Rhetoric and the Discourses of Power in Court Culture: China, Europe, and Japan

12. Practicing Nobility in Fifteenth-Century Burgundian Courtly Culture: Ideology and Politics

chapter฀ Practicing฀Nobility฀in฀Fifteenth-Century Burgundian฀Courtly฀Culture: Ideology฀and฀Politics arjo฀vanderjagt In฀memoriam฀Adri฀Jongkees,฀– In฀–,฀one฀of฀the฀foremost฀knights฀in฀the฀service฀of฀Duke฀Philip฀the฀ Good฀of฀Burgundy,฀Jacques฀de฀Lalaing,฀performed฀a฀series฀of฀acts฀that฀fit฀ exactly฀into฀our฀present-day฀ideas฀of฀chivalric฀romance.฀Lalaing฀organized฀ a฀ deed฀ of฀ arms฀ or฀ knightly฀ tournament฀ called฀ the฀ Fontaine฀ aux฀ pleurs฀ (Fountain฀of฀Tears)฀near฀the฀town฀of฀Chalons฀on฀an฀island฀in฀the฀Saône฀ River.฀Here,฀for฀an฀entire฀year,฀he฀stood฀by฀to฀fight฀duels฀with฀all฀those฀who฀ ฀ came฀for฀that฀purpose฀to฀the฀river฀crossing.฀At฀the฀fountain,฀he฀placed฀his฀ pavilion฀topped฀with฀a฀likeness฀of฀the฀“glorious฀Virgin฀Mary,฀nursing฀the฀ savior฀of฀the฀world,฀her฀Lord฀and฀her฀Son.”฀On฀the฀right,฀next฀to฀the฀tent,฀ was฀the฀Lady฀of฀the฀Fountain,฀streaming฀with฀so฀many฀tears฀that฀it฀watered฀ a฀fountain฀on฀the฀left,฀where฀a฀unicorn฀rested;฀both฀Lady฀and฀unicorn฀were,฀ of฀course,฀effigies.฀The฀unicorn฀sported฀three฀shields฀arranged฀in฀a฀triangle:฀ white฀and฀violet฀ones฀at฀the฀top฀and฀a฀black฀one฀below,฀each฀stitched฀with฀ blue฀ tears.฀ A฀ knightly฀ challenger฀ to฀ Lalaing’s฀ prowess฀ touched฀ the฀ white฀ shield฀for฀a฀duel฀with฀battle฀axes,฀the฀violet฀for฀swords,฀and฀the฀black฀for฀ horse-mounted฀combat฀with฀lances.฀Elaborate฀regulations฀for฀the฀contests฀ were฀ drawn฀ up฀ and฀ published฀ throughout฀ France,฀ northern฀ Italy,฀ Spain,฀ Saturday.฀Thus,฀the฀stage฀was฀set฀for฀the฀enactment฀in฀reality฀of฀what฀Lalaing฀ and฀his฀colleagues฀had฀read฀about฀in฀chivalric฀romances฀such฀as฀those฀of฀the฀ Arthurian฀court,฀the฀chronicle฀of฀the฀good฀knight฀Gilles฀de฀Chin,฀or฀the฀book฀ Dame฀à฀la฀licorne฀(Lady฀by฀the฀unicorn),฀copies฀of฀which฀could฀be฀found฀in฀ the฀library฀collection฀of฀the฀Burgundian฀dukes.฀All฀this฀was฀to฀be฀done฀to฀ honor฀the฀name฀of฀God,฀the฀Virgin฀Mary,฀Saint฀James,฀Saint฀Anne,฀and฀Saint฀ George. Not฀many฀adventuresome฀knights-errant฀showed฀up.฀Reality฀intruded฀ even฀more฀on฀this฀kind฀of฀staged฀test฀of฀individual฀personal฀courage฀when฀ Lalaing฀was฀killed฀in฀฀in฀the฀Burgundian฀campaign฀against฀the฀city฀of฀ Ghent.฀He฀did฀not฀die฀chivalrously฀by฀knightly฀lance฀or฀in฀mortal฀combat฀at฀ arms฀but฀was฀killed฀by฀a฀rebel฀cannonball.฀Thus,฀one฀sort฀of฀chivalry฀passed฀ away฀and฀another฀was฀already฀being฀put฀into฀practice.฀This฀chapter฀discusses฀ the฀remaking฀of฀this฀kind฀of฀personal฀chivalry฀into฀public-spirited฀nobility฀ at฀the฀fifteenth-century฀Burgundian฀court฀of฀Philip฀the฀Good฀and฀Charles฀ the฀Bold.1 *฀*฀* Bowing฀to฀a฀great฀deal฀of฀political฀pressure฀and฀at฀the฀same฀time฀making฀ the฀best฀deal฀to฀maintain฀their฀privileges,฀the฀states฀general฀of฀the฀Burgundian฀ Netherlands฀on฀April฀,฀,฀declared฀Charles,฀the฀count฀of฀Charolais,฀to฀ be฀the฀“sole฀and฀undisputed฀heir฀of฀his฀father฀Philip฀the฀Good,”฀who฀was฀ then฀failing฀in฀health.฀Shortly฀afterward,฀in฀May,฀the฀estates฀of฀Haunault฀did฀ the฀same,฀and฀in฀July,฀Charles฀also฀had฀the฀towns฀of฀Brabant฀in฀his฀hand.฀ Consequently,฀Charles,฀in฀the฀words฀of฀Richard฀Vaughan,฀secured฀“a฀position฀ of฀uncontested฀power฀for฀himself.”฀Employing฀biblical฀terminology,฀Philippe฀ de฀ Commynes,฀ who฀ had฀ once฀ been฀ in฀ the฀ service฀ of฀ the฀ dukes฀ but฀ had฀ treasonably฀transferred฀his฀loyalties฀to฀Louis฀XI,฀the฀king฀of฀France,฀writes฀ that฀during฀the฀rule฀of฀Philip฀the฀Good฀and฀before฀the฀disastrous฀advent—as฀ he฀calls฀it—of฀Charles฀the฀Bold,฀the฀Burgundian฀territories฀“could฀well฀have฀ been฀described฀as฀the฀Promised฀Land,฀more฀so฀than฀any฀other฀on฀earth.”2 Yet,฀ Promised฀ Land฀ or฀ not,฀ Charles฀ the฀ Bold฀ sought฀ consciously฀ to฀ reconstruct฀the฀commonweal฀he฀had฀inherited฀from฀his฀father฀into฀an฀earlymodern ฀state฀after฀his฀own฀design฀and,฀as฀the฀chronicler฀has฀it,฀failed฀in฀the฀ of฀ the฀ Renaissance฀ in฀ Italy.฀ By฀ using฀ them,฀ I฀ am฀ voicing฀ agreement฀ with฀ Richard฀Walsh’s฀description฀of฀Charles฀the฀Bold฀as฀a฀Renaissance฀prince.3 ฀฀฀฀฀At฀the฀beginning฀of฀his฀reign,฀Philip฀the฀Good฀and฀his฀entourage฀already฀ clearly฀understood฀that฀in฀order฀to฀acquire฀and฀maintain฀effective฀power฀ over฀ his฀ lands฀ he฀ must฀ somehow฀ incorporate฀ into฀ his฀ ideology฀ of฀ state฀ the฀ rallying฀ cry฀ of฀ Burgundy’s฀ populist฀ partisans,฀ who฀ were฀ battling฀ the฀ royalist฀Armagnacs฀in฀the฀streets฀of฀Paris:฀“Vive฀Bourgogne!”฀In฀the฀s฀ and฀s,฀Philip฀adroitly฀welded฀that฀cry฀to฀a฀practical฀interpretation฀of฀ the฀hitherto฀merely฀theoretical฀concept฀of฀le฀bien฀publique...