The Maid and the Queen (43 page)

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

A
BOOK THAT SEEKS TO
unravel the hopelessly tangled threads of French politics during the latter half of the Hundred Years War, and relies so heavily upon primary sources in French (or, worse, medieval French!), would simply not have been possible for me without the help of my friend Marie-Paule de Valdivia, a native French speaker. Marie-Paule was unerringly patient and encouraging with my own feeble efforts at translation, and is responsible for all of the longer passages, including that marvelous letter from Yolande’s agents describing Charles VII’s coronation at Reims, which has never been translated fully into English before. I am so proud to be her friend, and so grateful for her elegant phrasing and generosity. Thank you, Marie-Paule.

I am also indebted to Dr. Linda Gray, another close friend, for her help in determining the probable date of Charles VII’s conception. It was wonderful to be able to apply Linda’s modern medical knowledge and experience to this centuries-long mystery. I had so much fun tackling this problem with her, and we were surely the only two people in the country engaged in a prolonged discussion of medieval menstrual cycles. A thank-you also to her husband, Dr. Greg Soloway, for his aid in researching the various psychoses associated with adolescent delusions or the hearing of voices. Although there was not in the end sufficient evidence to include a definitive diagnosis in the book, his efforts enriched my perspective on Joan and her angels.

Similarly, this book would not have been possible without the insights into Jean of Arras’s work provided by Donald Maddox and his wife, Sara Sturm-Maddox, both professors of French and Italian at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Their book
Melusine of Lusignan: Founding Fiction in Late Medieval France,
which grew out of an international colloquium commemorating the six hundredth anniversary of the writing of
The Romance of Melusine,
was an invaluable resource to me. I know they have recently completed a new, more accessible translation of
Melusine,
which I look forward to reading—currently there is no modern translation available. As recognized experts in the field, no two authors are better suited to this task. I am also very grateful to and wish to recognize the work of Dawn Bratsch-Prince, professor of Spanish and department chair at Iowa State University. Professor Bratsch-Prince’s scholarship on Yolande of Aragon’s mother, Yolande of Bar (Violant in Spanish), added greatly to my understanding of the politics of the court of Aragon, particularly as she very kindly translated some of it from the Spanish for me.

Also necessary to the writing of this book was Sue Madeo, who coordinates the interlibrary loan program at the Westport Public Library and who, as usual, helped me to obtain sources from academic libraries all over the state. And my friend and fellow author Wendy Kann read the book in manuscript for me and pinpointed all the places that needed work, which was a huge help. I am also so grateful to her for her unflagging encouragement and for her suggestions on how to bring the story to life.

I must also profusely thank my editor at Viking, Carolyn Carlson, both for her (greatly appreciated!) enthusiasm for my work and for her incisive read. I have never had more helpful or spot-on editorial suggestions; the manuscript was demonstrably improved by her efforts, and she was always available to toss around ideas. This book was so much fun to do with her. And, of course, I must thank my fabulous agent, Michael Carlisle, who is always fun! Michael saw this book immediately, and has been so encouraging and committed to my work throughout our relationship—I am truly fortunate to have him on my side.

And finally, to my family, on whose love and support I rely every day. To my daughter, Emily, who hunted around in used bookstores to find me a volume of medieval women mystics for Christmas, a special thank-you—that book really helped me to place Joan in historical context. I love you so much and am so proud to be your mother! And to my husband, Larry, who once again put down his own work to walk me (and the dog) through seemingly endless medieval battle plans and political machinations, whose insights greatly enriched this book, and whose belief in me is tangible, thank you, thank you, I love you.

N
OTES

I
NTRODUCTION

xvi
  
“The Sunday… because none dared any longer stay in them”:
Pernoud,
Joan of Arc: By Herself and Her Witnesses,
72– 74.

xvi
  
“day of the herrings”:
Ibid., 76.

xvi
  
“found themselves squeezed”:
Ibid., 79.

E
PIGRAPHS

xxi
  
“For full fayne”:
Couldrette,
The Romans of Partenay, or of Lusignen: Otherwise Known as the Tale of Melusine,
1.

xxi
  
“Consider the effect”:
Boase,
The Troubadour Revival,
129– 130. Italics added.

C
HAPTER
1: The Kingdom of the Gay Science

3
   
She was born in Barcelona on August 11, 1381:
Miron,
The Queens of Aragon: Their Lives and Times,
217.

5
   
The Book in which
:
Pedro IV of Aragon,
Chronicle,
Part One, 132.

6
   
She read voraciously:
Baudot,
Les Princesses Yolande et les Ducs de Bar,
99.

6
   
the same superior education that she herself… had received:
On the lit eracy of the French royal family, Christine de Pizan, a contemporary of Marie’s who wrote a biography of Charles V, noted, “By the astute upbringing of his father, he was fully instructed in classical letters such that he understood latin fluently and knew well enough the rules of grammar.” [“La sage administracion du père le fist introduire en lettres moult souffisanment et tant que competenment entendoit son latin et suffisanment scavoit les rigles de grammaire.”] Baudot,
Les Princesses Yolande et les Ducs de Bar,
100. Translation by Marie-Paule de Valdivia.
Charles was not the only member of the family to receive this exemplary formal education—it seems that all of his siblings were given the same training, although some benefited from it more than others. One of Charles’s brothers, the duke of Berry, would become a famous book collector.

6
   
a glum letter:
Boase,
The Troubadour Revival,
89.

6
   
Perhaps to assuage the terrible grief:
Bratsch-Prince, “A Queen’s Task,” 25. Yolande of Aragon had only one brother, Jaume, who lived to be four years old; none of her other siblings survived beyond eight months.

6
   
“But this was taken to such exaggerated lengths”:
Boase,
The Troubadour Revival,
124.

6
   
“what in bygone days”:
Ibid., 124.

7
   
“All earthly things are moved by her”:
Ibid., 130. “Documents from the royal archives show that [King John]… attributed almost miraculous properties to the art of troubadour poetry known as the Gay Science,” wrote medieval scholar Roger Boase, ibid., 154.

7
   
“after having for a long time viewed”:
Freeman, “A Book of Hours Made for the Duke of Berry,” 104.

7
   
Yolande had his entire library transferred:
Kibre, “The Intellectual Interests Reflected in Libraries of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries,” 271.

8
   
a particularly audacious thief:
Senneville,
Yolande d’Aragon,
39.

8
   
Convinced that the incident was miraculous:
Ibid., 40.

10
   
“The adventure is this”:
Sara Sturm-Maddox, “Crossed Destinies: Narrative Programs in the
Roman de Mélusine,
” in Maddox and Sturm-Maddox, eds.,
Melusine of Lusignan,
16.

10
   
“O Lord God!”:
Couldrette,
The Romans of Partenay, or of Lusignen: Otherwise Known as the Tale of Melusine,
14.

11
   
“In God’s name, Raymondin”:
Nadia Margolis, “Myths in Progress: A Literary-Typological Comparison of Melusine and Joan of Arc,” in Maddox and Sturm-Maddox, eds.,
Melusine of Lusignan,
247.

11
   
“huge mouth and large great nostrils”:
Couldrette,
The Romans of Partenay,
46.

11
   
“though he could see more clearly”:
Ibid., 49.

12
   
“Evil was the hour”:
Laurence de Looze, “‘La fourme du pié toute escripte’: Melusine and the Entrance into History,” in Maddox and Sturm-Maddox, eds.
Melusine of Lusignan,
126, 127, 131.

12
   
“Melusine came to Lusignan”:
Maddox and Sturm-Maddox, eds.,
Melusine of Lusignan,
1.

12
   
“if not in the air”:
Ibid., 130.

12
   
“to tell the last English tenant”:
Stephen G. Nichols, “Melusine Between Myth and History: Profile of a Female Demon,” in Maddox and Sturm-Maddox, eds.,
Melusine of Lusignan,
159.

13
   
“It is in Jean d’Arras”:
Ibid., 162.

14
   
printed in Geneva in 1478:
Couldrette,
The Romans of Partenay,
x.

14
   
Significantly, in 1444 the court of Lorraine:
Baudot,
Les Princesses Yolande et les Ducs de Bar,
364.

14
   
“And to the pleasure”:
Couldrette,
The Romans of Partenay,
ix.

14
   
“for the amusement of Marie of France”:
Baudot,
Les Princesses Yolande et les Ducs de Bar,
121.

15
   
“political education of the children”:
Ibid., 123.

15
   
Jean of Arras even based two:
Ibid., 363.

15
   
“Very noble lord dauphin”:
Pernoud and Clin,
Joan of Arc: Her Story,
22.

C
HAPTER
2: To Be a Queen

16
   
In 1388, when John impatiently threatened:
Bisson,
The Medieval Crown of Aragon,
123.

16
   
“She was very interested in the affairs of state”:
[“Que s’interessava molt pels afers de l’estat I volia tenir sempre al seu costat, valent-se de les arts d’una dona que se sap estimada, el seu marit.”] Bratsch-Prince, “A Queen’s Task,” 24. Translation by Dawn Bratsch-Prince.

18
   
“400 lances”:
Senneville,
Yolande d’Aragon,
23.

18
   
“And for certain this lady”:
[“Et pour certain ceste dame avoit bien l’astuce de sçavoir congnoistre céulx qui luy povoient servir et ayder. Et quant elle les congnoissoit, elle avoit bien la grâce de les gaigner et retenir, car elle estoit libéralle, gracieus et affable. Et oultre estoit songneuse, diligent, et en magnanimité de cueur et virilles entre-prinses excédoit maintz princes de son temps, parquoy elle estoit de chascun fort crainte, prisée et estimée.”] Bourdigné,
Chroniques d’Anjou et du Maine,
121. Translation by Marie-Paule de Valdivia.

19
   
by knighting Louis II at a grand celebration:
For details of the knighting ceremony see
Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys,
vol. 1, 589– 599.

19
   
the pope crowned twelve-year-old Louis II king:
For details of the coronation ceremony see Bourdigné,
Chroniques d’Anjou et du Maine,
117, and Senneville,
Yolande d’Aragon,
24.

20
   
To extricate the crown of Aragon:
Senneville,
Yolande d’Aragon,
27.

20
   
Charles VI hastily offered the hand of his own daughter:
Famiglietti,
Royal Intrigue,
36.

22
   
“This princess captivated all eyes”:
[“Cette princess captivait tous les regards par sa rare beauté, par les charmes de son visage et par l’air de dignité répandu sur toute sa personne. C’était en un mot un véritable trésor de grâces. Au dire des gens, sages, la nature avait pris plaisir à la former et l’avait comblée de toutes les perfections; il ne suffira de dira qu’aucune femme ne méritait de lui être comparée.”]
Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys,
vol. 1, 773. Translation by Marie-Paule de Valdivia.

22
   
“one of the most beautiful creatures”:
Kekewich,
The Good King,
15, footnote 11.

23
   
“with all expressions of honor and joy”:
Senneville,
Yolande d’Aragon,
30.

25
   
“it
was joyful to see”:
[“ilz estoient si joyeulx de veoir la fervente et cordialle amour qui estoit entre ces deux jeunes gens”] Bourdigné,
Chroniques d’Anjou et du Maine,
123.

26
   
“For twenty-two years”:
[“Pendant vingt-deux ans en effect elle administra avec tant d’ordre et de prévoyance les revenus de la Provence, de l’Anjou et du Maine, qu’elle put soutenir à ses frais, un nom de son fils aîné Louis, la guerre de Naples commencée par son père, tout en donnant à ce fils de quoi tenir en état de roi. Ses conseillers intimes assurent qu’elle amassa sur les revenus de ses domaines un trésor particulier de deux cent mille écus d’or.”]
Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys,
vol. 2, 215. Translation by Marie-Paule de Valdivia.