius is the only author who says a word as to her intercourse with the latter having been of a criminal character, and such a thing is utterly opposed to all we know of her character.
[80]P. 141:◆This refers very likely to Brantôme’s voyage to Scotland. He had accompanied Queen Mary Stuart in August, 1561, at the time of her departure from France. Riccio, who was the favorite of “low rank,” had arrived one year later; but Brantôme, who is relating something which happened a long time before, is not precise: he is unquestionably responding to a request of Queen Catherine.
[80]P. 141:
◆This refers very likely to Brantôme’s voyage to Scotland. He had accompanied Queen Mary Stuart in August, 1561, at the time of her departure from France. Riccio, who was the favorite of “low rank,” had arrived one year later; but Brantôme, who is relating something which happened a long time before, is not precise: he is unquestionably responding to a request of Queen Catherine.
[81]P. 144:◆In this passage, where Brantôme cleverly avows his wiles as a courtier, he refers to the Queen of Spain, Elizabeth, the wife of Philip II. The sister of the princess was Marguerite, Queen of Navarre. The two young infantas, whose portraitsare examined in detail, were: the first, Isabella Claire Eugenie (later married to Albert of Austria), who became a nun towards the end of her life; the other, Catherine, married Charles Emmanuel de Savoie in 1585. It is difficult to-day to see the resemblance of the two princesses to their father, in spite of the great number of portraits of all these personages; in fact, we can say that they were scarcely more beautiful than their mother. (Cf. the beautiful portrait in crayon of Queen Elizabeth at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Estampes Na 21, fo69.)◆The two Joyeuses: M. du Bouchage, and a gay companion.
[81]P. 144:
◆In this passage, where Brantôme cleverly avows his wiles as a courtier, he refers to the Queen of Spain, Elizabeth, the wife of Philip II. The sister of the princess was Marguerite, Queen of Navarre. The two young infantas, whose portraitsare examined in detail, were: the first, Isabella Claire Eugenie (later married to Albert of Austria), who became a nun towards the end of her life; the other, Catherine, married Charles Emmanuel de Savoie in 1585. It is difficult to-day to see the resemblance of the two princesses to their father, in spite of the great number of portraits of all these personages; in fact, we can say that they were scarcely more beautiful than their mother. (Cf. the beautiful portrait in crayon of Queen Elizabeth at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Estampes Na 21, fo69.)
◆The two Joyeuses: M. du Bouchage, and a gay companion.
[82]P. 145:◆Marguerite de Lorraine, married to Anne (Duke) de Joyeuse, the favorite of Henri III. The sister-in-law of whom Brantôme speaks could be neither Mme. du Bouchage nor Mme. de Mercoeur, who were spared by the crudest pamphleteers; he undoubtedly refers to Henriette, Duchess de Montpensier.
[82]P. 145:
◆Marguerite de Lorraine, married to Anne (Duke) de Joyeuse, the favorite of Henri III. The sister-in-law of whom Brantôme speaks could be neither Mme. du Bouchage nor Mme. de Mercoeur, who were spared by the crudest pamphleteers; he undoubtedly refers to Henriette, Duchess de Montpensier.
[83]P. 146:◆François de Vendôme, vidam of Chartres? (SeeFæneste, 1729 edition, p. 345.)
[83]P. 146:
◆François de Vendôme, vidam of Chartres? (SeeFæneste, 1729 edition, p. 345.)
[84]P. 148:◆Ariosto,Orlando furioso, canto V., stanza 57:Io non credo, signor, che ti sia novaLa legge nostra....
[84]P. 148:
◆Ariosto,Orlando furioso, canto V., stanza 57:
Io non credo, signor, che ti sia novaLa legge nostra....
Io non credo, signor, che ti sia novaLa legge nostra....
Io non credo, signor, che ti sia novaLa legge nostra....
Io non credo, signor, che ti sia nova
La legge nostra....
[85]P. 149:◆How can Brantôme, who had friends in the Huguenot camp, deliberately relate such absurd tales?
[85]P. 149:
◆How can Brantôme, who had friends in the Huguenot camp, deliberately relate such absurd tales?
[86]P. 150:◆There is a close likeness between this woman and the Godard de Blois, a Huguenot, who was hanged for adultery in the year 1563.
[86]P. 150:
◆There is a close likeness between this woman and the Godard de Blois, a Huguenot, who was hanged for adultery in the year 1563.
[87]P. 152:◆At that period several persons bore the name of Beaulieu. Brantôme may have in mind Captain Beaulieu, who held Vincennes for the Ligue in 1594. (Chron. Novenn. III., liv. VII.) The chief prior was Charles de Lorraine, son of the Duke de Guise.
[87]P. 152:
◆At that period several persons bore the name of Beaulieu. Brantôme may have in mind Captain Beaulieu, who held Vincennes for the Ligue in 1594. (Chron. Novenn. III., liv. VII.) The chief prior was Charles de Lorraine, son of the Duke de Guise.
[88]P. 154:◆The Comtesse de Senizon was accused of having contrived his escape, and brought to book for it.
[88]P. 154:
◆The Comtesse de Senizon was accused of having contrived his escape, and brought to book for it.
[89]P. 155:◆According to his habit, Brantôme disfigures what he quotes. Vesta Oppia alone has the right to the nameof “good woman”; Cluvia was a profession-courtesan. (Cf. Livy, XXVI., Chap. xxxiii.)
[89]P. 155:
◆According to his habit, Brantôme disfigures what he quotes. Vesta Oppia alone has the right to the nameof “good woman”; Cluvia was a profession-courtesan. (Cf. Livy, XXVI., Chap. xxxiii.)
[90]P. 156:◆This more human reason is probably truer than the one generally given of Jean’s chivalrous conduct regarding his pledge.◆Jean (surnamed le Bon), King of France, 1350–1364. Taken prisoner by Edward the Black Prince at the battle of Poitiers.
[90]P. 156:
◆This more human reason is probably truer than the one generally given of Jean’s chivalrous conduct regarding his pledge.
◆Jean (surnamed le Bon), King of France, 1350–1364. Taken prisoner by Edward the Black Prince at the battle of Poitiers.