Henri II: His Court and Times (38 page)

It was certainly as well that Jarnac showed such becoming
modesty in the hour of victory, for the friends of La Châtaigneraie, exasperated by the unexpected defeat of their hero, had
assumed a most threatening attitude, brandishing their swords
and raising shouts of defiance, and had the triumphal procession
taken place, a collision between the two factions could scarcely
have been averted.

The affair, however, did not terminate without a serious
disturbance, for the motley multitude, which contained some
of the worst characters in Paris, suddenly launched itself upon
La Châtaigneraie's tent, where, as we have mentioned, a
magnificent banquet had been prepared to celebrate the victory
so confidently anticipated, and carried it by storm. In a
moment, its contents were being mercilessly pillaged; "the
soups and entrees were devoured by an infinity of harpies;
the silver plate and the handsome sideboards, borrowed from
seven or eight households at the Court, were broken or carried
off, amid indescribable disorder and confusion; and the dessert
consisted of a hundred thousand blows from halberds and
staves distributed by the captains and the archers of the Guard
and the provosts, who fell unexpectedly upon them."
¹⁵

Although La Châtaigneraie was much weakened by loss of
blood, the surgeons held out every hope of his recovery. But
he did not care to survive his lost reputation; and his despair
being, it is said, aggravated by the indifference of the King,
who did not even trouble to visit his defeated champion, he
tore the bandage from his wound and bled to death. His
demise does not appear to have caused his Majesty much
concern; indeed, he probably regarded it as a fortunate
termination to an affair from which the royal honour had
certainly not emerged scathless.

(1)
Vieilleville.

(2)
Tavannes had been
the Duc d'Orléans's Montmorency.

(3)
The writer means François I
and Philip of Spain's father, Charles V.

(4)
Marguerite de la
Marche, wife of Jean de Ligne, Comte d'Arenberg, one of
the most prominent of the Netherland nobles.

(5)
La Châtaigneraie
had married an aunt of Brantôme.

(6)
Mémoires de Vieilleville.

(7)
Commentaires
.

(8)
Montluc.

(9)
Decrue,
Anne, duc de Montmorency
.

(10)
Prince de Moskowa,
le Dernier duel
judiciaire, Revue de Deux Mondes
,
April 1854.

(11)
Mémoires de Vieilleville
.

(12)
And not a cut — much less a cut delivered with both hands, as Michelet
supposes, which would have necessitated him dropping his shield.

(13)
This stroke, which
enriched the French language with a new phrase —
le coup
de Jarnac
— was not, as so many writers have asserted, a foul stroke. It was a
perfectly legitimate one, as a perusal of any contemporary treatise on fencing
will show.

(14)
Meaning, "I give you his life."

(15)
Mémoires de Vieilleville
.

Sacre
and coronation of Henri II — Affairs of Italy — Charles V and the Farnesi
— Assassination of Pierluigi Farnese, natural son of Paul III, by the nobles of
Piacenza, and occupation of the town by the Imperialists — Fury of the Pope —
Negotiations for an alliance between France and the Papacy — The Constable
dissuades Henri II from making war — Journey of Henri II to Piedmont — Mimic
combat in honour of the King at Beaune — Arrival of Henri II at Turin — Annexation of the marquisate of Saluzzo

S
O
soon as the remains of François I had been deposited
at Saint-Denis, where Henri II subsequently erected
a magnificent monument to his memory, preparations
were made for the Coronation of his successor. This ceremony,
in accordance with ancient custom, took place at Rheims,
July 26 being the date selected.
⁰¹

On the day preceding the ceremony, Henri II made his entry
into the town, where "several pleasant and sumptuous spectacles
had been prepared for him," and proceeded to the
cathedral. At the western door, over which "a great canopy of
crimson velvet enriched with sumptuous gold and silver embroidery"
had been erected, he was received by Charles de
Guise, Archbishop of Rheims, and his chapter, the ecclesiastical
peers of France, and a number of other prelates, all in full
canonicals. After acknowledging their salutations, the King
knelt upon a velvet cushion placed upon a footcloth of cloth
of gold, and the archbishop presented to him a copy of the
Gospels, which he kissed. He then rose, and was conducted
into the cathedral by the Cardinal de Guiry, Bishop of Langres,
and the Cardinal de Châtillon, Bishop of Beauvais, the former
walking on his right hand and the latter on his left. The
two cardinals escorted him to the high altar, which he kissed,
and laid upon it "a rich reliquary of the Resurrection of
Our Lord, made of costly agate, which was valued at 1,000
écus."

His Majesty next entered an oratory which had been prepared
for him on the right of the high altar, where he heard
vespers, the archbishop officiating, and at the conclusion of
the service proceeded to the archiepiscopal palace, in which a
suite of apartments, magnificently furnished and decorated,
had been made ready for his reception. After he had supped,
he again visited the cathedral to confess and receive absolution,
and then returned to the palace "to take his repose."

The following morning, at six o'clock, the four premier
barons of France — Montmorency, Martigues, Harcourt, and La
Trémoille — were summoned to the royal presence and directed
to proceed to the Abbey of Saint-Rémy and command the
grand prior to bring the Holy Ampulla to the cathedral,
⁰²
while they themselves were to remain in the abbey as hostages for
the safe restoration of the precious relic.
⁰³
They departed,
preceded by equerries bearing their banners,
⁰⁴
and taking with them a white horse, which was to carry the grand prior to and
from the cathedral, and a canopy of white damask spangled
with golden
fleurs-de-lis
, which was always held over the prior's
head, both going and returning.

So soon as the four barons had started for the Abbey of
Saint-Rémy, the lay peers, Henri d'Albret, King of Navarre,
and the Ducs de Vendôme, de Guise, de Nevers, de Montpensier
and d'Aumale, representing the six primitive peerages
of Burgundy, Normandy, Aquitaine, Flanders, Champagne,
and Toulouse,
⁰⁵
set out
for the cathedral, where they found the
ecclesiastical peers, the Archbishop of Rheims, the Cardinal
de Guiry, Bishop of Langres, the Cardinal de Châtillon,
Bishop of Beauvais, and the Bishops of Noyon, Saintes, and
Châlons, awaiting them.
⁰⁶

In solemn state, accompanied by the canons, vicars, and
chaplains of the cathedral, and preceded by crosses, candles,
holy water, and censers, the twelve peers repaired to the archiepiscopal palace, and were ushered into the royal bedchamber,
a most magnificent apartment, hung with priceless tapestries
and with a ceiling ornamented with
fleurs-de-lis
of fine gold.
His Majesty was reclining on a splendid bed, which was
"covered with a great cloth of gold damask over crimson silk,
reaching to the ground on both sides, with his head resting on
a pillow of crimson velvet covered with rich embroidery." He
was dressed in a fine chemise of Holland cloth, with slits on
both front and back, to receive the Holy Unction, above which
was the
camisole
of crimson satin,
⁰⁷
which had also slits on
front and back, for the same reason, and a long robe, in the
fashion of a
robe de nuit
, of cloth of silver.

The Bishops of Langres and Beauvais
⁰⁸
offered up certain prayers proper to the occasion, at the conclusion of which they
advanced, kissed the King's hand, and assisted him to rise from
the bed. The procession was then reformed and set out for
the cathedral. First, came the Constable, dressed in similar
fashion to the lay peers, and bearing his sword of office,
unsheathed. Next, the King, with the Bishop of Langres on
his right hand and the Bishop of Beauvais on his left. Behind
the King, came the Chancellor, in his ermine-trimmed robes,
with his
mortier
on his head. After the Chancellor, the
Maréchal de Saint-André, filling for the nonce Montmorency's
post of Grand-Master, the Grand Chamberlain, the Duc de
Longueville walking on his right, and the First Chamberlain
the Maréchal de Sedan — or de la Marck, as some historians
call him — on his left. The other peers, ecclesiastical and lay,
followed in order of precedence.

On reaching the cathedral, Henri II proceeded to the high
altar, on either side of which two chairs covered with cloth of
gold had been placed, one for the King, the other for the
Archbishop of Rheims. The King knelt at the altar in prayer,
and was then conducted to his seat by the Bishops of Langres
and Beauvais, where the archbishop sprinkled him with holy
water.

A few minutes later, the Prior of the Abbey of Saint-Rémy
⁰⁹
arrived, bearing the Holy Ampulla, suspended by a chain round
his neck. The archbishop descended the altar steps to meet
him, and received the sacred vessel, solemnly promising to
restore it at the conclusion of the ceremony. Then he returned
to the altar, upon which he placed the Ampulla, the King bowing
low before it. While the choir was singing an anthem, the
archbishop retired to a vestry behind the altar to assume his
pontifical robes, and, on his return, administered to the King
the oath of
Promitto
. Then the Bishops of Langres and
Beauvais demanded of the people of France if they accepted
Henri de Valois as their King; and the congregation having
signified its assent, his Majesty took the oath to the Kingdom,
beginning "
Hæc tria promitto
," with his hand on the text of
the Gospels, which he kissed. This finished, the two bishops
conducted him to the altar, where the Maréchal de Saint-André
divested him of the robe of cloth of silver in which he
had come from the palace; while, after the archbishop had
recited over him the customary prayers, the Grand Chamberlain put the buskins on his feet, and the King of Navarre,
as Duc de Bourgogne, fixed the spurs on his heels, which,
however, he immediately afterwards removed. Then the
archbishop took up the sword in its scabbard, girded it on,
ungirded it, unsheathed it, and, leaving the scabbard on the
altar, recited the customary prayer, and placed the blade in the
King's hand. The monarch received it with every mark of
humility and placed it on the altar; but the archbishop, taking
it up, returned it to the King, who immediately handed it to
the Constable, that functionary having previously given his
sword of office to his equerry.

The moment had now arrived for the ceremony of the Holy
Unction; and the archbishop, going to the altar, took the plate
on which stood the chalice of Saint-Rémy, and placed upon
it the chrism which he used in the consecration of bishops.
He then took from the Holy Ampulla, with a golden needle
which was attached to it, a very small quantity of the oil which
it contained — "the size of a pea," says the official account —
placed it upon his finger and mixed it with the chrism; while
the choir sang the anthem
Gentem Francorum
, and the King
prostrated himself before the altar. At the conclusion of
the anthem, the bishops commenced the Litany, the choir
making the responses; and when they came to the
Hunc
famulum tuum
, the King rose, and, approaching the archbishop,
who was seated, as when he consecrated a bishop, knelt at his
feet. And the archbishop anointed him, first, on the crown of
the head; secondly, on the chest; thirdly, between the two
shoulders; fourthly, on the right shoulder; fifthly, on the left
shoulder; sixthly, in the bend of the right arm, and lastly, in the
bend of the left arm, repeating at each unction the prayer of
Ungo te Regem
.

The Bishops of Langres and Beauvais having closed the
slits in the chemise and camisole which they had opened
before the ceremony, the Grand Chamberlain came forward and
invested the King with the tunic, the dalmatica, and the mantle.

The King being now arrayed in all his Coronation robes,
the archbishop proceeded to the eighth and final unction—
that of the hands — which performed, he presented a pair of
gloves, and these his Majesty put on. Next, the archbishop
consecrated a magnificent diamond ring and offered it to the
King, who placed it upon the forefinger of his right hand, in
token of his espousal of the Kingdom; after which the archbishop took up the sceptre and the Hand of Justice from the
altar, and placed the one in the monarch's right hand and the
other in his left.

Then the Chancellor stepped to the altar, and, turning so
as to face the congregation, summoned in turn each of the
peers, secular and ecclesiastical, to present himself; and the
twelve peers came forward, one by one, until they formed a
circle round the King. The archbishop, however, immediately
went back to the altar, and taking up the great crown of
Charlemagne, held it just over the King's head, but without
allowing it to touch it, while the other peers placed their hands
under the crown in order to support it. The archbishop said
the prayer
Coronet te Deus
, and the crown was placed upon the
King's head, after which all the peers repeated another prayer,
beginning "
Accipe Coronam
."

This concluded, the archbishop took the King by the right
sleeve of his tunic and led him to the throne, the Constable
bearing the sword before them. The King took his seat, and
the archbishop, after offering him his mitre, kissed him upon
the shoulder, and cried in a loud voice: "
Vivat Rex in
æternum
." The peers, one by one, did the same; the trumpets
sounded, and the congregation burst into joyful acclamations,
which were taken up by the immense crowd assembled outside
the cathedral, whose enthusiasm was not diminished when
the heralds proceeded to scatter amongst them "about one
thousand pieces of gold forged and struck with the representation and image of the King, with the date of the day and
year of his very holy consecration and coronation, and a great
quantity of écus and common money."