1. On history and politics during the reign of Charles VI, see Françoise Autrand, Charles VI: La folie du roi (Paris, 1986); Jacques d'Avout, La querelle des Armagnacs et des Bourguignons (Paris, 1943); Henri David, Philippe le Hardi, duc de Bourgogne et co-regent de France de 1392 à 1404: Le train somptuaire d'un grand Valois (Dijon, 1947); Richard C. Famiglietti, Royal Intrigue: Crisis at the Court of Charles VI 1392-1420 (New York, 1986): Eugène Jarry, La vie politique de Louis de France, duc d'Orléans 1372-1407 (Paris, 1889); Léon Mirot, "L'enlèvement du dauphin et la prise d'armes entre Jean sans Peur et le duc d'Orléans," Revue des questions historiques 95 (1914): 328-55; 96 (1914): 47-68, 367-449; 97 (1914): 53-55, 396-97; Michel Nordberg, Les ducs et la royauté: Études sur la rivalité des ducs d'Orléans et de Bourgogne 1392-1407 , Studia Historica Upsaliensia, no. 12 (Uppsala, 1964); J[ohn] J[oseph] N[orman] Palmer, England, France, and Christendom 1377-1399 (Chapel Hill, 1972); Richard Vaughan, Philip the Bold: The Formation of the Burgundian State (Cambridge, Mass., 1962); idem, John the Fearless: The Growth of Burgundian Power (New York, 1966). On the regency established for Charles VI, see text page 113; and Cazelles, Société politique . . . Jean le Bon et Charles V , 579-81. [BACK]

2. Famiglietti's analysis of Charles's madness raises the question of whether he was ever fully sane after the onset of his illness in 1392. See "The Mental Disorder of Charles VI," in Famiglietti, Royal Intrigue , 1-21. [BACK]

3. Although the structure of these regency councils varied, they generally included, among others, the Queen, Louis of Orléans, John of Berry, Philip the Bold, and, after 1404, John the Fearless. Different provisions for the regency were established in 1393, 1402, 1403 (at least two), 1405, 1406, 1407, and 1409. For the most comprehensive discussion of these, see Famiglietti, Royal Intrigue . [BACK]

4. For discussion of the civil war, see Famiglietti, Royal Intrigue ; Jarry, La vie politique , 257-359; and Autrand, Charles VI , 425-501. Famiglietti pays close attention to the roles of Queen Isabeau and the dauphin Louis and gives a balanced view of the role of John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, in the dauphin's government. See Royal Intrigue , especially 73-75, 82-84. [BACK]

6. Monfrin, "Humanisme et traduction," 178. Monfrin discusses the literary patronage of Charles VI, Louis of Bourbon, and John of Berry, among others. [BACK]

7. The theory that Louis of Orléans used his commissions in an attempt to present himself as a successor to Charles VI is advanced in Christopher Ronald Schultz, "The Artistic and continue

Literary Patronage of Louis of Orléans and his Wife, Valentine Visconti, 1399-1408" (Ph.D. diss., Emory University, 1977). For other political ambitions of Louis of Orléans, see Gilbert Ouy, "Humanisme et propagande politique en France au début de XIV ^e siècle: Ambrogio Migli et les ambitions impériales de Louis d'Orléans," Culture et politique en France à l'époque de l'humanisme et de la Renaissance. Atti del Convegno internazionale promosso dall'Accademia delle scienze di Torino in collaborazione con la Fondazione Giorgio Cini di Venezia, 29 marzo-3 aprile 1971 , ed. Franco Simone (Turin, 1974), 13-42. [BACK]

8. For a summary of his view on the political literature produced during Charles VI's reign, see Krynen, Idéal du prince , 42-48. [BACK]

9. On the role of the royal chancellery and the University of Paris in political theory, see Lewis, "War Propaganda and Historiography in Fifteenth-Century France and England," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , 5th series, 15 (1965): 1-21; Krynen, Idéal du prince ; Jean de Montreuil, L'oeuvre * historique et polémique , in Opera , vol. 2, ed. Nicole Grévy, Ezio Ornato, and Gilbert Ouy (Turin, 1975); idem, Textes divers, appendices et tables , in Opera , vol. 3, ed. Nicole Grévy-Pons, Ezio Ornato, and Gilbert Ouy (Paris, 1981); Nicole Grévy-Pons, "Propagande et sentiment national pendant le règne de Charles VI: L'exemple de Jean de Montreuil," Francia 8 (1980): 127-45; Pons, "La propagande"; and idem, "Latin et français au XV ^ème siècle."

10. Jean de Montreuil's treatise, following in its broad outline the structure of Charles V's tirade, became an integral part of an unillustrated fifteenth-century manuscript of the Grandes Chroniques (B.N. fr. 4983). It is ironic that an argument once viewed as too specialized for inclusion in the Grandes Chroniques should later rejoin its original text—albeit in a different guise.

For the date of Montreuil's texts, see Montreuil, L'oeuvre historique , 9, 17-18. For the texts, see ibid., 159-261; and idem, Textes divers , 53-110. For discussion of Charles V's speech, see text pages 121-22. [BACK]

9. On the role of the royal chancellery and the University of Paris in political theory, see Lewis, "War Propaganda and Historiography in Fifteenth-Century France and England," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , 5th series, 15 (1965): 1-21; Krynen, Idéal du prince ; Jean de Montreuil, L'oeuvre * historique et polémique , in Opera , vol. 2, ed. Nicole Grévy, Ezio Ornato, and Gilbert Ouy (Turin, 1975); idem, Textes divers, appendices et tables , in Opera , vol. 3, ed. Nicole Grévy-Pons, Ezio Ornato, and Gilbert Ouy (Paris, 1981); Nicole Grévy-Pons, "Propagande et sentiment national pendant le règne de Charles VI: L'exemple de Jean de Montreuil," Francia 8 (1980): 127-45; Pons, "La propagande"; and idem, "Latin et français au XV ^ème siècle."

10. Jean de Montreuil's treatise, following in its broad outline the structure of Charles V's tirade, became an integral part of an unillustrated fifteenth-century manuscript of the Grandes Chroniques (B.N. fr. 4983). It is ironic that an argument once viewed as too specialized for inclusion in the Grandes Chroniques should later rejoin its original text—albeit in a different guise.

For the date of Montreuil's texts, see Montreuil, L'oeuvre historique , 9, 17-18. For the texts, see ibid., 159-261; and idem, Textes divers , 53-110. For discussion of Charles V's speech, see text pages 121-22. [BACK]

11. For a discussion of Christine de Pizan's views on the monarchy, see Claude Gauvard, "Christine de Pisan, a-t-elle eu une pensée politique?" Revue historique 253 (1973): 417-30; Hindman, Épistre Othéa ; Krynen, Idéal du prince ; Gianni Mombello, "Quelques aspects de la pensée politique de Christine de Pizan d'après ses oeuvres * publiées," Culture et politique en France à l'époque de l'humanisme et de la Renaissance. Atti del Convegno internazionale promosso dall'Accademia delle scienze di Torino in collaborazione con la Fondazione Giorgio Cini di Venezia, 29 marzo-3 aprile, 1971 , ed. Franco Simone (Turin, 1974), 43-152; and Josette Wisman, "L'éveil du sentiment nationale au Moyen-Âge: La pensée politique de Christine de Pisan," Revue historique 257 (1977): 289-97.

For the views of Philip de Mézières, see Nicolas Iorga, Philippe de Mézières 1327-1405 et la croisade au XIV ^e siècle (Paris, 1896), Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes-Études, Sciences philologique et historique, 110 fasc.; Mézières, Letter to King Richard II; idem, Le songe du vieil pelerin , ed. George W. Coopland (Cambridge, 1969). On illustrations to his autograph manuscripts, see Hindman, Épistre Othéa , 144-56; and Margaret V. Clarke, "The Wilton Diptych," Burlington Magazine 58 (1931): 283-94. [BACK]

12. The conservative manuscripts include Lyon, B.M. 880; B.N. fr. 2608 and B.N. fr. 10135; and Vienna, ÖNB 2564. [BACK]

13. See Mézières, Songe ; and Christine de Pizan, Livre des fais . [BACK]

14. For the marginal notes transferred from Charles V's copy to Charles VI's, and the speech they annotate in Charles V's chronicle, see text pages 121-22; and Hedeman, "Valois Legitimacy," 116-17. [BACK]

15. A diplomatic base, established as early as 1393, was cemented in 1396 when Isabel, Charles VI's daughter, was engaged to Richard II, king of England. See Autrand, Charles VI , 330-31; and Palmer, England, France and Christendom , 173-74. break [BACK]

16. On the cerf volant , see Beaune, "Costume et pouvoir en France à la fin du Moyen-Âge; Les devises royales vers 1400," Revue des sciences humaines 183 (1981): 138 especially; and Hindman, Épistre Othéa , 146-52. Beaune's examination of royal accounts for payments for cerfs volants suggests that they were most popular from 1382 to 1390 and that they scarcely ever appeared after 1394. [BACK]

17. On St. Denis's successful transition to national saint, see Beaune, Naissance de la nation France , 83-125. [BACK]

18. For a fuller discussion of the prologue, see the Introduction to this book, and for a discussion of the cult of Saint Louis, see Beaune, Naissance de la nation France , 126-64. [BACK]

19. The earliest known instance of the pairing of Saints Denis and Louis in a secular celebration occurred in a mystère at the entry of Charles VII into Paris in 1437. Even in this entry, Saints Denis and Louis appeared in a quasi-religious context; they were grouped in one scene with other saints popular in Paris—Thomas, Maurice, and Geneviève—as one of a series of mystères that included the seven deadly sins, the seven virtues, and scenes from the life of Christ. Bryant considers that their presence at the Painter's Gate refers to the king's juridical obligations. On this entry, see Guenée and Lehoux, Entrées royales , 26-27, 70-79; and Bryant, King and the City , 158-59. A painting of circa 1350 from Saint Michael's chapel in the royal palace commemorated the attachment of the Dauphiné to France in a picture that showed Blanche of Navarre; Philip of Valois; and the dauphin, Charles, at the crucifixion, under the protection of Saint Louis and Saint Denis. In the reign of Charles VII (circa 1450) a painting done for the Parlement of Paris showed Saint Louis (a portrait of Charles VII), Saint Denis, Saint Charlemagne, and Saint John the Baptist flanking a crucifixion. On these paintings, see Jean Bernard de Vaivre, "Sur trois primitifs français du XIV ^e siècle et le portrait de Jean le Bon," Gazette des Beaux-Arts 97 (1981): 131-56; and Charles Sterling and Hélène Adhemar, Peintures: École française XIV ^e , XV ^e , et XVI ^e siècles, (Paris, 1954), 17-18 no. 43, and pls. 120-27. [BACK]

20. For a discussion of Saint Denis's role as a protector of royal health, see Beaune, Naissance de la nation France , 96. For a description of the cure of John, duke of Normandy, see Viard, ed., Grandes Chroniques 9:148-50, cited in Beaune, Naissance de la nation France , 97. According to the Grandes Chroniques , Philip of Valois and his son, John, went on foot to Saint-Denis to give thanks for the cure to Saint Denis, "their patron." [BACK]

21. "La fueille qui est ou mileu nous segnefie la foy crestienne, et les autres II du costé senefient le clergié et la chevalerie qui doivent estre touz jourz apareillié de deffendre la foy crestienne. Et tant comme ces III demorront en France, foy, clergié et chevalerie, le reanme de France sera fort et ferme et plain de richece et d'onneur." Viard, ed., Grandes Chroniques , 7:61. This text appears in chapter 13 of the life of Saint Louis.

For the cult of the fleur-de-lis and the literary antecedents for this passage, see Hindman and Spiegel, "Fleur-de-lis Frontispiece," 385-93. [BACK]

22. The Christian kingship of the French ruler and the symbolism of the fleur-de-lis were part of the theory of sacred kingship first formulated during the reign of Philip the Fair. See Strayer, "France, the Holy Land"; and Beaune, Naissance de la nation France , 237-64. For its popularity in political theory during Charles VI's reign, see Krynen, Idéal du prince , 207-39.

Gerson in particular echoed the Grandes Chroniques and promoted the fleur-de-lis as a sign of good government in a sermon of 1392: "Et vous, très noble et excellent prince metez y diligence; ne souffres point que la noble louenge de vos predecesseurs qui est que on les apelle roys très créstiens, en vous defaille ou diminue. Prenes et constamment recepvues cet éscu d'armes à trois fleurs de liz pour la créance de la trinité en l'unité de la divinité." Cited in Krynen, Idéal du prince , 225. For the full text of the sermon, see Jean Gerson, L'oeuvre * poétique , vol. 4 of OEuvres * complètes , ed. Palemon Glorieux (Paris, 1960-73), 113-14. break [BACK]

23. For John of Montaigu, who owned Vienna, ÖNB 2564, see L. Merlet, "Biographie de Jean de Montagu, Grand-Maître de France (1350-1409)," Bibliothèque de l'École de Chartes 3 (1852): 248-84. [BACK]

24. These versions of the Grandes Chroniques incorporate the same mistake in their texts—both jump within one folio from the end of chapter 72 of the life of Philip IV into the middle of chapter 1 of the life of Louis X, thus omitting five chapters of text. This error went unnoticed in the manuscript from Lyon; an unsuccessful attempt was made to correct it in John of Montaigu's book. [BACK]