Mrs. Bearne

“ Isabeau was then eighteen, in the height of her beauty, the idol of the court and people, all the more as she was again enceinte, and the hopes of every one were fixed on the birth of a Dauphin.
Valentine was as superior to Isabeau as light to darkness. Ambitious, cultivated, with brilliant intellectual powers, strong both to love and hate, brave and gentle, no shadow of reproach rests on her name. ”

“ The King of England had been dining with the King of France, waited upon by the Dukes of Burgundy, Berry, and Bourbon, both monarchs having been much entertained by the amusing conversation of the last-mentioned prince, when the sound of trumpets and other music announced the approach of the young Queen of England, who entered the camp with a procession of surpassing magnificence, wearing royal robes covered with fleurs-de-lis, a gentleman of her train carrying a crown of gold before her carriage. ”

“ On the contrary the Orléanists married the young Duke Charles, now a widower, to Bonne, daughter of Bernard, Comte d’Armagnac, one of the most powerful nobles in the kingdom. He claimed descent from Clovis and had married a daughter of the Duc de Berry. Brave, liberal, unscrupulous, a faithful friend, and a relentless foe, he was the man chosen by the princes to take the leadership of the party which none of them were capable of holding themselves. ”

“ To Anne, as to some of her companions, is attached a romance, which, after four hundred years, clings to her memory, and like the scent of rose leaves and lavender in some old-fashioned country house, the refrain of an ancient ballad or the quaint phrases traced in faded ink on some letter yellow with age coming to us from a long-vanished generation, seems to give us a momentary glimpse into the life of those far-off days. ”

“ The love of the forest and of all beauty in nature and art lay deep in the heart of the young Dauphin, who in no way resembled his father or grandfather. That Philippe and Jean de Valois, the chivalrous King of Bohemia or the warlike Princes of Burgundy should have had such a descendant would surely have seemed impossible at that time and with those surroundings. ”

“ There was no repentance in the heart of Jean Sans-peur, and no forgiveness in those of the sons, friends, and followers of Louis and Valentine d’Orléans. As to the Queen, she was too weak and shallow for any lasting passion or feeling, in which her son the Duc d’Aquitaine closely resembled her. He expressed great anger at the murder of his uncle, and yet he persuaded his father to appoint the Duke of Burgundy his guardian. ”

“ For four days and nights joustes and tournaments went on, at which the Queen gave away the prizes; followed by banquets and balls. The court was in a frenzy of excitement and the fêtes ended with a masked ball more splendid than any, but so licentious and disorderly that of the brilliant crowds that thronged the torch-lighted halls and wandered in the dim, tapestried galleries and rooms of the great abbey, it has been asserted that few escaped the perils of that night of wild, lawless revelry ”

“ One of these mobs, not a whit more cruel and savage than those which yelled and howled and danced through the streets of Paris in our own and our fathers’ and grandfathers’ days, was now pressing round the hôtel of the Duc d’Aquitaine at Saint Paul. They had certainly much reason for their anger and complaints, but whether their cause is a bad or a good one the means by which they carry it out are always atrocious. ”

“ The Emperor got out of his litter and entered Paris mounted on a black horse richly caparisoned with the arms of France, sent him by the King his nephew, who came out to meet him mounted on a tall white charger wearing a scarlet robe, mantle and hat covered with pearls, with a great train of nobles and chevaliers gorgeously dressed attended by their followers wearing their liveries, the officers of the households of the King and the Dauphin in immense numbers dressed according to their grades. ”

“ But the distress, confusion, and poverty in the kingdom were increasing rapidly, and the people murmured as the sounds of music and merriment were heard from the windows of the hôtel Barbette or the cavalcades of Louis and Isabeau, with their splendid dresses, trappings, and horses swept through the streets or passed out of the gates of Paris. ”

“ The little Princess Isabelle died a few days after her mother, and was buried by her side at St. Denis.
Jeanne de Bourbon was one of the most charming and spotless characters in history. From her childish marriage to her death she does not seem to have had an enemy or a word of blame ever attached to her. She was always spoken of as “la belle duchesse” or “la bonne reine.” Charles was inconsolable. He never had the frank, open nature nor the graceful charm of manner that made some of the princes of his house adored by their friends and subjects. ”

“ Sometimes he knew every one except the Queen and her children, but one person he always knew, and that was the Duchesse d’Orléans.
He was always calling for her. She would go to him without the least fear and sit with him for hours. Her voice seemed to have a strange fascination for him, and he would do anything she wished. There is not the slightest idea that between Charles and Valentine there was ever any such love as between Louis and Isabeau, but they had always been fond of each other as brother and sister. The populace, however, chose to attribute her influence to magic ”

“ At Crécy, at any rate, they grumbled, every one had fought bravely and done their best; no shadow of dishonour had rested on the lilies of France. The nobles might have been proud and extortionate, but in the hour of danger they did not flinch. They lay in heaps on the field of battle, and a life of extravagance and dissipation was redeemed by a hero’s death. ”

“ In it was a large dais, and outside a place for tournaments with wooden galleries for the ladies to look on at the spectacle. On Saturday, May 1st, about sunset, the King arrived, and soon after the Queen of Sicily in an open car accompanied by the princes of the blood, her two sons, the King of Sicily, then about twelve years old, and his brother rode by her side in long grey robes without any gold or ornament, carrying pieces of the same stuff rolled up on their saddles as if for a journey, after an ancient custom of esquires. ”

“ The English archers were slightly armed and poorly dressed, but strong and active; they wore an axe or sword at their girdle and carried a pike to force their way through the thickest of the fight. In the French army there was neither order nor discipline. The King and his sons were not present as at Crécy and Poitiers, and the princes would obey no other leader. Those who were not placed in the vanguard refused to stay with their men but pressed forward to join the line of cavaliers in heavy armour who bore the noblest names in France, and stood in the front of the battle. ”

“ In spite of the King’s frequent attacks of madness, the Queen contrived to amuse herself very well. From what one can gather from the records of the times she seems to have been generally on good terms with him when he was well, and not to have allowed the pleasures and diversions of her life to be interfered with when he was ill. The court was still disturbed and excited by the rivalry of the Duchesses of Burgundy and Orléans, but Isabeau, who, if she had been a different sort of woman, could and ought to have ruled them both, did nothing of the kind. ”

“ The three brothers of the late King were eager to secure for themselves all the power and wealth they could seize, and would not listen to the Duc de Bourbon, who, as personal guardian only, and not a brother of the late King, had less power and could not oppose them. The lives led by the two boys were what in our own days would be called fast for a man ten years older, and eventually resulted in the madness of Charles and the death of Louis. ”

“ Marcoussy, about eighteen miles from Paris, was one of the most imposing castles in the Ile-de-France, with its massive walls, huge towers, and deep moats, surrounded by trees and gardens with terraces, fountains, and fishponds. Here he passed most of his time when not occupied in public affairs, and here grew up his children, Louis, Joachim, Jeanne, Louise, and Anne. ”

“ It would be too long in a work like this to give the details so minutely described and so interesting to the student of history, of the proceedings of the next few days, during which the Emperor remained the guest of the King of France, of the banquets with five dais one above another in great halls where windows, ceiling, and columns were hung with cloth of gold, of the profusion of the feasting, of the spectacle of the conquest of Jerusalem in the vast hall of the Palais de la Cité, of the entertainments at the Louvre, Beauté and Vincennes, offered by the King to the Emperor. ”

“ Bertrand du Guesclin, created Constable of France, was everywhere winning back towns, castles, and fortresses; the gallant Sir John Chandos was killed in Poitou, and by the end of 1370, Ponthieu, Périgord, Rouergue, Saintonge, Poitou, part of Limousin, and nearly all Guyenne had been won back. The rapid restoration of the kingdom was a marvel to every one. The hero du Guesclin was the idol of the nation; the Duc de Bourbon especially loved him because he had avenged his sister the Queen of Spain. The wise and firm government of the King brought prosperity and order into everything. ”

“ After a few years Taddea died, and left Stephan with a son and daughter named Ludwig and Isabeau, or Elizabeth. The latter was born at Ingolstadt 1370 or 1371. By his second marriage he had no children.
In all Germany, and perhaps in all Europe, there is not a more beautiful country than Bavaria, with its lakes, mountains, forests, and ancient castles. Here Isabeau spent her short childhood, idolized by her father and brother, flattered and spoiled by all around her, for her extraordinary beauty was the admiration of the court. ”

“ Warned just in time of the approach of the murderers, she fled for her life, was out of the castle before they arrived and set it on fire, and escaped to Meaux, a town on the Marne, where the Duchess of Normandy, the Princess Isabelle de France and more than three hundred ladies had taken refuge, some having escaped in their nightdresses without having had time to dress themselves.
The rebellion spread rapidly over Picardy, Champagne, and the Ile-de-France, and the horrors of it have never been equalled in any Christian country. ”

“ One to Maximilian of Austria, with an309 account of the war, the troubles in Bretagne, and the battle of St. Aubin is quoted as a surprising production for one so young. But Anne was full of talent and high spirit, her faults and good qualities were those of a noble nature. Brave, proud, impetuous, imperious, passionately attached to her own country, loving her friends and hating her enemies with all her heart, always to be relied on, yielding only to the commands of the Church, or the good of her own Bretagne, a woman to be loved, admired, sometimes feared, but never despised or distrusted. ”

“ We meet them in novels, we meet them in history, we meet them in real life; and when we do, we know that there will be no more peace till they are gone. But, fortunately, we do not meet them as powerful and irresponsible rulers, like Isabeau de Bavière. And we can perhaps imagine what a calamity such a head of society was for France. ”

“ Inordinately vain, selfish, capricious, too shallow either really to love or hate, extravagant and yet avaricious, with no sense and no scruples, this young girl, scarcely out of childhood, not knowing a word of French, and having been brought up in the distant castle of a Bavarian noble, was suddenly placed at the head of the court of France, the gayest and most splendid in Europe, with every one at her feet, her will129 supreme except for the nominal control of a dissipated, extravagant boy only two years older than herself, and very much in love with her. ”