Dijon |
The Musée de Beaux-Arts
houses these two magnificent tombs of
the Valois Dukes of Burgundy. NB: photography is permitted but no
flash. |
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Above and left:
Philip the Bold
(1342-1404) by
Jean de Marville
(1384-89), Claus
Sluter (1404-05)& Claus de Werve (1406-1410).
Of black marble and alabaster, guilded and polychrome.
Both monuments were originally in the Charterhouse of Champmol
in Dijon, then in 1792 were moved to the cathedral; After major
restorations they were moved again to the Duke's Palace - now
the Museum - in 1827.
Philip the Bold
was the fourth and
youngest son of King John the Good and Bonne of
Luxembourg, and hence brother of Charles V, the Wise. On
Charles's death his son - Charles VI - became king and
the latter's uncles on both sides acted as regents, with
Philip taking the dominant role. In 1388 King Charles
took up personal rule and the regents lost their power.
However in 1392 while leading an expedition against
Brittany the King became insane (thereafter known as
'Charles the Mad') and Philip appointed himself regent,
dismissing the King's advisers. He was the principle
ruler of France until 1402.
This act was to have disastrous consequences in the
future as Louis, Duke of Orléans, the King's bother
resented the fact that his uncle, Philip, acted as
regent rather than himself, thus splitting the Valois
family. Louis was regarded as profligate and
irresponsible again the sober and reforming Philip,
which enhanced the latter's reputation. However in a
rare moment of sanity King Charles confirmed his brother
as regent but the latter's misrule allowed Philip to
gain control shortly before his death in 1404
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Connextion September 2020
(English Newspaper in France) reports
that the weeper which was stolen from the monument of
Philip the Bold during the French Revolution has now been
restored to its rightful place. It is alabaster, twenty cms high
and one of a set of eighty two; the figure hold his nose to hold
back tears, a weeper indeed! The weeper had been in private
hands since 1813 and the current possessor had attempted to take
it out of France in order to sell it for a reported €3 million
in 2014. It was returned to the monument following a legal
battle.
This is positive news about the theft of church artifacts; however
attempting to sell stolen property should not need a legal
battle as it is surely a criminal offence.
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Right and below:
John the
Fearless (1371-1419) & Marguerite de Bavière
(1363-1423) by
Jean de La Huerta & Antoine Le Moiturier.
Also of black marble and alabaster, guilded and polychrome.
John the Fearless
was the son of Philip the Bold,
and became Duke of Burgundy on the latter's death,
continuing the conflict and power struggle with Louis,
Duke of Orléans. John managed to gain guardianship of
the Dauphin and the King's other children during one of
the periods of the Charles's insanity and this increased
the hostility between the two rival parties.
In 1407 Louis was brutally assassinated in the streets
of Paris an act which John admitted responsibility for
calling it an 'act of tyrannicide'. It was felt by some
writers that Louis had received his just deserts.
During a period of sanity the King absolved John and
Louis's son, Charles, pledged reconciliation. However
Charles of Orléans was only fourteen at the time and
relied on his allies, the chief of whom was Bernard VI,
Count of Armagnac, his father-in-law and also Queen
Isabeau's lover.
King Henry V of England invaded France and threatened
Paris. Henry was in contact both with John and the
Armagnacs. When Henry demanded John's support for his
claim to the crown of France, John then allied himself
with the Armanacs, not wishing to be unpopular with the
French people. However he did not take part in the
Battle of Agincourt.
Two years later the rivalry increased because of the
disastrous defeat of the French at the above battle. In
1418 John captured Paris and made himself protector of
the King; however the Dauphin had fled. However he did
nothing to prevent the surrender of Rouen to Henry in
1419.
John and the Dauphin then swore peace at the Bridge of
Pouilly near Melun. However the Dauphin was not
satisfied with the negotiation and requested a further
meeting in September 1419 at the Bridge at Metereau.
John arrived believing it to be a diplomatic meeting but
was assassinated by the Dauphin's companions.
His son succeeded him as Philip the Good and this man
allied himself with the English allowing Henry VI to
eventually become king of both England and France.
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