• Aboriginals in North America
  • Beast Literature
  • Canadiana.1
  • Dances & Music
  • Europe: Ukraine & Russia
  • Fables and Fairy Tales
  • Fables by Jean de La Fontaine
  • Feasts & Liturgy
  • Great Books Online
  • La Princesse de Clèves
  • Middle East
  • Molière
  • Nominations
  • Posts on Love Celebrated
  • Posts on the United States
  • The Art and Music of Russia
  • The French Revolution & Napoleon Bonaparte
  • Voyageurs Posts
  • Canadiana.2

Micheline's Blog

~ Art, music, books, history & current events

Micheline's Blog

Tag Archives: Battle of Agincourt

Charles d’Orléans: a Prince and a Poet

17 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in History, Literature, Songs

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

"Le Printemps", Ballades & Rondeaux, Battle of Agincourt, Charles d'Orléans, Hella Haasse, Le Temps a laissé son manteau, Rondel, Valentine's Day

Charles, Duc d'Orléans

Charles, Duc d’Orléans (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Charles d’Orléans, a Prince & a Poet

This post was published in 2012 and has been revised. When I first published it, I had very few readers.

Charles, Duke of Orléans (24 November 1394, Paris – 5 January 1465), was among the victims of the Hundred Years’ War (1337 to 1453). Had Charles reigned, he would have been a Valois king, a cadet branch of the Bourbon kings. The Salic Law ended the Valois line as women could not accede to the throne of France. Charles’ son, Louis XII, orphaned at the age of three, would be King of France.

Charles d’Orléans is associated with the lore about St Valentine’s Day or Valentine’s Day. He circulated in French courtly circles the Valentine stories told by Chaucer and Othon de Grandson‘s (FR, Wikipedia): birds, martyrs and a note signed “From your Valentine.” Coincidentally, his mother was named Valentina, Valentina Visconti. Her picture is featured below, mourning Louis.

Charles d’Orléans & the Battle of Agincourt (1415)

Charles d’Orléans is a fascinating and intriguing figure. He became Duke of Orléans at the early age of 13, when his father, Louis d’Orléans, was assassinated by men acting on behalf of the Duke of Burgundy, the opposing faction. Charles was an Armagnac and, therefore, a supporter of the House of Valois. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, during Charles’ imprisonment in England. Because of her, a legitimate French king, Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461) ascended to the throne. He was crowned at Reims Cathedral.

Valentine of Milan

Valentine of Milan, Charles’ mother, mourning her husband’s death, François-Fleury Richard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jeanne d'Arc

Jeanne d’Arc, painting, c. 1485. (Centre Historique des Archives Nationales, Paris, AE II 2490) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Charles was wounded at the Battle of Agincourt (25 October 1415) and was taken prisoner by Sir Richard Waller. Because he was a “prince du sang,” literally a “prince of the blood,” i.e. a possible heir to the throne of France, Henry V, did not want him to return to France. In fact, Henry V of England also claimed he was heir to the throne of France. So Charles spent nearly 25 years detained in England. It is said that, upon his return to France, in 1440, he spoke English better than French. (See Charles d’Orléans, Wikipedia.)

the Beginning of a Lasting Friendship

During his imprisonment, Charles was seldom behind bars, but housed quite comfortably in various castles. One of these was Wallingford Castle, a castle that belonged to Sir Richard Waller, who had captured him at the Battle of Agincourt (now Azincourt), an English victory and a key moment in the Hundred Years’ War (1337 to 1453).

A very sincere and long-lasting friendship grew between Sir Waller and the Duke, who, upon his release, was very generous to his friend and jailor. In fact, Sir Richard Waller added the fleur-de-lis to the Waller Coat of Arms. Moreover, Charles was a relatively free prisoner, who frequently travelled to London, but never on his own. Yet, he was separated from his family and away from his native country for a very long time. Besides, he must have worried about the future. How could he tell whether or not he would one day return to France?

A depiction of Charles' imprisonment in the Tower of London from an illuminated manuscript of his poems

A depiction of Charles’ imprisonment in the Tower of London from an illuminated manuscript of his poems (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A poet is born

So Charles whiled away the years of his lengthy captivity writing poems and songs, which, I would suspect, helped him cope in his « Forêt de longue attente », to use his own words (The Forest of Long Awaiting, my very mediocre translation). It could be said, therefore, that he created for himself a “literary homeland,” and never left it. When he returned to France, he stayed at his castle in Blois and entertained poets.

I would also suspect our prisoner was not only rescued by art but that art, poetry in particular, was his true calling. Charles d’Orléans is an important figure in the history of French literature. Britannica describes him as:

“one of the greatest, of the courtly poets of France, who during exile in England also earned a reputation for his poems in English.”[1]

Charles_of_Orleans_&_Marie_of_Cleves

Charles d’Orléans & Marie de Clèves (a tapestry) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Charles’ Son: a Future King

After he was freed, in 1440, Charles lived at Château de Blois and befriended poets. But his poems are not his only legacy. At the age of 46, he married 14-year-old Marie de Clèves:

« Car pour moi fustes trop tart née,
Et moy pour vous fus trop tost né. »

“You for me were born too late.
And I for you was born too soon.” 

(Project Gutenberg [EBook #14343])

Marie de Clèves, whom he loved dearly, bore him three children, one of whom would be Louis XII, King of France. Charles was 68 when his son was born. He had turned to poetry, but he was a “prince du sang” (a Prince of the Blood, i.e. a possible heir to the throne of France). So was his son.

Charles reçoit l’hommage d’un vassal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hella Haasse

In England, Charles wrote ballades (ballads). In France, he wrote rondeaux and rondels. The rondeau however is also a musical form.[2]  At the end of En la forêt de longue attente, we find un envoi, a few lines of praise or homage, or a short conclusion. Charles d’Orléans’ Le Printemps, the most famous rondel in the French language, uses a refrain, repeated lines.

Charles d’Orléans’ En la forêt de longue attente [3] is a ballade, written in England and containing an envoi. It was translated in 1949, as Het Woud der verwachting, by Hella Haasse (2 February 1918 – 29 septembre 2011). Hella Haasse’s translations of Charles d’Orléans poetry created a revival of Charles’ poetry in France. But Debussy had already set some of Charles’s poems to music he composed. Edward Elgar set to music “Is she not passing fair.”

“Le Printemps,” the Best-Known Rondel

Charles d’Orléans’ “Le Printemps” (spring time) is the best-known rondel in the French language. A rondel consists of 13 octosyllabic verses (8 syllables). The translation, not mine, is literal. There are more lyrical translations.

1)
Le-temps-a-lais-sé-son-man-teau (8 syllables)
De-vent,-de-froi-dure-et-de-pluie
Et s’est vêtu de broderie,
De soleil luisant, clair et beau.

The season removed his coat
Of wind, cold and rain,
And put on embroidery,
Gleaming sunshine, bright and beautiful.

2)
Il n’y a bête ni oiseau,
Qu’en son jargon ne chante ou crie:
“Le temps a laissé son manteau!
De vent, de froidure et de pluie.”

There is neither animal nor bird
That doesn’t tell in it’s own tongue:
“The season removed his coat.
Of wind, cold and rain.”

3)
Rivière, fontaine et ruisseau
Portent en livrée jolie,
Gouttes d’argent, d’orfèvrerie,
Chacun s’habille de nouveau
Le temps a laissé son manteau.

Rivers, fountains and brooks
Wear, as handsome garments,
Silver drops of goldsmith’s work;
Everyone puts on new clothing:
The season removed his coat.

 

So the story of Charles d’Orléans is a story of survival. During his years of exile, he found a refuge in poetry. He wrote Ballades, rondeaux mainly, but also composed songs and wrote lays (lais) and complaints (complaintes). His poetry is characterized by melancholy, yet it reveals a sense of humour.

Consider Charles’ legacy. Yes, his son would be King of France, Louis XII. But I am thinking of Charles d’Orléans’ poems and songs. Charles d’Orléans lived five hundred years ago, but we still read his poems. He is therefore alive and linked to the lore of St Valentine’s Day.

Love to everyone. 💕
_________________________
[1] “Charles, duc d’Orleans”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 15 févr.. 2015
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/432785/Charles-duc-dOrleans>.

[2] Together with the ballade and the virelai, it [the rondeau] was considered one of the three formes fixes, and one of the verse forms in France most commonly set to music between the late 13th and the 15th centuries. It is structured around a fixed pattern of repetition of material involving a refrain. 

[3] En la forêt de longue attente is a Wikisource publication. It is Ballade V.

—ooo—

(please click on the titles to hear the music)    
Charles d’Orléans: “Le temps a laissé son manteau,” Michel Polnareff
 
poet: Charles d’Orléans
piece:  “Le temps a laissé son manteau” (Le Printemps)
performer: Ernst van Altena
 
Château de Blois

Château de Blois (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
17 February  2012
revised: 16 February 2015
WordPress
 
 
 

Micheline's Blog

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

A Frivolous Love Story: “histoire de coeur”

16 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, History

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Battle of Agincourt, Charles as poet, Charles d'Orléans, Encyclopædia Britannica, England, France, Geoffrey Chaucer, Valentine's Day

Vases with Red Poppies, by Van Gogh (Photo credit: Wikipedia

Vases with Red Poppies, by Van Gogh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been doing maintenance work on my posts and ended up reinserting images that had disappeared and revising certain blogs.  I also discovered a missing blog on Chaucer & Valentine’s Day and rediscovered Charles d’Orléans.

Charles d’Orléans (24 November 1394, Paris – 5 January 1465, Amboise) was a French Duke who was taken prisoner at the Battle of Agincourt, on the 25th of October 1415, and spent nearly 25 years in England, as a “prisoner.”  Because he was a possible heir to the throne of France, the English king, Henry V, would not allow him to leave England.cvalhrt17

Charles’ first wife died in childbirth, but their daughter Joan survived.  His second wife died while he was a prisoner in England.  But when he returned to France, he married 14-year-old Marie de Clèves (19 September 1426 – 23 August 1487).  He was then 46.  She gave birth to the first of their three children, Marie d’Orléans, in 1457.  Their second child, born in 1462, would be Louis XII, king of France.  Their third child, Anne of Orleans, was born in 1464.

When Charles was released, in 1440, “speaking better English than French,” according to the English chronicler Raphael Holinshed (Charles d’Orléans, Wikipedia), he had become not only a poet, but an excellent poet.  One of his poems is exquisite.  It’s about winter: Le temps a laissé son manteau…  (The weather left its coat…).  It is included in my now relatively old, but updated post.  However, for this post, I have chosen a frivolous song.

Claude Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) wrote music based on this poem, but we also have a Dutch song, mixing French and Dutch.  Moreover, there is a site that features Charles singing a St Valentine’s song.  When he returned to France, Charles d’Orléans made Valentine’s Day known in courtly circles.

It seems Geoffrey Chaucer is the father of Valentine’s day.  He wrote that Valentine’s Day was the day on which birds mated.  This myth probably existed long before Chaucer, but he made it official, so to speak.  It is included in his Parlement of Fowles, 1382.

RELATED POSTS:

  • Chaucer & Valentine’s Day (michelinewalker.com)
  • Valentine’s Day: Martyrs and Birds (michelinewalker.com)
  • Charles d’Orléans: Portrait of an Unlikely Poet (michelinewalker.com)
_________________________
“Geoffrey Chaucer”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/108024/Geoffrey-Chaucer>.
 

Histoire de cœur, by Michel Polnareff (born 1944)

 

Vase-with-Red-Poppies

© Micheline Walker
16 February 2013
WordPress

Micheline's Blog

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Charles d’Orléans: Portrait of an Unlikely Poet

17 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in History, Literature, Songs

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Battle of Agincourt, Charles d'Orléans, Claude Debussy, Hella Haasse, Le Temps a laissé son manteau, Sir Richard Waller

Charles, Duc d'Orléans

Charles, Duc d’Orléans (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Charles d’Orléans

In a blog entitled “Valentine’s Day: Martyrs and Birds,” I mentioned Charles d’Orléans who helped spread Othon de Grandson‘s FR stories about St Valentine’s Day at the court of France. I put a link to information concerning Charles d’Orléans, as there was no time or space to tell his story.

Charles d’Orléans & the Battle of Agincourt (1415)

Charles d’Orléans (24 November 1394, Paris – 5 January 1465) is a fascinating and intriguing figure. He became Duke of Orléans at the early age 13, when his father, Louis X, was assassinated by men acting on behalf of the Duke of Burgundy, the opposing faction.

Charles was wounded at the Battle of Agincourt (25 October 1415) and was taken prisoner by Sir Richard Waller. Because he was a “prince du sang,” a prince of the blood, and, therefore, a possible heir to the throne of France, the King of England, Henri V, did not want him to return to France. Charles would spend nearly 25 years detained in England.

Charles as Prisoner:  the Beginning of a Lasting Friendship

During his imprisonment, he was not behind bars but housed quite comfortably in various castles.  One of these was Wallingford Castle, a castle that belonged to Sir Richard Waller who had captured him at the Battle of Agincourt, a key moment in the Hundred Years War (1337 to 1453).

Fortunately, a very sincere and long-lasting friendship grew between Sir Waller and the Duke, who, upon his release, was very generous to his friend and jailor. In fact, Sir Richard Waller added the fleur-de-lis to the Waller Coat of Arms. Moreover, Charles was a relatively free ‘prisoner,’ who frequently travelled to London, though never on his own. Yet, he was separated from his family and homeland for a very long time. Besides, he must have wondered whether France would survive and whether he would one day return to his homeland?

The Tower of London

The Tower of London (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A poet is born

So, Charles whiled away the years of his lengthy captivity writing poems and songs, which, I would suspect, helped him cope with his “longue attente,” to use his own words. One could suggest, therefore, that he created for himself a “literary homeland,” which he never left. When he returned to France, he lived at the castle of Blois, where he entertained poets. One could suspect our prisoner was rescued by art and that art was his true calling. Charles d’Orléans is an important figure in the history of French literature.

A Son & Future King

But his poems are not his only legacy. At the age of 46, he married Marie de Clèves who was 14 years old. She bore him three children, one of whom would be Louis XII, King of France. Charles was 68 when his son was born. He had turned to poetry, but he was a “prince du sang” (a Prince of the Blood; possible heir to the throne of France), and so was his son.

Charles reçoit l’hommage d’un vassal (click to enlarge)

Hella Haasse

Charles’ best-known poem is En la forêt de longue attente, translated in 1949, as Het Woud der Verwachting, Hella Haasse (2 February 1918 – 29 September 2011).  Hella Haasse’s translations of Charles d’Orléans poetry created a revival of Charles’s poetry in France. But Debussy had already set some of Charles’s poems to the music he composed.

However, the following poem is the one that lingers in my mind:

Le temps a laissé son manteau
De vent, de froidure et de pluie
Et s’est vêtu de broderie,
De soleil luisant, clair et beau.
 

The season removed its coat
Of wind, cold and rain,
And put on embroidery,
Gleaming sunshine, bright and beautiful.

 
Il n’y a bête ni oiseau,
Qu’en son jargon ne chante ou crie:
“Le temps a laissé son manteau!
De vent, de froidure et de pluie.”
 

There is neither animal nor bird
That doesn’t tell in its own tongue:
The season removed his coat
of wind, cold and rain

 
Rivière, fontaine et ruisseau
Portent en livrée jolie,
Gouttes d’argent, d’orfèvrerie,
Chacun s’habille de nouveau
Le temps a laissé son manteau.
 

Rivers, fountains and brooks
Wear, as handsome garments,
Silver drops of goldsmith’s work;
Everyone puts on new clothing:
The season removed his coat.

 

So, the story of Charles d’Orléans is a story of survival. During his years of exile, he found a refuge in poetry, an above-mentioned “literary homeland.”

Let us consider his legacy. Yes, his son would be the King of France, as Louis XII. However, I am thinking of Charles d’Orléans’ poems and his songs. Charles d’Orléans died five hundred years ago, yet Charles d’Orléans lives in his poetry and songs, and he is forever linked to the lore of St Valentine’s Day.

 
(please click on the titles to hear the music)    
Charles d’Orléans: “Le temps a laissé son manteau,” Michel Polnareff
 
poet: Charles d’Orléans
piece:  “Le temps a laissé son manteau” 
performer: Ernst van Altena
 
© Micheline Walker
17 February 2012
WordPress
 
 
45.403816 -71.938314

Micheline's Blog

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Europa

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,507 other subscribers

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Epiphany 2023
  • Pavarotti sings Schubert’s « Ave Maria »
  • Yves Montand chante “À Bicyclette”
  • Almost ready
  • Bicycles for Migrant Farm Workers
  • Tout Molière.net : parti …
  • Remembering Belaud
  • Monet’s Magpie
  • To Lori Weber: Language Laws in Quebec, 2
  • To Lori Weber: Language Laws

Archives

Calendar

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jan    

Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • WordPress.org

micheline.walker@videotron.ca

Micheline Walker

Micheline Walker

Social

Social

  • View belaud44’s profile on Facebook
  • View Follow @mouchette_02’s profile on Twitter
  • View Micheline Walker’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View belaud44’s profile on YouTube
  • View Miicheline Walker’s profile on Google+
  • View michelinewalker’s profile on WordPress.org

Micheline Walker

Micheline Walker
Follow Micheline's Blog on WordPress.com

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

  • Follow Following
    • Micheline's Blog
    • Join 2,475 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Micheline's Blog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: