The book of the ladies

So this duchess, about whom we have been speaking, could very well wear 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 charmOf beauty, this fair goddess,Holding the shaft in handOf her son, heartless.And Love, without his frontlet,Fluttering round her,Hiding his bandaged eyesWith veil of mourningOn which these words are writ:Die or be captured.

V

(See page 94.)Translation as nearly literal as possibleIn my sad, sweet song,In tones most lamentableI cast my cutting griefOf loss incomparable;And in poignant sighsI pass my best of years.Was ever such an illOf hard destiny,Or so sad a sorrowOf a happy lady,That my heart and eyeShould gaze on bier and coffin?That I, in my sweet springtide,In the flower of youth,All these pains should feelOf excessive sadness,With naught to give me pleasureExcept regret and yearning?That which to me was pleasantNow is hard and painful;The brightest light of dayIs darkness black and dismal;Nothing is now delightIn that of me required.I have, in heart and eye,A portrait and an imageThat mark my mourning lifeAnd my pale visageWith violet tones that areThe tint of grieving lovers.For my restless sorrowI can rest nowhere;Why should I change in placeSince sorrow will not efface?My worst and yet my bestAre in the loneliest places.When in some still sojournIn forest or in field,Be it by dawn of day,Or in the vesper hour,Unceasing feels my heartRegret for one departed.If sometimes toward the skiesMy glance uplifts itself,The gentle iris of his eyesI see in clouds; or elseI see it in the water,As in a grave.If I lie at restSlumbering 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 beIn many a subject,To which my heart consents,Since its perfection lacksIn this affection.End here, my song,Thy sad complaint,Of which be this the burden:True love, not feigned,Because of separationShall 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 Ier. 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.

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.