Class __E.QJ35A 
 Book .C^C\ A2 
 
GONTIER COL 
 
 AND THE 
 
 FRENCH PRE-RENAISSANCE 
 
 BY 
 
 ALMA DE L. LE DUG, Ph.D. 
 
 INSTRUCTOR IN FRENCH, BARNARD COLLEGE 
 
 Reprinted from the Romanic Review, Vol. VII, No. 4, 414-457, 1916; 
 Vol. VIII, No. 2, 145-165, and No. 3, 290-306, 1917 
 
 PRESS OF 
 
 THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY 
 
 LANCASTER, PA. 
 
GONTIER COL 
 
 AND THE 
 
 FRENCH PRE-RENAISSANCE 
 
 *^'\i m 
 
 IAN 
 
GONTIER COL 
 
 AND THE 
 
 FRENCH PRE-RENAISSANCE 
 
 BY 
 
 ALMA DE L. LE DUC, Ph.D. 
 
 INSTRUCTOR IN FRENCH, BARNARD COLLEGE 
 
 Reprinted from the Romanic Review, Vol. VII, No. 4, 4x4-457, 1916; 
 Vol. VIII, No. 2, 145-165, and No. 3, 290-306, 1917 
 
 PRESS OF 
 
 THE NEW ERA PRINTINQ COMPANY 
 
 LANCASTER, PA. 
 
 19X8 
 

 X 
 
PREFACE 
 
 ^ My interest in the French Pre-Renaissance was first awakened 
 by a course on the Renaissance in France, given by Professor T. A. 
 Jenkins, at the University of Chicago, in 1 906-1 907. The phase 
 of the subject on which I have written did not, however, take defi- 
 nite shape until 1909-19 10, while studying at the Sorbonne, where 
 I attended courses given by M. Antoine Thomas, whose thesis, 
 De Joannis de Monsterolio, vita et operibtis, helped me to define my 
 own subject. I here desire to express my obligation to M. Thomas 
 for his kindness in putting at my disposal unpublished material col- 
 lected by him, on Ambrosius de Miliis, which I have incorporated 
 in my dissertation. I also wish to express my obligation to M. 
 Roy, conseiller a la Cour des Comptes de Paris, for some material 
 on the subject of Gontier Col; and to M. Prou, directeur de I'Ecole 
 des Chartes, for so kindly answering my inquiries about Sens. I 
 am glad of an opportunity to thank these distinguished French 
 scholars who, despite the grave matters that occupied them, have 
 taken time to give me the information I desired.. 
 
 Finally, I would express my thanks to the members of the Ro- 
 mance Department of Columbia University; especially to Professor 
 H. A. Todd for his constant help and for his careful reading of my 
 dissertation in proof-sheets, and to Professor John L. Gerig, for 
 putting at my disposal bibliographical and other data, and for help- 
 ing me solve certain problems of presentation. My thanks are also 
 due to Professor John M. Burnam, of the University of Cincinnati, 
 for kindly consenting to read my transcription of the Latin ms. 
 letter in the Tours library; and to Miss I. G. Mudge, reference 
 librarian of Columbia University, for her generous help in the 
 bibliographical field, and for reading the bibliography in proof. 
 
 One word in conclusion. The texts of the passages published 
 in my dissertation, and drawn from various sources, have been 
 printed as they were found : they have not been modernized. 
 
 A. DE L. L. D. 
 
 Columbia University, 
 April, 1916. 
 
CONTENTS 
 Part I — Official and Diplomatic Career 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction i 
 
 I. Early life; fiscal position; Col becomes notary and sec- 
 retary to King Charles VI .2 
 
 II. Gontier Col goes to Avignon in 1395 as secretary of the 
 
 embassy of the Dukes of Berry, Burgundy and Orleans 1 1 
 
 III. Gontier Col and his patrons, the Dukes of Berry and 
 
 Orleans 16 
 
 IV. Col on embassies concerned with the marriage and later 
 
 with the return to France of Isabella. Embassy to 
 
 Florence 20 
 
 V. Treasurer and diplomatic agent; banishment (1401- 
 
 1413) 24 
 
 VI. Embassy to the duke of Brittany (1414) 29 
 
 VII. Winchester Week ( 1415) 34 
 
 VIII. Last years and death 42 
 
 Part II — Literary Activities 
 
 I. Gontier Col and the Quarrel of the Roman de la Rose. 45 
 
 II. Gontier Col, a member of the " Cour Amoureuse" .... 53 
 
 III. Col's role in the quarrel between Jehan de Monstereul 
 
 and Ambrosius de Miliis 58 
 
 IV. The Question of the Curial 65 
 
 V. Group aspect of contemporary literature 6S 
 
 VI. The role of the " negociateur " in the early Renaissance 78 
 
 VII. Conclusion 79 
 
 Appendices 82 
 
 Bibliography 95 
 
 Name-index 102 
 
 vu 
 
GONTIER COL AND THE FRENCH PRE-RENAISSANCE 
 
 PART L— OFFICIAL AND DIPLOMATIC CAREER 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 TOWARDS the end of the fourteenth century there appeared 
 in France a small group of literary men, the best known of 
 whom is Jehan de Monstereul.^ Together with his two friends, 
 Nicolas de Clamenges and Gontier Col, Jehan de Monstereul forms 
 the nucleus of a movement inspired by a deep admiration for the 
 writers of antiquity and the Renaissance that was beginning in Italy. 
 France produced no immediate successors to this group, and she had 
 to wait about a century for her Renaissance, a fact that has often 
 been put down to the prevalence of troublous times. That explana- 
 tion has not proved satisfactory to all critics, some of whom claim 
 that political conditions in Italy were equally troubled. In face of 
 the lack of convincing evidence, it would be idle to speculate as to 
 how far the temporary failure of the movement in France may have 
 been due to the fact that two of the prime movers were of the 
 Armagnac party and lost their lives because of political animosities. 
 Irrespective of results, they hold a place in the history of the incep- 
 tion of the Renaissance idea in France. One of the chief of these, as 
 has already been said, is Gontier Col, whose career shows an interest- 
 ing parallel to that of his life-long friend, Jean de Monstereul, best 
 known of the Pre-Renaissance group and according to some authori- 
 ties the only real Pre-Humanist in France. Both men acted as sec- 
 retary to Charles VI, both were inspired by a great love for classical 
 antiquity, both had come in contact with Italian Humanism, both 
 were Armagnacs, and both were murdered, it is believed, by the 
 Burgundians in Paris in 1418. Their lives paralleled somewhat that 
 of their contemporary and acquaintance, the Italian Humanist, 
 Coluccio Salutato, Petrarch's friend. He too was a diplomat, the 
 secretary of two Popes (Urban II and Gregory XI), and employed 
 
 1 For the form of this name see A. Thomas, Le nom et la famille de Jehan 
 de Monstereul in Romania, vol. 37 (1908), p. 594, note i. 
 
 I 
 
in the service of the Republic of Venice; and his influence, like that 
 of Col, was felt chiefly thru his personal relations with the men 
 of the time and thru his correspondence, neither of these men hav- 
 ing left works of a purely literary character — unless we except Col's 
 letters in the " Debat du Roman de la Rose" the role he played in 
 that quarrel being fairly well known. The fact is that Col is remem- 
 bered — ^^by those few modern readers who remember him at all — as 
 the man who wrote some rude letters to Christine de Pisan. 
 
 The reputation that Col had among his contemporaries was a 
 very different one, as is shown, for instance, by the Religieux de St. 
 Denis,^ who speaks of him as a man of much learning and as one 
 whose trustworthiness had been tested ; and this opinion is reflected 
 by Petit de Julleville :^ 
 
 " Ce f ut un etrange personnage que ce Gontier Col et sa vie est 
 pour nous un exemple admirable de simplicite et de modestie. Qui 
 croirait que ce personnage si peu connu a ete employe dans les am- 
 bassades les plus serieuses, dans les missions les plus considerables ?" 
 
 This modesty of Col's perhaps explains why a man should come 
 down to posterity bracketed with a passing incident, when some of 
 his real services to his country and to the development of the times 
 had been overlooked. This does not mean that Col was a great man. 
 As has often been said, however, the tendencies of the times fre- 
 quently show themselves more clearly in the minor personages of an 
 epoch than in the geniuses ; accordingly in the career of this Human- 
 ist and diplomat we may be able to bring to light some of the im- 
 portant characteristics and tendencies of the Pre-Renaissance in 
 France. 
 
 I. — Early Life; Fiscal Position; Col becomes Notary and 
 Secretary to King Charles VI 
 
 Gontier Col was born at Sens in the departement de I'Yonne. 
 The exact date is not known, there being no parish records at Sens 
 before the i6th century, but an approximation may be reached by 
 
 2 Religieux de St. Denis, Cronicorum Caroli Sexti (Paris, 1896-1902), vol. 
 iii, p. 3. For the Religieux de Saint Denis see: N. Valois, Jacques de Nouvion 
 et le Religieux de St. Denis, Bibliotheque de I'Ecole des Chartes, vol. 63, p. 233, 
 Paris, 1902. 
 
 3 Revue des cours et conferences, 1896, p. 542. 
 
means of certain comparisons.'* The first precise date I have found 
 with reference to Col is 1379,*^ when he is listed as "receveur des 
 aides/' a rather subordinate position. He was killed in 1418,^ which 
 would make a career of some thirty-nine years, based on the supposi- 
 tion that 1379 was the date of Col's first appointment. His most 
 intimate friend and contemporary, Jean de Monstereul, was 
 born in 1354,^ and was also killed by the Burgundians in 1418.^ 
 Monstereul's first appointment of which there is any record dates 
 from 1375.* It is probable that he was secretary to Charles VI as 
 early as 1389,^^ and there is positive proof that he held that post in 
 1394.^^ Col had a similar appointment, possibly about 1387;^^ he 
 certainly had a similar one in 1393. So that it seems that Col was 
 born between 1350 and 1360. In the light of certain documents 
 found by him, M. Roy fixes the date more closely than this.^^ In 
 1435 Marguerite Chacerat, Col's widow, was about sixty- two. Her 
 marriage to Col might very well have taken place about 1388- 1390, 
 and that, together with Col's position in 1379, has led M. Roy to 
 place the probable date of Col's birth as circa 1354. 
 
 Gontier Col's name is found spelled in a variety of ways, the 
 most fantastic forms occurring in Rymer and Monstrelet. Some 
 of them, such as Gautier, Gaultier, Goulthier, are probably due to 
 mere blundering on the part of the scribes. Even the surname Col, 
 which is a fairly simple monosyllable, appears as Coll, Colle, Coh, 
 Coel, and Call. The name is rather an unusual one in France in 
 the fourteenth century. Besides Col's immediate family, we find 
 
 * A. Thomas, De Joannis de MonsteroUo vita et operibus, Parisiis, 1883, p. 80. 
 U. Chevalier, Repertoire des sources historiques du moyen age, Bio-bibliographie, 
 1905-1907, article Gontier Col. M. Quantin, Dictionnaire topographique du 
 departement de I'Yonne, Paris, 1862, p. 122. 
 
 5 L. Delisle, Mandements et actes divers de Charles V, Paris, 1874, No. 1869. 
 p. 914. 
 
 8 Sauval, Antiquites de Paris, Paris, 1724, vol. 3, p. 304. A. Thomas, op. 
 cit., p. 81. 
 
 ^ A. Thomas, op. cit., p. 4. 
 
 8 Ibid., p. 13. 
 
 » Ibid., p. 6. 
 
 ^0 Ibid., p. 6, note 4. 
 
 11 Ibid., p. 8. 
 
 12 See p. 8, infra. 
 
 18 Archives de I'Yonne, H 528. 
 
one Simon Col, a trumpeter of the King (1364)^* mentioned by 
 Machaut, and a certain "Marie Col, whose connection with the Col 
 family, if any, is not apparent. ^^ There are also two curious refer- 
 ences to a certain Gaulthier or Walter Col, in the service of the 
 English King as "Connetable de Bordeaux" in 1439, and as Eng- 
 lish diplomatic agent treating with the French in 1441.^® The king 
 he serves and the date preclude the possibility of this being our Gon- 
 tier Col (died 1418), and there is nothing to show that our Gontier 
 had a son of that name. 
 
 References are found to several children of Gontier Col's. One, 
 a daughter, married a certain Charles de Beaumoulin.^''' The wed- 
 ding took place between the twenty-sixth of February and the fif- 
 teenth of April, 1401-02, and, according to M. Roy, the Queen gave 
 the bride " XX marcs d'argent dore."^^ That the wedding was cele- 
 brated with great pomp and circumstance is shown by the presence 
 at the wedding of three kings, seventeen dukes and counts and 
 twenty-two prelates. Another daughter of Gontier Col, Catherine 
 by name, married an "escuier du roy" by the name of Jean Spi- 
 fame.^^ Gontier also had two sons, John and Nicolas, possibly 
 
 14 F. J. Fetis, Biographie Universelle des Musiciens, vol. II, p. 332. 
 
 ^^ See Th. Carte, Catalogue des Rolles Gascons, Normands et Frangois, 
 conserves dans les Archives de la Tour de Londres. A Londres et se trouve a 
 Paris (1643), vol. I. Rotulus Normanniae de anno 8. Henrici V, Pars 3. Mem- 
 brana 24, p. 354. (An. Dom. 1420, 1421.) De terris concessis Mariae Col. 
 
 i^J. Delpit, Collection generale des documents frangais qui se trouvent en 
 Angleterre, Paris, 1847, vol. i, p. 257; J. Tardif, Monuments historiques, Paris, 
 1866, p. 464. 
 
 '^'^ Poree, Histoire des rues et des maisons de Sens, Auxerre, 191 5, p. 21, note 
 5: "Mon cousin maistre Nicolas Col me fait maistre an escripf, le IX® jour de 
 juillet mil IIII*^ soixante-et-onze que maistre Jehan Col, son frere estoit trespasse 
 depuis (que) maistre Gonthier Col, leur pere deulx ans depuys ; et que son 
 pere avoit donne en mariage a sa soeur, qui esposa messire Charlies de Beau- 
 moulin quatre mille escuz d'or et cent livres de rente et cy costa sa vesture et 
 ces abillemens pour ces dictes noces .XXII cens et XI escuz d'or; et que la 
 mere a Marguerite Spifame femme a present de Jaquet Le Mercier dit du 
 Moulin, ot en mariage douze cens escuz d'or et le chappiau d'or qui fut prise 
 quatre cens escuz d'or et la coiffe de perlez et la sainture d'or, et fut vestue tres 
 honnorablement. Et que il y avait en au nosses de sa soeur et de messire 
 Charlies trois roys, XVII que ducz que comtes et XXII prelas " {Arch. Yonne, 
 E 300, fol. 137 v°). 
 
 18 See App. A. This reference I owe to the kindness of M. Roy. 
 
 "A. Thomas, Romania, vol. 37 (1908), p. 598, n. i. Douet D'Arcq, Choix 
 de Pieces inedites relatives au regne de Charles VI, Paris, 1863-64, vol. I, p. 426 : 
 
named after Col's two closest friends, Jehan de Monstereul and 
 Nicolas de Clamenges. John, the eldest,^^ became a churchman like 
 his uncle Pierre Col the Canon^^ (of whom later), and Nicolas, born 
 in 1397, who became maitre des requestes de r hotel et prevot de 
 Sens^^ and seigneur de Paron as his father had been before him.^^ 
 Gontier Col was married about 1390 to Marguerite Chacerat,^^ the 
 daughter of Jean Chacerat, a rich merchant and draper of Sens,^' 
 
 "Jehan Spifame, escuier"; p. 428: "Jehan Spifame, escuier, cappitaine de 
 Conflans-Saincte-Honorine," Paris, 24 mars. 1421. E. Raunie, Epitaphier du 
 Vieux Paris (Paris, 1893), II, p. 377. M. Roy, Le Chestioy-les-Sens, Histoire d'un 
 fief et de ses seigneurs. Sens, 1901, p. 32. 
 
 ^° Bulletin du Comite Historique, 1851-1852, p. 93. In a letter ascribed to 
 Col because of internal evidence altho not signed by him, he asks of the Pope a 
 boon for his son, to cover the educational expenses of the boy, in view of his 
 ardor for learning, his great devotion to the Church, and his unmistakable voca- 
 tion for a religious life. In this letter Col mentions his own services to the 
 French King and to the Pope. Poree, op. cit., pp. 21-22. 
 
 21 Nicolas de Clamenges, Opera Omnia, Lydius edition, p. 307. Epist. CX. : 
 " Audieram iam Petrum Colli germanum tuum constantiae esse, de cuius ex tarn 
 diuturna ac remotissima peregrinarum regionum visitatione salutarique reditu 
 atque sospitate tecum vehementissime guadeo," etc. L. Mirot: Les d'Orgemont, 
 Paris, 1913, p. 223, n. 2, mentions him, in 1417, as follows : " Pierre d'Orgemont 
 . . . fut remis en liberte ... a condition d'habit'er dans la maison claustrale de 
 Pierre Col." The index of Mirot's work contains two more references to Jean 
 Col (under the rubric: P. Col), which are as follows: 
 
 Die martis sequent!, vicesima octava aprilis, congregatis ad sonum campane 
 et convenientibus in capitulo dominis Jacobo Trousselli, archidiacono Parisiensi. 
 . . . Johanne Colli, canonicis Parisiensibus, etc. {Op. cit., p. 263. Proces de 
 Nicolas d'Orgemont. 28 avril.) 
 
 Die jovis de mane, etc. . . . Et ibidem ipse magister Nicolaus descendit et 
 carceres capitali intravit et fuit rasus in fonsura diaconi vel quasi : postmodum 
 ad auditorium ad barram adductus et ibidem per dominos. . . . presentibus domi- 
 nis. . . . Johanne Colli, canonicis Parisiensibus. {Op. cit., p. 265. Proces de 
 Nicolas d'Orgemont. 30 avril.) 
 
 Might not this be Jean Col, Gontier's son, concerning whom he wrote to 
 the Pope asking for a living for him? As to Pierre Col's connection with the 
 quarrel of the Roman de la Rose, see chapter on that subject, infra. 
 
 22 Roy, op. cit., p. 2>2>', Poree, op. cit., p. 22\ D'Hozier, Biblioth^que Nationale, 
 Pieces originales, vol. 807. Piece 7. 
 
 23 P. Quesvers et H. Stein, Inscriptions de I'ancien diocese de Sens, Paris, 
 1897, vol. I, p. 516. Poree, op. cit., p. 33. 
 
 2* Poree, op. cit., p. 21; Quesvers et Stein, op. cit., vol. I, p. 516; M. Roy, 
 Le Chesnoy-lez-Sens, p. 33; A. MoHnier, Obituaire de la Province de Sens, Paris, 
 1902, vol. I, 2* Partie, p. 894. 
 
 25 Molinier, op. cit., p. 894, note 3 ; M, Quantin, Inventaire-Sommaire des 
 Archives Departementales anterieures a 1790, Yonne Archives ecclesiastiques. 
 Serie H, tome III, P Partie, 1882, pp. 116, 893, 896, 904, 910, 913-916, 920-921. 
 
and a benefactor of the Celestins of that town.^® His daughter, 
 domicella Margarete Chasserat relicta uxor domini Gonterii Col,^'^ 
 left money to be buried by the Celestins, and pro quattuor obitibus 
 celebrandis in Quattuor Temporibus anni. Her son Nicolas attended 
 to part of her bequest to them.^^ Gontier was not himself a poor 
 man, as is shown by his seigneurie of Paron and the revenue it 
 brought in.^^ He also owned at Sens the maison des Degres, the 
 cellar of which still exists, situated on the Grande Rue, at the cross- 
 ways where stood the parish church of S*® Colombe.^^ This house, 
 which in 1302 had belonged to a draper of the name of Guillaume 
 le Compasseur, and for which Nicolas Col in 1441 paid an annual 
 tax of " 7 deniers " to the Abbaye of Saint Remy, finally passed into 
 the hands of the Spifame family thru Catherine Col, who had 
 married a Spifame.^^ All this would go to show that Col's posses- 
 sions were fairly extensive. His father, Pierre Col, had also owned 
 property as is seen by the record of the sale by Marguerite Chacerat, 
 Gontier's widow, in 1425, of a piece of property that had been 
 bought in 1339 by "Pierre Col de la Riole demeurant a Sens."^^ 
 Gontier Col's parents, Pierre Col and his wife Isabeau, also left lega- 
 cies to the churchmen of Sens, in return for certain religious ser- 
 vices.^^ In the light of the above, it would seem that Gontier Col 
 was a good example of the contemporary bourgeois, living in a town 
 where the bourgeoisie to which he belonged was strong,^* and whose 
 demeles with the bishop and the King form an interesting chapter 
 of the development of the tiers etat in France. Col prosecuted his 
 studies in his native town as well as at Orleans,^' whose schools were 
 
 26 Quantin, op. cit., p. 107. 
 
 27 Molinier, op. cit., pp. 894, 919-920. 
 
 28 Ibid., p. 918. 
 
 29 Poree, op. cit., p. 32. 
 
 80 Poree, op. cit., pp. 36-37. 
 
 81 Poree, op. cit., pp. 36-37 ; Quesvers et Stein, op. cit., vol. IV, p. 136, note i. 
 
 82 Quantin, op. cit., p. 123. 
 88 Ibid., pp. 105, 107, 123. 
 
 ^* Bulletin de la Societe des Sciences historiques et naturelles de VYonne, 
 1851. M. Quantin, Recherches sur le Tiers Etat au Moyen Age dans les pays 
 qui forment aujourd'hui le departement de Sens: IV, Commune de Sens, pp. 
 238-246. 
 
 85 Veterum scriptorum et monumentorum amplissima collectio. Ed. by D. 
 Martene, Parisiis, 1 724-1 733, VII, p. 471 : " Ego, Gonterus Colli, clericus Seno- 
 nensis." A. Thomas, op. cit., p. 80, n. 4. 
 
well known in the Middle Ages. As has been indicated, Col's first 
 position, so far as we know, was the post of " receveur des aides es 
 terres entre les rivieres de Seine et de Dyne/'^^ That he had not 
 held the post very long may be surmised from the King's grant to 
 him, in the ensuing spring, of a house rent-free in Evreux, in view 
 of the fact that he had no fixed residence there (" pour consideracion 
 de ce que le dit receveur n'est pas du pais dessus dit").^''' He held 
 a fiscal position in 1393,^^ judging by his '* quittances " dated in that 
 year. It was probably while he was at Evreux that he rented his 
 own house at Sens to the " Chambre " of that town, as is seen in the 
 " Cartulaire Senonais."^^ This work as fiscal agent did not take up 
 all Col's time, for he is listed among the King's notaries as early as 
 the term extending from the sixth of "March, 1380, to the first of 
 July following, 1381,^^ when he was in the " Chancellerie," and in 
 the " Requestes," and for which he was paid six sotis parisis per day. 
 Col also received a " manteaul," or rather the money-value of it 
 for "le terme de Noel, I'an M.CCCIIII"" (1380)^^ and also for 
 the "terme de la Panthecouste en suivant I'an IIII" et un." He 
 also receives the value of a cloak for the term ending on St. John's 
 day, 1383.^2 These were the regular perquisites of the "nottaires." 
 Col is also listed among the notaries of the King to whom salary 
 
 3«L. Delisle, Mandements et actes divers de Charles V, Paris, 1874 (No. 
 1869), p. 914. 
 
 37/&tU (No. 1918), p. 933- 
 
 38 J. Roman, Inventaire des Sceaux de la Collection des pieces originates du 
 Cabinet des Titres, d la Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, 1909, vol. I, p. 384, No. 
 3320, Quittances of G. Col., February 24, 1380-March 22, 1393. 
 
 39 Cartulaire Senonais de Balthazar Taveau, public par G. Julliot. Sens, 
 1884, p. 34: 
 
 " Avant que ledict hostel de ville fust basty, la chambre se tenoyt " es salles 
 du Roy, desquelles Colard de Caleville, Chevalier, bailly de Sens, fit mettre hors 
 les meubles appartenans a icelle ville, en hayne des proces meuz entre lui et 
 ladicte ville. Et tint-on ladicte chambre par quelques annees en la maison de 
 Gonthier Col, secretaire du Roy, asise au coing Saincte-Columbe, qui fut louee 
 six escuz par an, ainsy qu'il se voyt par le compte rendu par Pierre Oger, pour 
 I'an mil IIP IIII" XIII cy-dessoubz inventorie, et cotte XXII. 
 
 *<> Douet d'Arcq : Comptes de VHotel des rois de France, au XIV^ et au XV^ 
 Sihles, Paris, 1854, P- 22. In a document dated February 24, 1390, Col does not 
 subscribe himself as either notary or secretary of the King. (See App. B.) 
 This does not necessarily mean, however, that he did not hold such posts at 
 that time. 
 
 *i Douet d'Arcq, op. cit., p. 27. 
 
 *2 Ibid., p. 208. 
 
8 
 
 was paid in 1382/^ and for the "terme de la Saint-Jean of 1388."^* 
 The date 1388 is interesting, in view of the Ordonnance of 1387/^ in 
 item six of which, under the caption " Secretaires a gaiges servans 
 par moys," Col's name appears. This brings up a point that has been 
 a good deal discussed, that is, the difference between the notaries 
 and the secretaries of the King at this time. That the terms were 
 used loosely is seen from the citation in the Bibliotheque de VEcole 
 des Chartes/^ that about 1390 Gontier Col was a " notaire-secre- 
 taire du roy " at a salary of six sous parisis per day. This is the 
 very expression, — " clerc notaire secretaire du Roy nostresire " — that 
 Col used in referring to himself in a document he drew up and signed 
 in 1393, in which he mentioned this sum, six sous parisis per day, as 
 his due salary.^^* 
 
 This usage of the two terms at the same time is probably due to 
 the fact that altho there was a difference made between the no- 
 taries and secretaries of the King in the first half of the 14th cen- 
 tury, this difference disappeared later.^^ Both notaries and sec- 
 retaries were ipso facto members of the "college" of notaries and 
 secretaries,^^ a formal organization that became a confrerie with 
 a charter under Jean le Bon (1350).^^ The charter was rati- 
 fied and expanded in 1365 by Charles VI,^^ who made a number of 
 gifts to the corporation.^^ There were certain religious aspects to 
 this body; certain days were celebrated by solemn high mass, such 
 
 *3 Ibid., p. 203. 
 
 ** Ibid., p. 241. 
 
 *5 Secousse, Ordonnances des rois de France de la 3^ Race, Paris, 1722, vol. 
 VII, p. 175, item 6. " Secretaires a gaiges servans par moys . . . Gontier Colet ; 
 ces deux, Gontier et Bethezar seront paiez en Languedoc, c'est assavoir, Gontier 
 par cedule de nostre Tresor sur lequel il est assigne de ses gages ; . . . " In view 
 of the dates, and the many known variants of Gontier Col's name, it may be 
 taken that " Colet " is only another of these. I have, however, found no trace of 
 Col's stay in Languedoc. 
 
 *6 No. 48, p. 420, n. 10. 
 
 *6a See App. C. 
 
 *'^ L. E. Campardon, Essai sur les clercs notaire s et secretaires du roi depuis 
 leur etablissement jusqu'en 1483, Ch. II, §3, in Ecole Imperiale des Chartes, 
 Theses soutenues par les eleves de la promotion de 1855-1856. 
 
 *8 Morel, La grande chancellerie royale, Paris, 1900, p. 521, §2. 
 
 *» March 1350-51 : Morel, op. cit., p. 500, for text of charter. 
 
 50 Morel, op. cit.^ pp. 520-527. 
 
 ''I Morel, op. cit., p. 103. 
 
as that of " St. Jean-Porte-Latine,"'^^ who was more especially their 
 patron saint, and on whose feast, the sixth of May, after having 
 gone to high mass*^^ and first and second vespers, the confrerie 
 gave a banquet, and afterwards discussed matters of interest to 
 them as an organization,*^* As those who absented themselves from 
 these observances without a good reason had to pay a fine of cinq 
 sous parisis, it is probable that the attendance was fairly good, and 
 that the members had this occasion of meeting formally once a year. 
 Informally they could meet as many times a day as they wished, 
 for Charles VI had granted them, Nov. 29, 1370,^^ a room in the 
 royal palace in which they could " faire leurs lettres, escritures, et 
 eulx assembler et parler de leurs besoignes, se mestier est." 
 
 To these "club-hfe" aspects of the "confrerie" were added 
 certain features in which it somewhat resembled the modern benevo- 
 lent association. When a member fell into poverty without any 
 fault of his, the other members of the "college" assessed them- 
 selves for his assistance, and the recipient was not required to pay 
 them back until he was fully able to do so.^^ 
 
 As a body, they had some jurisdiction over their members, 
 showed in their charter great solicitude that their appearance should 
 do honor to their calling, repeating some of the sumptuary laws of 
 Charles V forbidding them to wear parti-colored hose and long, 
 pointed, fashionable shoes.*^^ In addition to their salaries, these 
 notaries and secretaries, as officers of the King, enjoyed many ex- 
 emptions, e. g., from "peage, vinage, et toutes redevances et cou- 
 tumes"; and from all the "tailles,"^^ and when by mistake their 
 names were included in the lists of those levied on for war-taxes, 
 
 «2Emile Raunie, Epitaphier du Vieux Paris, Paris, 1893, vol. II, pp. 309, 
 327-330. 
 
 53 Morel, op. cit., p. 521, § 3, " . . . Erit dicta missa in f esto beati Johannis 
 ante Portam Latinam in mense maii ..." This was celebrated in the Church 
 of the " Celestins," in whose cloister the confrerie held its assemblies. Cf. E. 
 Raunie, II, 309, 327-330. 
 
 54 Such, e. g., as their attempt to suppress the abuse of privileges among 
 their own members. Secousse, op. cit., vol. VII, p. 273. 
 
 55 Morel, op. cit., p. 533. 
 
 56 Morel, p. 523. 
 
 57 Morel, p. 523. 
 
 58 Morel, p. 396, n. 4. 
 
lO 
 
 the King had their names stricken out.^^ Add to the above that 
 their letters were always sent gratis.^^ Perhaps it is not to be won- 
 dered at, in view of all this, that, in spite of the ordonnances to 
 regulate their number,^^ and the examination that they had to take 
 to prove that they were ^'capables de faire lettre tant en frangais 
 qu'en latin,"^^ the notaries and secretaries of the King were increas- 
 ing in number out of all proportion to the need felt for them by the 
 State. 
 
 To this close corporation Jehan de Monstereul and Gontier Col 
 both belonged, and to them must be added Pierre Manhac,^^ a per- 
 sonage who is but a name to us, but whom Jehan de Monstereul, in 
 mentioning his teachers, bracketed with Col. The importance of 
 this connection with the confrerie ought not to be unduly emphasized, 
 yet it should not be quite disregarded, when we take into account 
 the role that the friendship between Col and Monstereul played in 
 the development of Pre-Humanism in France. Indeed, the presence 
 of a certain literary tradition among the " notaires et secretaires du 
 roi," at this period, is of interest. Just a little after Col came Alain 
 Char tier, and just before him one of the secretaries was Gervais du 
 Bus, to whom has been attributed the second part of the FauveL^^ 
 The question as to whether he really wrote it or not, is not the point 
 here, but what is suggestive is, that he was held capable of having 
 done so by critics casting about for an author. 
 
 These literary proclivities were not the exclusive appurtenance 
 of the notaries of the King, for the notaries of Paris also had a 
 Confrerie,^ ^ and among them are found two literary men of the 
 times, Jean le Fevre, translator of the Lamenta of Matheolus,^^ 
 
 59 Morel, pp. 558-559 (list of notaries and secretaries so exempted for 1404 
 and 1405). 
 
 60 Morel, p. 396. 
 
 61 Morel, p. 562, October 19, 1406. 
 
 62 Vuitry, Reghne financier de la France. Nouvelle Serie, tome II, p. 387. 
 
 63 For signatures of Pierre Manhac cf . Morel, pp. 559-5^7 ; J- Du Mont, 
 Corps universel diplomatique du droit des gens, Amsterdam, 1726-1731, vol. ii, 
 p. 245; Secousse, vol. vii, pp. 175, 236; vol. viii, p. 417; vol. x, p. 463. 
 
 64 Ch. V. Langlois, La vie en France au Moyen Age, Paris, 1908, p. 279. 
 
 65 Leber, Collection de pieces relatives a I'histoire de France, Paris, 1838, vol. 
 19, P- 325. 
 
 66 Les Lamentations de Matheolus et le Livre de Leesce de Jehan le Fevre, 
 de Resson, Paris, 1892. 
 
II 
 
 and Martial d'Auvergne,^^ both being "Procureurs du Parlement de 
 Paris." That gross ignorance of things Hterary was not prevalent 
 at this time among the "gens du Palais," is shown by the library 
 left by a "greffier du Parlement" quite unknown to literary an- 
 nals.^® 
 
 11. — GoNTiER Col goes to Avignon in 1395 as Secretary oe the 
 Embassy of the Dukes of Berry, Burgundy and Orleans 
 
 In 1395 Gontier Col goes on his first embassy; the record of his 
 official capacity, which he is careful to set down, runs solemnly as 
 follows '} Ego Gonterus Colli domini nostri regis secretarius, puhli- 
 cus apostolica et imperiali auctoritafe notarius.^ This designation 
 he repeats informally several times in the body of the Journal^ of 
 the proceedings of the trip which he wrote, conforming in this to a 
 fashion which had apparently been set during the thirteenth century 
 by the Venetian ambassadors, whose secretaries sent in a written 
 report of the proceedings of the embassy within a fortnight after 
 its return.^ This embassy was the one headed by the dukes of 
 Berry, Orleans, and Burgundy, which was sent to Avignon by 
 Charles VI in an attempt to end the Great Schism. CoFs Journal 
 begins with the events of the 226. of September, 1394, when the 
 news of the death of Clement VII reached Paris. The King at 
 once assembled the Council,^ of which Col was secretary, and letters 
 
 67 Petit de Julleville, op. cit, ii, pp. 284-285. 
 
 6^ List of books in the will of Nicolas de TEspoisse, greffier du Parlement: 
 Alixandre ; Somme au Breton; Epistres de Pierre de Blois; De Vineis; Istoire 
 de Troye la grant; Histoires d'oultremer; Policraticon; Epistres saint Bernard; 
 Manipulus florum; Boece, de Consolacion; Stile de Parlement; Catholicon; A. 
 Tuetey, " Testaments enregistres au Parlement de Paris sous le regne de 
 Charles VI," p. 608 seq., Paris, 1880. See also A. Lefranc, Le Tiers Livre du 
 Pantagruel et la querelle des Femmes, in Revue des Etudes Rabelaisiennes, 1904, 
 3" fascicule, pp. 80-81. 
 
 1 Ampl. Col. vol. vii, c. 465. See also Ampl. Col., vol. vii, c. 479. 
 
 2 See Du Cange, Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, Parisiis, 1840, arti- 
 cle "Notarius." 
 
 3 Ampl. Col., vol. vii, c. 479; c. 491 ; c. 505 ; c. 524. 
 
 * See E. Nys, Les Commencements de la diplomatie et le droit d'amhassade 
 jusqu'a Grotius in Revue de Droit international, 1883, p. 579. See also E. Alberi, 
 Le relazioni degli ambasciatori Veneti al Senato, Firenze, 1839. Prefazione, p. 
 vii seq. 
 
 ^ E. Jarry, La vie politique de Louis de France, due d'Orleans, Paris, 1889, 
 p. 27. 
 
12 
 
 were sent to Avignon to urge the postponement of the election of a 
 new Pope ; for perhaps this might prove an opportunity to end the 
 Schism. The French letters were apparently disregarded, and the 
 next news that came from the South was that of the election of 
 Benedict XIII, in whom France proposed to have great confidence, 
 and to whom the King promised to send messengers for the purpose 
 of concluding the matter.^ A meeting of the clergy of France was 
 called^ and, after discussing the various means of ending the 
 trouble decided in favor of the withdrawal of both Popes f and the 
 French Princes going to Avignon were so instructed. 
 
 They set off with a great train of followers and making a great 
 show. Nor is this beyond what might be expected in view of the 
 importance of the undertaking and the reputation for luxury and 
 display of the life at Avignon, a much criticized state of affairs^ 
 that was due, in part at any rate, to the incessant coming and going 
 of ambassadors at the Papal court, and of kings and emperors as 
 well.^^ To these secular occasions of display must be added the 
 religious holidays, feast days, funerals of popes and installations 
 of their successors.^^ In order to make a proper showing at all of 
 these manifestations of pomp and circumstance, the Popes had in 
 their employ many artists and artisans,^ ^ ranging from the workers 
 in cloth and fur^^ to the embroiderers and silver- and goldsmiths 
 (of which, by the way, there were forty attached to the pontifical 
 court in 1376).^* These enjoyed great vogue, the rage for silver 
 and gold ornaments going so far that gold plaques were sewed on 
 
 « Ampl. Col, vol. vii, c. 438. 
 
 7 Ibid., c. 458. 
 
 8 Ibid., c. 439-458. 
 
 » Petrarch et Oresme. See G. Mollat, Les Papes d'Avignon, Paris, 1912, pp. 
 xiii, xiv; E. Miintz, Uargent et le luxe a la cour pontificale d'Avignon, in Revue 
 des Questions Historiques, 1899, Nouvelle Serie, vol xxii, p. 34. 
 
 10 Ibid., pp. 355-356. 
 
 ^^Ibid., pp. 348, 351-355. 
 
 12 E. Miintz, Les Arts a la cour des papes, in Melanges d'Archeologie et 
 d'Histoire, 1884, pp. 274-303 ; 1885, pp. Z27-2,2>7 ', 1889, pp. i34-i73. 
 
 13 E. Miintz, Uargent et le luxe a la cour pontificale d'Avignon, in Revue des 
 Questions Historiques, 1899, p. 384 ; E. Miintz, Quelques artistes avignonnais du 
 pontificat de Benoit XIII, in Bulletin de la Societe Nationale des Antiquaires de 
 France for 1886, p. iii. 
 
 "^^Ibid., p. 392. See below. 
 
13 
 
 the gloves of the Popes/ ^ while Benedict XIII in 1405 paid three 
 hundred florins courants for a bit of silver enamel for his mule.^^ 
 
 The Popes were solicitous of having a fit setting for these 
 pageants. The palace of the Popes is a monument to their care in 
 this direction/"^ and, in the palace, paintings signed by well-known 
 names, vying with valuable tapestries, gave a colorful background 
 to the glittering crowd of courtiers and prelates who thronged 
 Avignon/^ But there is also another and more engaging manner 
 in which the Popes of Avignon played the role of Maecenas; I mean 
 as protectors of learning. The interest of Urban V^^ in founding 
 schools and collecting a library, as well as the scholarly tastes of 
 Gregory XI,^^ had set a certain intellectual standard at the Pon- 
 tifical Court. 
 
 Our three dukes set out from Paris, traveling by boat (from 
 Chalons) a great part of the distance,^^ and stopping at Dijon, 
 where they were entertained by the court of Burgundy,^^ and where 
 presents were exchanged. Col was with the ambassadors at the 
 time. At Lyons also the dukes made a stay, and did not reach 
 Avignon until Saturday, May 22, at four o'clock in the afternoon. 
 Their credentials were at once presented to the Pope.^^ Benedict 
 received them "moult honorablement " and after an exchange of 
 compliments they "allerent en la chambre de parement et la prin- 
 drent vin et espices."^* The next day, Sunday, the envoys dined 
 with the Pope, and it was not until Monday that the business of 
 the embassy was touched upon, for that day was given to the formal 
 opening discourse by Gilles Deschamps. Only on Tuesday, then, 
 
 ^^ Ibid., p. 392. 
 
 i« Ibid., p. 389. 
 
 1"^ Digonnet, Le Palais des Papes d' Avignon, Avignon, 1907 ; J. Guiraud, 
 UEglise Romaine et les origines de la Renaissance, Paris, 1904, pp. 22^29. 
 
 18 Guiraud, op. cit., p. 41 seq. 
 
 19 Mollat, pp. 106-107. F. Ehrle, Historia bibliotecae romanorum pontifi- 
 cum turn Bonifatianae turn Avenionensis, Rome, 1890, vol. i, pp. 274-450. 
 Guiraud, pp. 52-78. 
 
 20 Mollat, p. 119; Ehrle, vol. i, 451-574. For both see also M. Faucon, La 
 Librairie des Papes d' Avignon, Paris, 1886, in Bibliotheque des £coles Frangaises 
 d' Athene s et de Rome. 
 
 21 N. Valois, La France et le Grand Schisme d'Occident, Paris, 1896-1902, 
 vol. iii, p. 45. 
 
 22 E. Jarry, La vie politique de Louis de France, due d'Orleans, p. 132. 
 ^^Ampl. Col., vol. vii, c. 487. 
 
 ^^Ampl. Col., vol. vii, c. 488 seq. 
 
14 
 
 was the matter really taken up in an audience with the Pope and Car- 
 dinals. The French envoys soon found that the Pope stood uncon- 
 ditionally for ending the Schism by a compromise; they, on the 
 other hand, were committed to the " voie de cessation." The meet- 
 ings were constant, and the dukes stayed on at Avignon as late as 
 the first week in July without having effected any perceptible change 
 in Benedict's point of view, or having even persuaded him to give 
 them an " audience publique en plein consistoire."^^ 
 
 " Pour laquelle chose les devant dits dues prindrent adonc congie 
 du pape, et se offrent a rapporter au roy tout ce que sa saintete par 
 eux lui voudroit denoncier. Auquel dirent finablement apres les 
 choses devant dites, que ce n'estoit point, ne n'avoit este de leur en- 
 tention de luy exposer ou faire exposer aucune chose qui ne cedat 
 au bien de la besoigne, I'honneur de Dieu et de I'eglise et de sa 
 saintete : Apres lesquelles choses ainsi dites, le pape leur pria moult 
 affectueusement, que le lendemain ils voulsissent disner avec lui, et il 
 parleroit encore a eux ; et ils repondirent qu'ils y avoient assez mange, 
 et qu'il avoit parle a eux tant comme il luy avoit plu, et que s'il ne 
 leur vouloit autre chose dire, et venir a la voye que le roy luy con- 
 seilloit, qu'ils ne lui parleroient plus, et qu'ils s'en alloient devers le 
 roy qui les avoit mandez, et les hastoit fort, et luy rapporteroient 
 ce qu'ils avoient trouve et a tant se partirent et s'en allerent.'* 
 
 Thus the French envoys finally left Avignon shortly after the 
 ninth of July, having accomplished nothing towards bringing the 
 Schism to an end.^^ 
 
 As far as literary merit is concerned, the only claim that the 
 Journal has to offer is a certain clearness of phrasing, and an ability 
 to keep to the point. There is no attempt at style or fine writing, 
 even in handling the speeches made by members of the embassy or by 
 the Pope, Col contenting himself with giving an outline of the con- 
 tents in the most matter-of-fact way. It is only in a certain soften- 
 ing of asperities that one catches glimpses of the diplomat beneath 
 the secretary. 
 
 Col's Journal has been considered of importance in the history 
 of the relation of France to the Schism.^^ Valois has touched on 
 
 25 Ibid., c. 527. 
 
 26 Jarry, op. cit., p. 133 ; Valois, op. cit., vol. iii, p. 65. 
 
 27 Printed in the Am. Col, vol. vii, c. 479-528, from the MS. in the Bihlio- 
 th^que Nationale, J. 518. In the library of Carpentras (see Catalogue general 
 des MSS. des Bihliotheques Publiques de France, vol. 35, p. 435. Collection 
 Peires, 1801, p. xxxii). Recueil ayant pour titre au IP fol., I Genealogies, fol. 
 
15 
 
 rather an interesting point in showing how much Col's work had 
 been drawn upon by the Religieux de St. Denis in his Chronica 
 Caroli Sextv^^ when describing the dukes' trip to Avignon. He 
 says, *' Le Religieux de St. Denis a eu ce document sous les yeux, 
 mais ne I'a pas toujours utilise d'une facon heureuse."^^ This is 
 quite obvious on comparing the two documents. The Religieux cur- 
 tails, paraphrases, transposes and adds to the original document. 
 That he is inaccurate has been pointed out in a number of cases by 
 Valois,^^ who also draws attention to the closeness with which the 
 "Religieux" occasionally follows Col's text.^^ The Religieux, 
 again, notes gossip that Col, mindful of his official position, leaves 
 out. A case in point is the burning of the bridge at Avignon, con- 
 cerning which the St. Denis chronicler repeats the charge current 
 at the time that the Pope had been accused of burning the bridge 
 at Avignon as an insult to the dukes.^^ Col simply makes a note 
 of the fire, without any comment.^^ 
 
 The "Religieux" does not always use Col's material quite as it 
 is found in the Journal. An instance of this is found in connection 
 with the meeting of the duke of Berry and the Cardinals. At this 
 point in his Journal, Col refers the reader to his Latin minutes of 
 
 285, "Excerpta ex relatione facta per magistrum Gontlerium, regium secre- 
 tarium, de solemni legatione facta nomine regis ad papam Benedictum," etc. 
 I'Abbe J. B. Christ'ophe, in Histoire de la Papaute pendant le 14^ Siecle, Paris, 
 1853, vol. iii, 151, 153, mentions Col, and refers to journal in the Ampl. Col. with- 
 out crediting it to him. Mentioned by Molinier, Sources de I'histoire de France, 
 Paris, 1901-06, vol. iv, p. 176, No. 1367; E. Jarry, Vie de Louis d'Orleans, etc., 
 p. 127; M. Creighton, History of Papacy, New York, 1899, vol. i, p. 149; N. 
 Valois, La France et le Grand Schisme d'Occident, vol. iii, p. 3. 
 
 ^^ Bibliotheque de l'£cole des Chartes, No. 6z, p. 238 seq. ; N. Valois, op. cit., 
 vol. 3, ch. i. 
 
 29 Valois, op. cit., vol. 3, p. 3, n. i. 
 
 ^^ Ibid., p. 46, n. 3. Col's statement (Ampl. Col. vol. vii, c. 487) here is borne 
 out by E. Petit, Itineraire de Philippe le Hardi et Jean sans Peur, Paris, 1888, p. 
 242. For other instances see Valois, vol. 3, p. 20, n. 3 ; p. 33, n. 2 ; p. 46, n. 3 ; p. 
 47, n. 4; p. 53, n. I ; p. 60, n. 2; p. 61, n. 3. 
 
 31 See Ampl. Col, vol. vii, c. 491, §20; and R. de St. D., vol. 2, p. 258. 
 
 32 Ibid., p. 296. 
 
 33 Ampl. Col, vol. vii, c. 504-505 : 
 
 Item, celle nuit environ minuit nos seigneurs estant a Villeneuve, furent 
 toutes arses deux arches de bois qui estoient au pont d'Avignon, sans y rien 
 demourer jusques a I'eau, et ne sgait-on qui le feu ybouta et esconvint (doit) adonc 
 tout homme aller et venir par battiaux de Villeneuve en Avignon, & d'Avignon 
 a Ville-neuve, & fut la ville d'Avignon de ce faict tres troublee et en grant peur, 
 ct le pape pareillement, si comme on dit. 
 
i6 
 
 the meeting, "ut in instrumento Latino superius relato."^^ The 
 " Religieux " not unnaturally gives in his text an extended account 
 of the seance/^^ He does this also with respect to the bulP^ drawn 
 up by Col for the text of which "Maitre Gontier refers the reader to 
 the Spicilegium of d'Achery.^^ Parallel passages from the two 
 works will illustrate how Col's Journal has been used by the " Re- 
 ligieux."^^ 
 
 III. — Gontier Col and his Patrons, the Dukes of Berry and 
 
 Orleans 
 
 The influence of the Avignon mission on Col is interesting from 
 several points of view. He was brought in contact with the early 
 Italian Renaissance, with the city on which Petrarch had left his 
 mark. Under the Popes, Avignon was half Italian; it was a town 
 of color and display, of luxury and learning, of the cultivation of 
 all the arts of existence, and his stay there gave Col a foretaste of 
 that Italian life of which he had a further glimpse at the time of his 
 embassy to Florence, in 1396. It is probably also during this trip 
 to Avignon that he became known to the dukes of Berry and Or- 
 leans, with whose entourage he was connected. 
 
 The statement has been made that Col was secretary to the 
 Duke of Orleans.^ Whether he was formally in his employ or not, 
 the fact remains that he was the recipient of his favors, as seen in 
 the gift to Maitre Gontier of a fur-lined red woolen serge cloak for 
 the New Year.^ It is easier to establish the fact that he was sec- 
 
 ^^Ampl. Col, vol. vii, 466-472. 
 
 35 R. de St. D., vol. ii, pp. 264-276. 
 
 36 Ibid., il, 286 seq. 
 
 ^"^ Ampl. Col., vol. vii, col. 504. Edita Spicil., tome 6. 
 
 38 R. de St. Denis, vol. ii, p. 255 sqq. ; Ampl Col, vol. vi, cols. 488-489. 
 
 ^ J. Roman, Inventaires et Documents relatifs aux joyaux et tapisseries des 
 princes d'Orleans-Valois, 1389-1481. — Published in the Recueil d'anciens inven- 
 taires, imprimes sous les auspices du coniite des travaux historiques et scien- 
 tifiques. Section d'Archeologie, Paris, 1896, vol. i, p. 176, note. This is the only- 
 statement that I have found concerning Col's secretaryship to the Duke of 
 Orleans, and Roman cites neither source nor reference on the point. 
 
 2 J. Roman, Ibid., p. 176 : 
 
 Ce sont les parties de robes fourrees par Thomassin Potier, foureur et var- 
 let de chambre de Monseigneur le due d'Orliens, pour Monditseigneur le Due, 
 pour Charles et Philippe, messeigneurs ses enfans et autres a qui rnondit seig- 
 neur a donnees robes en ceste presente annee, commengant premier jour de 
 
17 
 
 retary to the duke of Berry, although not to fix the date when he 
 first took the post. There is an indirect reference connecting him 
 with Berry in 1398-1399,^ and he is formally entered as the duke's 
 secretary in 1407.^ 
 
 Various considerations go to prove that Col shared Berry's well- 
 known "Amour extreme pour les arts,"^ the love "des beaux 
 livres enlumines, des riches joyaux, des elegantes ciselures, des re- 
 liques enchassees dans For et les pierres precieuses."^ For if, as 
 Michelet says,^ Louis of Orleans was the "esprit de la Renais- 
 sance" (and the role that Valentine Visconti^ played in bringing 
 the Italian Renaissance into France is well-known),^ still the figure 
 of John of Berry must not be forgotten. There was a good deal of 
 the Italian Renaissance about Charles's uncle, with his love of 
 luxury and his cultivation of the arts, his disregard of the provenance 
 of the money that he spent like water in his role of a princely 
 Maecenas,^^ the extortions that he exercised upon his subjects, and 
 the notorious mismanagement of his provinces. 
 
 Fevrler mil CCCIIII"" et seize, et finissant derrenier de Janvier ensuivant mil 
 CCCIIII" et dix-sept. 
 
 (P. 176.) No. 3(^. Item ce jour (le premier jour de Janvier ensuivant No. 
 367) trois longues houpelandes que Monseigneur a donnees, c'est assavoir, deux 
 de drap de Dampmas noir, Tune a Regnault d'Angennes. et Tautre a Oudart de 
 Renty, escuiers du Roy nostre Sire, et I'autre d'escarlate vermeille, a Maistre 
 Gontier Col, son secretaire, toutes fourrees de martres de Pruce, d'achat pour 
 fagon XV s. p. pour chascune valent . . . XLVIII s. p. 
 
 The above is also quoted in full by E. M. Graves, Quelques pieces relatives 
 d la vie de Louis I, due d'Orleans, et de Valentine Visconti sa femme, Paris, 
 
 1913, p. 159. 
 
 3 Douet d'Arcq, Comptes de I'hotel des rois de France au XI V^ et au XV^ 
 siecles, under heading Extraits d'un compte de I'Hotel de Jean, due de Berry, 
 du I mai 1398 au dernier fevrier suivant (1399), p. 312. Menus dons et offrandes. 
 A Perrin de Bourdeduc, varlet de maistre Gontier Col qui amena de par le roy 
 Nostre sire a Monditseigneur, ung coursier, 4 1. t. 
 
 * Rymer, Foedere, Londini, 1726-1735, vol. 8, p. 523. 
 
 5 L. Raynal, Histoire du Berry depuis les temps les plus anciens jusqu'en 
 1789, Bourges, 1844-47, vol. ii, p. 376. 
 
 « A. de Champeaux et P. Gauchery, Les travaux d'art executes pour Jean de 
 France, due de Berry, Paris, 1894, pp. 1 14-185. 
 
 7 Histoire de France, Paris, 1879-1884, vol. v, p. 160. 
 
 8 A. M. F. Robinson, The End of the Middle Ages (London, 1889), pp. 102- 
 178. See also note 7. 
 
 » P. Champion, Vie de Charles d'Orleans, Paris, 191 1. 
 
 ^^ J. Gauchery, Influence de Jean de France, due de Berry sur le developpe- 
 ment de I' architecture et des arts a la fin du XIV^ et au commencement du XV^ 
 siecle." Caen. 19 10. 
 
i8 
 
 Col apparently shared some of the artistic tastes, if not the 
 methods of indulging them, of his princely patron; CoFs present 
 to the Duke of Berry of a "Bien Grande mappemonde escripte et 
 historiee"^^ goes to show this. It is not the only present that he 
 made to the Duke, judging from an entry concerning a gift made 
 by Madame de Berry to the Duke of Burgundy of '*Unes Heures 
 de Nostre Dame historiees . . . et y sont les armes de maistre 
 Gontier Col/'^^ 
 
 A description of Col's seal may not be out of place here, as his 
 arms have proved a valuable means of tracing some of his artistic 
 possessions : " Ecu portant une f asce accompagnee de trois cols de 
 cygne timbree d'une tete humaine, supporte par deux personnages 
 assis/'^^ M. Roy gives the armoiries of the Col family as follows 
 {op. cit., p. 33, note) : De gueules a la fasce d'azur chargee de 3 
 etoiles d'or et accompagnee de 3 tetes de cygne au nature!, 2 et i. 
 
 This device belongs to the class of "punning" coats-of-arms 
 {armes parlantes), and bears some features similar to that of the 
 Duke of Berry, which consists of a bear and a swan, a pun on the 
 first word of his motto,^^ " Oursine [ours, cygne] le temps venra."^*^ 
 
 It is Col's arms also that revealed the presence of his " tapiz " in 
 the " Inventaire des tapisseries du roy Charles VI vendues par les 
 Anglais en 1422."^^ Nothing certain is known on the subject, but 
 in view of Col's connection with the Palais, it is fairly easy to infer 
 how his " tappiz " came to be found there.^'^ 
 
 11 L. Delisle, Recherches sur la lihrairie de Charles V, Paris, 1907, vol. ii, p. 
 254; J. Guiffrey, Inventaire de Jean, due de Berry, vol. i, p. 263. 
 
 12 Delisle, ibid., ii, p. 238. 
 
 13 J. Roman, Inventaire des Sceaux de la Collection des pieces originales 
 du Cabinet des Titres a la Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris, 1909), vol. i, p. 384. 
 
 ^^ Memoires de la Societe des Antiquaires du Centre, 1899, PP- 62-73. For 
 the Duke's interest in bears, see S. Luce, La France pendant la guerre de cent 
 ans," Paris, 1890-93, i^ Serie, pp. 223, 226. 
 
 15 Michelet, Histoire de France, vol. v, p. 85, note 3. 
 
 ^^Bibliotheque de V&cole des Chartes, No. 48, pp. 105 and 420. Item, un 
 autre tappis, fait aus armes, comme Ten dit, de maistre Gontier Col, contenant 
 sept aulnes et demie. XXIIIJ s. p. — p. 420. Item, ung tappis vielz, fait, comme 
 Ten dit, aux armes de maistre Gontier Col, contenant VI J aulnes et demie, 
 inventorie ou dit inventoire articulo. 
 
 17 This is not the place to do more than mention the vogue of tapestries in 
 the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and their importance to literature in its 
 graphic aspects. Its significance here is that it brings out Col's love for the 
 
19 
 
 There is one side of the Renaissance — the Pagan side — with 
 which Col apparently had little sympathy. An obvious if not very 
 convincing religious feeling is strikingly characteristic of the Duke 
 of Berry — a sentiment that Col apparently shared; and the gift 
 made by Col to the Duke for the New Year, 1404, might without 
 anachronism have found its place in the midst of the Middle Ages. 
 This was the gift of a silver arm, in which were set " a bone from the 
 arm of St. Stephen, a bone from the arm of Ste. Colombe, and sev- 
 eral other relics."^^ It may have been in the nature of a return gift 
 for the forty "gectours" given him by the duke in 1401, each bear- 
 ing on one side " Our Lady holding her child, and on the other the 
 arms of the duke." 
 
 Enough has been said to show that the attitude of the French 
 dukes of the royal family as to the protection and cultivation of the 
 arts bore a resemblance to that of the contemporary Italian princes. 
 It was not yet the well-defined Renaissance point of view; every- 
 thing done at this time still retained a strong mediaeval flavor, and 
 it was preeminently an age of transition. What is to be noted is 
 the trend of the times, and the struggle for expression in terms of a 
 new formula of life. The Pre-Renaissance in France was not a 
 purely scholarly movement, it had its artistic side, in which even an 
 "intellectual" like Col, whose Humanistic development will be in- 
 vestigated later, takes an active interest. France did not have to 
 wait for Francis I in order to enjoy the picturesque spectacle of 
 Princes who cultivated the arts and vied with each other in ex- 
 travagance. 
 
 objets d'art. See J. Guiffrey, Histoire de la tapisserie en France, Paris, 1878-85 ; 
 A. Jubinal, Recherches sur I'usage et Vorigine des Tapisseries d, Personnages 
 dites historiees, Paris, 1840; E. Miintz, La Tapisserie, Paris, 1882. 
 
 18 J. Guiflfrey, Inventaire de Jean, due de Berry, Paris, 1894-96, vol. ii, p. 181, 
 No. 205 : 
 
 Item, un bras d'argent ouquel a un os du bras de Monseigneur Saint 
 Estienne, un autre os du bras de Sainte Colombe et plusieurs autres reliques; 
 lequel bras ainsi garni de reliques, comme dit est, maistre Gontier Col avait 
 donne a mondit Seigneur a estrainnes, le premier jour de Janvier, I'an mil CCCC 
 et quatre. 
 
 Vol. ii, p. 39, No. 254 : 
 
 Item. Sept vins treze gect'ours d'argent, en chascun desquelz a en I'un des 
 coustez un ymage de Nostre Dame tenant son enfant, et en I'autre les armes de 
 mondit Seigneur; pesans trois mars, une once, quatre esterlins. 
 
 Dominis dedit XL magistro Gonterio Col ut monstrat per compotum dicti 
 Robineti . . . etc. (1401). 
 
20 
 
 IV. — Col on Embassies concerned with the Marriage and 
 
 LATER WITH THE RetURN TO FrANCE OF ISABELLA. 
 
 Embassy to Florence 
 
 The mission to Avignon may have had some influence in bringing 
 about Col's connection with the next embassy on which he went — 
 a lay mission this time, yet one in which his experience at Avignon 
 and his knowledge of the conditions there might prove of value, 
 although the question of the Schism was to be taken up only as a 
 side issue. The enterprise now in hand was the marriage of Isa- 
 bella of France to Richard II. The preliminaries were well under 
 way when Col appears in the matter, and King Richard was anxious 
 that the little princess should be given into his care in the first week 
 of August, 1396, at Calais. The English king also expressed the 
 desire of taking this opportunity to meet the dukes of Berry and 
 Burgundy to discuss "sur le fait de I'Eglise et de moult autres 
 choses touchant le bien et I'honneur de luy et du roy et de leurs 
 royaumes."^ 
 
 The king of France demurred,^ finding the time too short to get 
 Isabella's trousseau ready, and suggesting Michaelmas instead. As 
 to the meeting with the dukes, the presence of the Duke of Berry 
 was doubtful, but Burgundy would surely meet the English king at 
 Calais,^ and he would have power to treat of tliis question of the 
 Schism. Burgundy had been a member of the Avignon embassy, 
 as has been noted, so it seems natural to find Col's name in the list 
 of those officials who were to accompany him to Calais. Whether 
 Col went with him or not is not known, as his name is not in the 
 list of those who were in Philip's company when he reached there 
 some time in August.^ This may be due to an oversight of the 
 scribe, to some accidental detention of Col, or indeed to a third pos- 
 sibility, which may be here set down. Up to this time Col had been 
 
 ^ Revue d'Histoire Diplomatique, vol. 19, p. 63; Leon Mirot, Isabelle de 
 France, reine d'Angleterre. 
 
 2 L Mirot, Un trousseau royal a la fin du XIV^ Siecle, in Memoires de la 
 Societe de I'Histoire de Paris and de Vile de France, vol. 29 (1902), pp. 125-158. 
 
 ^ Instructions pour les dues de Berri et Bourgogne (1396), quoted in Kervyn 
 de Lettenhove's edition of Froissart, vol. 18, p. 578, from Archives Nationales, 
 Paris, J. 644: 36. Also quoted by L. Mirot in Revue d'Histoire Diplomatique, 
 vol. 19, p. 66. 
 
 ^ Ibid., p. 70. For date see Petit, Itineraire de Philippe le Hardy, etc., p. 255. 
 
21 
 
 involved in the adjudication of the Schism, and there was to be a 
 meeting in Paris in mid- August, called in history the " journee des 
 Prelats," in which that question was to be discussed. The occa- 
 sion had been considered so important that, in the " Instructions "^ 
 before referred to, the point had been made that it would be expe- 
 dient for the duke to be in Paris at that time. Judging by Philip's 
 tardy arrival in Calais, there was a chance that he might not get back 
 to Paris in time for the meeting, and in that case Col, as the writer 
 of the *' Journal " of the Avignon embassy, may have been detained.^ 
 
 His name is not listed in connection with the elaborate wedding 
 ceremonies of Richard and Isabella, October, 1396, and the famous 
 interview of Ardres."^ In view of the number of noblemen and 
 famous personages who were there present, it is perhaps not to be 
 wondered at that a mere secretary of the King should be lost sight of. 
 However that may be, in the month of November of 1396, Col 
 went to Florence to negotiate a treaty with the Republic of Flor- 
 ence for the King his master, Charles VI, which treaty was signed 
 on the 23d of that month. In the text of the treaty Col is listed as 
 " viro utique venerando atque egregio magistro Guntero Colli, Sec- 
 retario & Ambassiatore & Commissario Domini Serenissimi Regis 
 Francorum." The treaty contained certain offensive and defensive 
 features, by virtue of which Florence shortly afterwards called on 
 the King of France for help against the Duke of Milan. In this 
 letter, dated the 30th of December 1396,* Col is mentioned as "pru- 
 dentissimus vir," and reference is made to the fact that he knows 
 the situation in Florence well, and will relate the whole affair to the 
 King " viva voce." 
 
 Col probably did not make a long stay in Florence at this time; 
 but in view of his official position all sorts of doors were open to 
 him, and he had the best possible opportunities to meet the eminent 
 
 ^ Froissart, ed. Kervyn de Lettenhove, Bruxelles, 1874, vol. 18, p. 580. 
 
 ^ Denifle and Ehrle, Archiv filr literatur und kirchengeschickte des mittelal- 
 ters, Sechster Band, 1892, pp. 204-210, might lead one to suppose that it was 
 not in his official capacity. 
 
 7 P. Meyer, Atifiuaire-Bulletin de la Societe de I'Hxstoire de France,\o\.-x.\n\ 
 (1881), p. 220 seq. L. Mirot, Revue d'Histoire Diplomatique, vol. 19, pp. 83-95. 
 Religieux de St. Denis, vol. ii, pp. 452-473. 
 
 8 Roy, Le Chesnoy-les-Sens, p. 32 ; J. C. Liinig, Codex Italiae Diplomaticus. 
 Francofurti & Lipsiae, 1725, vol. I, cols. 1109, 11 16, 
 
22 
 
 scholars of Humanistic Florence, and Col was not the man to neglect 
 such opportunities. The trip is interesting in that it came so soon 
 after the Avignon embassy, while the impression made by that trip 
 was still fresh, this being the last of the Italian embassies partici- 
 pated in by Col. 
 
 Although Col did not play an important role in connection with 
 this marriage of Isabella of France, it was to have been expected, 
 in accordance with the royal policy, that business relating to 
 a given country should be continued by the accustomed hands, 
 that Col's name would appear in connection with Isabella's 
 return to France after the death of Richard. He was, in 
 fact, one of the envoys who were sent (1399-1400) "es marches 
 de Calais,"^ to meet the messengers of England and ask for 
 the return of Isabella of France, the widow of Richard II, 
 who, according to the marriage contract, was to be returned to 
 Charles VI with a certain amount of her dowry, should Richard 
 die without issue. The ambassadors were told to bring up before 
 anything else the question of the restitution of the little queen. 
 The request failed of the desired response, inasmuch as Henry IV 
 wished to keep Isabella, and marry her to one of his sons. On the 
 last of May, 1400,^^ new credentials were given to the same am- 
 bassadors to meet the English " es marches de nostre pais de Picar- 
 die." They were enjoined to insist, before the matter of truces 
 was taken up, that the English send an answer to the request made 
 concerning the return of Isabella. Of this embassy Col was a mem- 
 ber; and although there was some haggling over the return of the 
 wedding presents and jewels,^^ they succeeded in getting the promise 
 of the English King that Isabella would be sent back to France by 
 the first of November at the latest. This was not the last of the 
 meetings of the French and English envoys. They convened again 
 
 ^ Froissart, vol. 18, p. 587, for Instructions donnees a UEveque en Chartres, 
 messieur Jehan de Hangest . . . maistre Pierre Blanchet . . . et maistre Gontier 
 Col. January 29, 1399. L. Mirot, Revue d'Histoire Diplomatique, vol. 19, p. 486. 
 Rymer's Foedere. App., A. C D., Thresor des Chartes, p. 66, § 25. Religieux 
 de St. Denis, vol. iii, p. 2. 
 
 10 Douet d'Arcq, op. cit., vol. I, p. 171 seq. 
 
 11 Douet d'Arcq, Pieces inedites, vol. ii, p. 273. B. Williams, Cronicques de 
 la Trahison & de la mort de Richard II, roi d'Angleterre, London, 1846, pp. 
 108-113. Sir Harry Nicolas, Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council 
 of England, vol. i, p. 133. 
 
23 
 
 in the Spring^^ to settle the details of the landing of the youthful 
 queen/ ^ and finally to draw up the requisite legal documents — 
 which Col duly signed in his official capacity/^ Although July 
 6th had been the date set for her to be restored to the French repre- 
 sentatives, Isabella did not arrive until the first of August. As 
 Col's name appears in some negotiations at Leulingham on the third 
 of August, it is probable that he witnessed the ceremonies of her 
 reception, which were carried out with great pomp. 
 
 The negotiations referred to, in which Col took part, were sup- 
 posedly to discuss questions connected with the return of Isabella, 
 but as a matter of fact, the whole sitting was given over to a dis- 
 cussion of the truces. ^^ 
 
 This connection of Gontier Col with Isabella's marriage and 
 subsequent return to France is of special interest to us, because it 
 constitutes his introduction into the kind of work which he did for 
 the rest of his life. I refer to his role as a diplomatic agent or 
 " negociateur " as it was then called. 
 
 By this time, Col had won for himself a certain position in Paris. 
 His name appears in the " Liste des Bourgeois notables de Paris a la 
 fin du XIV® siecle et au commencement du XV® siecle,"^^ in the 
 category including, " Apothecaires, chirurgiens, medecins, pro- 
 cureurs, sergents et autres professions liberales." A bourgeois by 
 birth and standing, and as has already been seen, in easy circum- 
 stances financially,^^ he had married in the bourgeoisie, and was 
 personally and by affiliation a fairly representative type of the 
 tiers etat which was coming to the fore at that time and which 
 Charles V had utilized to instil new blood into the body poHtic. 
 The bourgeoisie was "popular"; it had been so as far back 
 as the days oi Renard le Contrefait, in which poem it is frankly 
 
 12 Religieux de St. Denis, vol. 3, p. 3. L. Mirot, Revue d'Histoire Diplo- 
 matique, vol. ig, p. $00 (Ma.rch 2^,1401). Instructions to Ambassadors. Thresor 
 des Chartes, p. 68. Ibid. B. Williams, Chronicque de la Traison et mort de 
 Richart deux roy dengleterre, London, 1848, p. Ixiii. J. H. Wylie, History of 
 England under Henry the Fourth, London, 1884-1898, vol. i, p. 13. 
 
 13 Sir Harry Nicolas, Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of 
 England, London, 1834-37, vol. i, pp. 130-131, 136. 
 
 14 Rymer, vol. 8, p. 194. 
 
 15 Ihid., p. 219. 
 
 16 Le Roux de Lincy et Tisserand, Paris et ses Historiens, Paris, 1867, p. 253, 
 1-'^ Poree, op. cit., p. 21. 
 
24 
 
 set up as a social ideal. The general hatred of the nobles prev- 
 alent in the fourteenth century tended to keep up this popu- 
 larity, a hatred that was a legacy of the Jacquerie^^ and was 
 enhanced by the defeats of Crecy and Poitiers, for which the 
 country held the nobles responsible — not realizing that the old 
 feudal army of knights was simply no longer an efficient instrument 
 of warfare when pitted against the serried ranks of the men-at- 
 arms. The king is offered a hint to this effect in the anonymous 
 Dit de Poictiers, whose author suggests that when next the king 
 goes to war he will do well not to put too much faith in his nobles : 
 " S'il est bien conseille, il n'oubliera mie 
 Mener Jacques Bonhome en sa grant compagnie."^^ 
 
 The point that has been touched upon at times, is not to be 
 pressed, that the author was proposing an alliance between the pro- 
 letariat and the king; yet the lines show that minds were breaking 
 away from a feudal conception of life. There was a shifting of 
 sociological values, and the bourgeoisie was coming to the front. 
 
 V. — Treasurer and Diplomatic Agent; Banishment 
 (1401-1413) 
 
 The period from 1401 to 1407 is one during which Col's diplo- 
 matic career was at a standstill. He is mentioned in the list of am- 
 bassadors on April 14, 1400,^ but between that date and 1407 he is 
 not listed anew. His name is not to be found in Rymer between 
 these two dates. 
 
 Col's activity along other lines in this period can be established 
 more accurately. He is at work in connection with the finances of 
 the kingdom in 1400, to judge by an ordonnance in which he is listed 
 as follows:^ 
 
 " Que pour estre a nos conseils, soient dix de nos secretaires qui 
 aient gages de secretaires et non autres " and of them *' six et non 
 plus signeront sur nos finances." 
 
 18 S. Luce, Histoire de la Jacquerie, Paris, 1894, chap, ii, part i. 
 
 ^^ Bibliotheque de I'^cole des Chartes (1850-1851), 3^ serie, vol. 2, p. 263, 
 
 11. 93-95. 
 
 1 Thresor des Chartres, Rept. Foedere, Appt. D, p. 68. 
 
 2 Deleted. 
 
 3 Secousse, vol. 8, p. 417, Item 22, January 7, 1400. (Entry bears on edge of 
 paper " De secretariis consiliorum.") See also Meslanges Historiques, Troyes, 
 MDCXix, p. 32. 
 
25 
 
 Col's name is in both lists. ^ The ordonnance in which, under 
 date of June 4, 1404, he is named one of the two tresoriers of 
 France, mentions his previous experience in this position:^ 
 
 "Que doresnavant ne ayons pour tout nostredit demaine, tant 
 sur les Finances d'icelluy comme sur la Justice, que deux tresoriers 
 lesquels nous avons nommez et nommons Gontier Col et Jehan de la 
 Cloche lesquels ont exerce ja par longtemps hien et duement ledit 
 office, et de la loyaute et souffisance desquels nous sommes bien 
 informes et bien contents."® 
 
 It may be inferred that he held this position until 1407,^ when 
 he is listed among the thirteen secretaries "pour estre a noz con- 
 seils," but no reference is made to any fiscal position. This is about 
 the date when his diplomatic activities begin again.^* 
 
 In April, 1408, Col once more appeared in his role of "nego> 
 ciateur." This time he and Casin de Serinvilliers are sent over to 
 England^ to continue negotiations for truces begun in September, 
 1407. When they landed the king was in the North of England, but 
 English representatives were named to meet them, and the truce 
 was extended to the last of September, 1408.^ Col's stay in Eng- 
 land was comparatively short this time, judging by the safe-conduct 
 for him and sixteen persons which is dated the last of April, 1408.^^ 
 
 * For functions and origins of the " secretaire des finances " see Morel, 
 pp. 68-70. 
 
 5 Secousse, vol. 9, p. 698. D'Hozier (Bibliotheque Nationale, Pieces origi- 
 nates, vol. 807, piece 7) says that there were four : " Gontier Col, notaire et sec- 
 retaire du roy Charles VI, et Tun des quatre tresoriers generaux de France." 
 
 ^ Col considered this position an important one, for in his letter to the Pope 
 (cited chap, i, note 19) he speaks of his being in the employ of the King of 
 France, and being promoted from minor offices to more important ones, " pos- 
 tremo vero in thesauriatus officio."® He goes on to say that formerly, because 
 of the work involved, there had been seven appointees to the above-mentioned 
 post, but that when he held it there were only two, and on that account he had 
 been much overworked and unable to carry out a number of plans that he had 
 made. The whole letter is interesting in that it is the most personal bit of 
 writing that Col has left us. 
 
 "^ Secousse, vol. 9, p. 287, § 28, January 7. 
 
 ■^^ No attempt has been made to trace Col's activities as tresorier. 
 
 8 Rymer, vol. 8, pp. 513, 515, 517, 521-525. Wylie, Henry IV, vol. 3, p. 99. 
 
 8 Carte, Rolles ii, p. 195. Membrana 12. 
 
 1*^ Rymer, vol. 8, p. 525, Calendar of the Patent Rolls preserved in the Public 
 Record Office, London, 1903-09, Henry IV, vol. iii, p. 485. Rotulus viagii. 9 
 Henry IV. Membrane 8 (1408). 
 
 ^Bulletin du Comite Historique, 1851-1893, p. 92. 
 
26 
 
 This document is interesting in that it speaks of Ool as being " Con- 
 seiller et Premier Secretaire nostre adversaire de France." He is 
 again called a Conseiller in the safe-conduct^^ of the party of three 
 hundred headed by the archbishop of Sens, who set out in the late 
 summer of 1409 to meet the English and again take up the matter 
 of the truces. The meeting never took place, however, the French 
 Embassy having waited in Amiens until November for the English, 
 who never came.^^ It was during this time of waiting that the 
 archbishop of Sens was involved in the disgrace, followed by the 
 death, of his brother, accused of dishonesty in fiscal matters. The 
 prelate's clever ruse to gain his liberty is entertainingly related by 
 Monstrelet.^^ 
 
 Paris seems to have grown weary of the non-arrival of the Eng- 
 lish ambassadors at Amiens, and decided on war.^^ Even then all 
 diplomatic relations were not broken off. Safe-conducts were given 
 by the English king to French envoys, including the Bishop of 
 Noyon, Tignonville and Col;^^ and their meetings resulted in new 
 truces,^^ " in terra particularium et in mari generalium." In 1410- 
 141 1 Col's name appears as a member of a party headed by the 
 Bishop of Noyon which arranged a truce for the year 1411^"^ and 
 returned to France in the spring.^ ^ In 1410 Col was not only an 
 envoy to foreign countries, but was engaged in factional negotia- 
 tions as well. The rivalry between the dukes of Berry and Bur- 
 gundy was growing more and more acrimonious. It was common 
 gossip that Berry was planning to gather an army which he would 
 conduct to Paris to see the King and the Duke of Burgundy (who was 
 there with him)^^ — a plan that John was at no pains to conceal.^^ 
 
 11 Rymer, vol. 8, p. 593, 15 August 
 
 12 Religieux de St. Denis, vol. 4, p. 253. 
 
 13 Monstrelet, ed., Douet d'Arcq, Chronique, Paris, 1857-62, vol. ii, pp. 46-47. 
 Religieux de St. Denis, vol. iv, p. 280. 
 
 1* Douet d'Arcq, Pieces inedites, vol. i, p. 322. 
 
 15 Rymer, vol. 8, p. 630 ; p. 652 ; p. 659 ; Carte, Rolles, vol. ii, p. 199. 
 
 16 Rymer, vol. 8, pp. 668-674. Monstrelet, vol. ii, p. 96. Carte, Rolles, ii, 
 p. 200. 
 
 1"^ Carte, Rolles, vol. ii, p. 201. 
 
 18 Rymer, vol. 8, p. 681 ; Carte, Rolles, ii, p. 202. 
 
 19 Juvenal des Ursins, Histoire de Charles VI, ed. Michaud et Poujoulat, 
 Paris, 1854, p. 454- 
 
 20 Religieux de St. Denis, vol. iv, p. 343. 
 
27 
 
 To forestall anything further of that nature, the King sent to him a 
 deputation of "illustres et notables personnages qu'on savait lui 
 etre chers, pour le faire changer de resolution"; and Col was one 
 of them.^^ The embassy came to naught,^^ and partisan warfare 
 was waged by the followers of the two dukes until November, when 
 a truce was proclaimed.^^ It was not long effectual, and the year 
 141 1 is full of civil war waged by the two political parties. Both 
 sides were bidding for English help, but some messages sent by 
 Orleans and Berry to Henry of England fell into hostile hands and 
 were communicated to Charles VI.^^ Burgundy lost no time in 
 making the miost of these documents, and civil war was started anew. 
 Col was banished as an Armagnac,^^ and had some difficulties con- 
 cerning his post, as we learn from the following entry in the " Jour- 
 nal" of Nicolas de Baye :2« 
 
 Lundi, xj® jour de juillet. 
 
 Sur la requeste faicte par maistre Richard Coste et baillee par 
 escript avecques lettres de bannissement a I'encontre de maistre 
 Gontier Col, qui s'estoit rendu fuitif et estoit, comme I'en disoit, 
 avec mons. d'Orleans ou ses adherens, et oy maistre J. Fourcaut, qui 
 en la cause avoit ja piega occuppe pour ledit Gontier, lequel Fourcaut 
 a dit que piega n'avoit occuppe pour ledit Gontier, ne ne voloit oc- 
 cuper. 
 
 Dit a este que la Court oste Tempeschement fait et mis audit 
 Coste pour cause des bourses de notaire, en tant que touche ledit 
 Gontier. Conseil XIII (X'^ 1479), ^ol. 207 v°. 
 
 This was soon straightened out by the enforced peace between 
 the Burgundians and the Armagnacs, and offices lost through the 
 civil war were restored. On the whole. Col's eclipse from diplo- 
 matic life was short, for his name appears again on a safe-conduct 
 dated October 8, 1413 ; this is on the supposition that no documents 
 bearing Col's name have been lost.^'^ 
 
 21 De Barante, Vie des dues de Bourgogne, vol. iii, p. 172 (ed. Paris, 1837) ; 
 Religieux de St. Denis, vol. iv, 343. 
 
 22 Religieux de St. Denis, vol. iv, 343-351. 
 
 23 Douet d'Arcq, Choix de Pieces Inedites, vol. i, 329-335. 
 
 2* Monstrelet, vol. ii, 236 ; Religieux de St. Denis, vol. iv, 626-630 ; Douet 
 d'Arcq, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 248-49. 
 
 ^^ Bibliotheque de l'£cole des Chartes, No. 48 (1887); J. Guiffrey, Inven- 
 taire des Tapisseries du roi Charles VI vendues par les Anglais en 1422, p. 105, 
 n. 6. Roy, CEuvres Poetiques de Christine de Pisan, Paris, 1891, vol. ii, p. v. 
 
 26 Ed. Tuetey, Paris, 1885-1888, vol. ii, p. 74. 
 
 27 Secousse, vol. x, p. 24. 
 
28 
 
 Therefore Col did not take part in drawing up the truces of 
 1412, but he is back at his position in the autumn of the ensuing 
 year, as a member of the embassy headed by the Archbishop of 
 Bourges,^^ whose credentials were signed by Charles on the nth 
 of November. 2^ The party reached London in December, and were 
 put up at Bishop Langley's hostel.^^ Their stay was moderately 
 long, as the truces were not signed until the 24th of January, 1414,^^ 
 their safe-conducts not until the 23d of January.^^ 
 
 There was discussed at this time the question of the marriage 
 of Catherine of France, daughter of Charles VI, to Henry V. The 
 French ambassadors were empowered to treat of this matter, which 
 was done; and the upshot of it was that Henry promised that he 
 would enter into no contract of marriage with any woman save 
 Catherine of France up to the first of the following May.^^ 
 
 In connection with the negotiations for a marriage of Henry V 
 and Catherine, Col encountered a diplomatic defeat; he was hope- 
 lessly outclassed by the diplomacy of the English king. Col was 
 with the party of French envoys accredited to Henry, who went to 
 the King at Leicester between the 17th of May and the 2d of June.^^ 
 That Col was in England as late as the nth of June is proved by the 
 date of his safe-conduct.^^ In the course of the same month, under 
 Col's very eyes, Henry V was negotiating with the representatives 
 of the Duke of Burgundy concerning the possibility of a marriage 
 with that prince's daughter, also Catherine by name.^^ That Col 
 should not have known of the presence of the envoys of the Duke of 
 Burgundy at the English Court at that time seems preposterous. 
 
 28 Rymer, vol. 9, p. 90. Carte, Rolles, vol. ii, p. 209. 
 
 29Rymer, vol. 9, p. 69. Beaucourt, Histoire de Charles VII, Paris, 1881- 
 91, vol. i, p. 254. 
 
 so J. H. Wylie, The Reign of Henry V, Cambridge University Press, 1914, 
 vol. i, p. 156. 
 
 31 Rymer, vol. 9, pp. 91-101, 103, no. Rymer, vol. 9, p. 118; Carte, Rolles, 
 vol. ii, p. 218. (Date given as January 28). 
 
 32 Rymer, vol. 9, p. 90; Carte, Rolles, vol. ii, p. 210. 
 
 33 Rymer, vol. 9, p. 104. Time extended, pp. 140 and 182. Carte, Rolles, 
 vol. ii, 211. 
 
 3* Rymer, vol. 9, p. 189. 
 
 35 Rymer, vol. 9, p. 139; Carte, Rolles, vol. ii, p. 213, 
 
 36 Rymer, vol. 9, p. 136; Wylie, Henry V, vol. i, p. 411; Beaucourt, Charles 
 VII, vol. i, p. 255. 
 
29 
 
 Nor indeed is there any doubt that they were there. ^^ It seems in- 
 expHcable that a successful negotiator Hke Col should have been 
 hoodwinked in such a matter, the more so as he was an Armagnac 
 and owed his exile to the Burgundian party, so that he could scarcely 
 have been suspected of a desire to shield them through his silence. 
 
 VI. — Embassy to the Duke of Brittany (1414) 
 
 During Col's trip to England in 1414, he was in relations with 
 Jeanne of Navarre, widow of Henry IV, and undertook a mission for 
 her. Her first marriage had been to the Duke of Brittany, who had 
 died, leaving her a son whose guardianship she gave up on marrying 
 Henry. She claimed that certain dower rights of hers settled on 
 her by the then duke, her husband, were not being paid to her by 
 her son; accordingly she engaged Col to go to him in her behalf 
 and ask that she be given her due. Alaitre Gontier l;^as related at 
 great length the details and outcome of this mission.^ The heading 
 of his entry runs : 
 
 Cy apres ensuit ce que je Gontier Col ay dit de par tres haulte 
 et tres excellent princesse la royne d'Angleterre a hault et puissant 
 prince le due de Bretaingne, son filz, en sa ville de Rennes, le XVIII 
 jour d'ottobre mil CCCCXIIII, presens a ce son chancellier, I'eves- 
 que de Cornouaille son confesseur, et aucuns autres. 
 
 The relation itself begins with a flourish (p. 74) : 
 
 Moult hault et puissant prince, et mon tres honnoure et redoubte 
 seigneur, la tres excellent et tres noble princesse la royne d'Angle- 
 terre, vostre dame et mere, vous salue de tres bon cuer par vraye 
 amour et dilection maternelle en charite non faincte, comme la 
 creature qui soit en cest monde qu'elle plus ame et qu'elle desire plus 
 a veoir, etc. 
 
 The communication goes on to say that the Queen wishes her 
 son to be informed that in him " gist et repose toute sa gloire, son 
 reconfort et son esperance " ; and continues with a long, pedantic 
 passage, so characteristic of the times that I shall quote it in full, 
 
 37 Rymer, vol. 9, p. 189. For expenses of Henry V, " par luy paiez pour les 
 depenses des ambassadeurs de duk de Bourgogne " from the 19th of April to 
 the 17th of June. 
 
 1 Bulletin du Comite Histortque des Monuments Ecrits de I'Histoire de 
 France, vol. iv, 1853 (found under rubric, 1851-1853), pp. 73-93. 
 
30 
 
 in spite of — or, I may rather say, in order to illustrate — the unen- 
 durable lengths to which Col carries a metaphor when once he has 
 hit upon it. 
 
 Et ce n'est mie sens cause que ainsy le doye elle avoir en vous. 
 Car comme diet le saige Cathon a son filz : '' Consilium arcanum 
 tacito commicte sodali. Corporis auxilium medico commicte 
 fideli"; et apres dit: "Nee quisquis melior medicus quam fidus 
 amicus," c'est a dire: "Tu dois commectre ton conseil secret 
 a ton taisible compaignon," ou "serviteur," et le secons: "et aide 
 de ton corps au loyal medecin," ne "il n'est nul meilleur medecin 
 que ung loyal ami." Et mon tres redoubte seigneur, vous estes son 
 loyal ami, son loyal medicin, en qui elle a parfaicte confiance et es- 
 perance ferme d'estre par vous guerie de la grant douleur et grief ve 
 maladie qu'elle sou f re. Car comme dist Frangois Petrarcha en une 
 sienne espitre : " Ille efficacissimus est medicus ad sanandum, de quo 
 eger maxime sperat; celluy est tres efficax medecin pour guerir de 
 qui le malady a tres grant confiance." Et pour ce, tres honnoure et 
 redoubte seigneur, que, comme dist Boece en son livre qu'il fist de 
 Consolatione Philosophies ou premier livre, en la HIP phrase: Si 
 medicantis opperam expectas opportet vulnus detegas; se tu actens 
 lemire et I'opperation du medecin, il convient que tu luy des- 
 cueuvres ta playe; pour ce m'a elle envoye devers vous pour vous 
 descouvrir et ouvrir sa playe et la cause de sa douleur afin que, icelle 
 playe bien a vous descouverte a plain, vous y vueillez remedier et li 
 bailler oignement et anthidote salutaire, ainsy qu'elle en a en vous 
 parfaicte fiance et que tenus y estes. Et ja soit ce que vous aiez 
 piega eue cognoissance et scene la plus grant partie de la cause et 
 racine de sa ditte douleur et de sa maladie par aucuns de ses servi- 
 teurs et par ses lettres, neantmoins ne s'en est elle encores apper- 
 ceue et ne scet se ceulz qu'elle y a envoyez ont vouleu ou ose dire ce 
 qu'elle leur avoit enchargie, car par chose qu'ilz vous aient dit ne 
 qu'elle vous en ait escript, elle ne s'est point apperceue d'aucun 
 amendement ne n'est sa playe venue a cicatrice, ne environnee et 
 liee d'oignement medicinal ne nourrie d'uille ou de basme." Non- 
 dum nee plaga venit ad cicatricem nee est circumligata medicamine 
 neque f ota oleo " Et pour ce elle esperant fermement que a ceste 
 foiz elle y trouvera con fort et remede convenable, et que vous vous 
 monstrerez envers elle filz d'obedience, vray et loyal amy et medicin 
 de salut en qui elle a toute confiance et ferme esperance, elle m'a 
 renvoye devers vous, car le saige Cathon que j'ay cy-devant allegue, 
 dit; "Cumque mones aliquem nee se velit ipse moneri, si tibi sit 
 earns, noli desistere ceptis " ; c'est a dire ; " Se tu admonnestes ancun 
 a faire bien et il ne y veult condescendre ne enterdre, s'il est tel que 
 
31 
 
 tu Tales cher et Tames, ne desiste point a faire et continuer ce que 
 tu as commencie." Et pour ce que sur toutes les choses de ce 
 monde, elle vous ame, elle ne se veult desister de vous admonnester 
 de bien faire et de vous acquicter envers Dieu, envers vostre vaillant 
 pere et envers elle. Et quant il plaira a vostre tres haulte seigneurie 
 et profonde prudence, je vous diray tout au long son intention et 
 la descouverte de sa douleur et maladie soit a vous seul, soit en la 
 presence de vostre conseil ou ainsy qu il vous plaira moy commander. 
 Et veez cy unes lettres closes qu'elle vous envoye. 
 
 Col concludes by asking for a private interview, which is granted 
 to him — so far as its privacy is concerned — to the extent that the 
 duke keeps with him only " son chancelier, Tevesque de Cornouaille 
 et son confesseur, les arcediacres de Rennes et de Nantes, Joecte et 
 Mauleon." 
 
 After all these preliminaries, Col finally attacks the real matter 
 in hand — not without first assuring the Duke that he will say 
 only what he has been asked to say, and protesting his unworthiness 
 for treating matters so important and involving personages so ex- 
 alted. Then follows a six-page speech, which although again inter- 
 larded with Latin quotations, is much more to the point. Col 
 begins with a panegyric of the Duke's father, and of Queen Jeanne, 
 and then reminds the Duke that " la loy dit : Interest rei publice, ne 
 mulieres remaneant indotate,"^ and that the custom of the duchy is 
 that the duchess must have as dowry a third of the duchy, without 
 counting the conquests made since the marriage, nor the furniture, 
 which come to her by right. All this the deceased duke under- 
 stood and conceded, and acted accordingly, even arranging a sliding 
 scale of fines for the non-payment of her dowry. Not only has this 
 not been paid, but the Queen has a "caier" full of grievances which 
 she sends to her son, whose unfilial conduct she puts down to bad 
 advice from his entourage (p. 8i) : 
 
 Car elle me dist en plourant : Gontier, je suis plus doulente de mon 
 enfent, que je voy ainsi desvoye et hors de sa bonne inclination 
 naturelle, que je ne suis de tout quanque on m'a fait de griefz, car 
 je Tay tous jours trouve vray, naturel, loyal, humble et obeissant filz 
 envers moy, mais [ceux] qu'il a entour luy et qui le gouvernent a 
 leur guise, et vivent et amandent du sien, grandement lui ont fait 
 faire en ce et en autres choses ce qu'il a mal fait et il le cognoistra 
 
 2 Op. cit., p. 78. 
 
32 
 
 bien au long a I'eur. Je n'en double mie, et quant il les aura bien 
 cogneuz, il les amera moins et les mectra arriere de soy, s'il est saige 
 et bien advisez. 
 
 To turn the duke from his present course, Col proceeds to quote 
 Scripture concerning the duty of children to parents. He then 
 waxes confidential, and reminds the Duke that Jeanne is only a 
 woman after all (p. 83). " Car comme dit maistre Jehan de Mehun 
 en son livre de la Rose : Tel avantaige ont toutes f emmes qu'ells sont 
 de leur voulente dames." That is Jeanne, if not satisfied, may call 
 upon the King of France for justice, or marry either a French or 
 English nobleman or great prince, who will come and wreak ven- 
 geance on an undutiful son and lay waste his lands. The Duke too 
 is a diplomat and answers in kind : *' Gontier, saiches certainement 
 que je vueil faire et acomplir toute ma vie la bonne voulente et 
 plaisir de madame ma mere, ne ja jour que je vive ne feray le con- 
 traire"; and he keeps Col to dinner. 
 
 But the matter stops there. Col can get no satisfactory answer 
 from either duke or chancellor. Finally after a fruitless stay of 
 fourteen days, he seeks out the authorities anew and makes them 
 the following proposition (p. 84) : 
 
 Messieurs, je voy bien que vous avez moult a faire et estes 
 moult embesongnjez pour I'alee de monseigneur et de mJadame en 
 France. S'il vous plaist, je feray une minue pour vous abregier et 
 relever de peine de ce qu'il me semble que mon seigneur le due doit 
 faire. Et ilz me respondirent que je disoye tres bien et qu'ils m'en 
 prioient. Adonc fiz les minues qui s'ensuivent, lesquelles je leur 
 baillay. 
 
 Col's *' minues " proceed to enumerate the various moneys the 
 Queen claims, and demands the restitution to the Queen's appointees 
 of positions within her gift which had been fraudulently given to 
 followers of the Duke. It mentions furniture, embroideries, letters 
 that the Queen claims. The letter mentioned above then follows. 
 It did not find favor in the eyes of the Duke or his Council, so the 
 wily ambassador wrote another. 
 
 Col is now genuinely alarmed as to the outcome of his embassy; 
 he lays aside all flights of oratory, and his anxiety is couched in 
 very simple style :^ 
 
 3 Op. cit., p. 89. 
 
33 
 
 Et s'il semble a mon dit s'" le due qu'il y doive avoir aucune 
 moderation, adjonction, ou exception, soit fait a sa bonne voulente 
 et plaisir; mais que, pour Dieu, je ne m'en aille point ainsi que je 
 suis venu, sens qu'il appere a madame sa mere que je aye aucune- 
 ment besongne en la matere pour laquelle elle m'a envoye par devers 
 monsieur son filz : de laquelle chose je lui supplie tres-humblement. 
 
 Col can get no answer from the Duke's entourage in reply to the 
 second letter, beyond the general statement of their prince's filial 
 intentions towards Queen Jeanne. 
 
 Apres ces choses (Col continues)^ je vins au due, et lui dis la 
 response dessus dicte qui m'avoit este faicte de par lui en lui sup- 
 pliant que je eusse de lui aultre response, et que onques, en ma vie 
 n'avois este en ambaxade dont je ne reportasse response par escript 
 de ce que je avoye dit et bailie par escript, et aussi qu'il me rendist 
 le quayer que je lui avoye bailie, signe de la main de sa dame et 
 mere. A quoy il me repondi qu'il envoyeroit devers sa dame et 
 mere de ses gens qui la eontenteroient et diroient sa voulente du 
 tout, quant il seroit a Paris ou en France, la ou il et la duehesse 
 venoient, ou qu'il me feroit lors tele et si bonne response que j'en 
 seroie bien content et par moy mesme lui feroit f aire la dicte response 
 agreable a elle. Et quant estoit dudit quayer ravoir, il ne le me 
 rendroit point, mais la coppie en auroye voulentiers, et autre response 
 n'en peu lors avoir ne raporter de lui ne d' autre de par lui, jasoit 
 a ce que plusieurs foiz en aie fait requeste a grant instance. A 
 done prins congie de lui, et vins en mon hostelerie, comptay et 
 payay mes despens, et me parti pour venir a Paris. Et quant je 
 fu a Paris, trouvay que le due ne la duehesse n'y venoient point, mais 
 yroient a Montargis devers la royne. Je vins audit Montargis et 
 ylec attendi sa venue, lequel y arriva le jour de Saint Andry. Et 
 yllec I'ay sollicite moult diligemment d'avoir sa response, ainsi que 
 promis m'avoit. Et en final conclusion n'ay eu de lui autre response, 
 fors qu'il est et sera toute sa vie vray humble et obeissant fils a sa 
 dame et mere, et qu'il fera toute sa vie le bon plaisir d'elle, ne en 
 chose qui touche les terres et aussiete il ne touehera; mais en joira 
 paisiblement et ses officers sens aucun trouble ou empeschment, 
 exepte des cappitaines, les quels pour riens il ne souffreroit que autre 
 les y meist, mesmement tant quelle sera demoure en Angleterre et 
 que nul ne lui devroit conseiller le contraire. A tant m'en suis venu. 
 
 As has been seen in the above excerpts, the Bible leads with 
 five quotations, then follow Boethius, Cato, Terence, Horace, 
 * Ibid., p. 90. 
 
34 
 
 Sallust, " la loy," " les droiz," " la tragedie/' It is rather astonish- 
 ing not to find quotations from Virgil and Pliny, in view of Col's 
 supposed devotion to those two writers. When Col avoids "le 
 style noble," and finishes a sentence without using the sign &, he 
 occasionally turns out phrases that please by a certain simplicty and 
 concreteness. Haureau says of the journal of this mission: "C'est 
 une piece frangaise aussi interessante pour la litterature que pour 
 I'histoire."^ It shows us Col as a chroniqueur in a small way, 
 altho his accounts of negotiations in which he was involved, the 
 Journal of 1395, the negotiations with the Duke of Brittany in 
 1414, and the account of Winchester Week in 141 5, were not 
 written from a purely literary point of view, but were simply the 
 report of an embassy, drawn up by its secretary on his return, yet 
 thru these reports we may connect Col with the long list of lesser 
 writers on matters of a historical nature during the fourteenth and 
 the fifteenth centuries. One could scarcely adduce better examples 
 in support of that most seductive of literary theories — that of " the 
 time, the place and the subject" — than are afforded by the writers 
 of Chronicles and historical annals in France during those two 
 centuries. In that epoch of internal dissensions and foreign wars, 
 even the would-be impartial historian was something of a propa- 
 gandist for his party. And it would certainly be a mistake to over- 
 look the literary merits of those diplomatic envoys who, like Col, 
 elaborated on their return detailed reports of the vicissitudes and 
 final outcome of their negotiations. Those men acquired the habit 
 of describing minor events minutely and putting them in their proper 
 perspective. Thus they constituted themselves the precursors of that 
 brilliant array of writers of memoirs who are the distinctive pride 
 and honor of a later period of French literature. 
 
 VII. — Winchester Week (1415) 
 
 During the autumn of 141 4 there are no indications of further 
 diplomatic activities on the part of Col. The storm was gathering 
 across the Channel. Henry was making every preparation for war, 
 even while sending over to Paris an embassy, the terms of which 
 included demands for so much French territory and for so large a 
 
 5 Nouvelle Biographic Generale, article " Col." 
 
35 
 
 dowry for Catherine ^ that the conference came to naught, and the 
 only agreement arrived at was that Charles would send a return 
 embassy to Henry for the further discussion of terms with the 
 King in person. This ill-starred embassy set out with pomp and 
 circumstance, three hundred strong, including prominent men and 
 famous orators,^ among whom was " M® G. Col,"^ who wrote a 
 Relation of the trip for the Archbishop of Bourges, the head of the 
 embassy. 
 
 The Relation is very irregular in style ; some of it reads like the 
 minutes of a committee, sentences are inconclusively ended with 
 *' &c.," and in general it bears indications of haste and incomplete- 
 ness. A good example of this is the entry under Tuesday, the 2d 
 of July :4 
 
 Et apres en conclusion dirent, que nous conclussions sur la voye 
 d'affinite & de marriage, &c. Et nous requirent & demanderent 
 en marriage Madame K. avecque tel dot et dotalite que a une telle 
 Dame, et pour un Roy appartient, &c. & que nous eslasgassions, &c. 
 plus avant que ce qui leur a este bailie par escript & off ert, &c. Sur- 
 quoy eusmes advis, &c. & leur offrismes cinquante mille francs, 
 outre, &c. Premises les protestations accoustumees, &c. Et apres 
 qu'ils eurent este a conseil sur cette off re, retournerent a nous, et 
 nous dirent que de la somme par eux demandee qui est d'un million, 
 ils nous rabattoient cinquante mil, &c. Et pource que I'heure estoit 
 tarde, nous partismes, &c. Et fut dit qu'ils rapportroient a leur 
 Seigneur e'en que, &c. Et Tendemain serious au lieu, &c. 
 
 On the other hand, some three pages later. Col gives quite a life- 
 like description of the royal reception of a mediaeval embassy :^ 
 
 Item, le ludy, 4 jour de luilliet f eusmes mandes et envoyes 
 querir pour aller devant le Roy, ainsi que ordonne et appointie 
 avoit este le "Mecredy precedent, au departement des gens du Roy 
 et de nous, et vindrent pour nous querir entre huit et neuf heures 
 
 1 Rymer, vol. g, pp. 206-208. 
 
 2 Religieux de St. Denis, v, p. 506. For safe-conducts, April, 1415, Rymer, 
 vol. 9, p. 219; Carte, Rolles, ii, p. 219. 
 
 8 Hall's Chronicle, London, 1809, p. 58; Monstrelet, Chronique, vol. iii, p. 72; 
 T. Goodwin, History of the Reign of Henry V, London, 1704, p. 56; Beaucourt, 
 Histoire de Charles VH, vol. i, p. 259. 
 
 * Besse, Recueil de Diverses Pieces servant d Vhistoire du Roy Charles VI 
 (Paris, 1660), p. 97. 
 
 ^ Besse, op. cit., p. 100. 
 
36 
 
 les Evesques de Duresme [Durham], et de Chestre et le seigneur 
 du Souch; alasmes tout droict au Palais de I'Evesque ou le Roy 
 estoit logie et nous mena en la chambre de I'Evesque de Norebbich 
 [Norwich], et assez tost apres ledit Evesque de Norebbich nous 
 vint querir, et nous mena haut en la chambre ou le Roy estoit tout 
 droit appuye sur un dregoir, et un oreiller de soye dessous son bras, 
 et en sa compagnie estoient ses trois freres, son Chancelier, les 
 Evesques de Duresme, de Norebbich, L'Archevesque de Cantur- 
 bery, I'Evesque de Chestre, le Due d'Yorc, le Comte de Houemden 
 [Hovenden], le Comte de la Marche, le Comte Mareschal, le Comte 
 d'Orsete [of Dorset], son Confesseur Carme, son Secretaire, et 
 aucuns autres, et a I'eritree nous agenoiilasmes, et feismes la rever- 
 ence au Roy et puis nous tirasmes a part ; et puis tantost apres Mess. 
 I'Archevesque de Bourges, Mons. le Grand Maistre, et Mons. d'Yvry, 
 qui avoient lettres closes adregans au Roy d'Angleterre, lesquelles 
 estoient de creance pour eulx trois seulement, partirent de nous, et 
 allerent devant la personne du Roy, et luy presenterent lesd. 
 Lettres, & puis se leverent et retournerent avec nous dont ils estoient 
 partis; Lors le Roy appella son Chancelier, et luy baiUa lesd: 
 Lettres pour les ouvrir, lequel les ouvrit et sans regarder dedans 
 les bailla presentement au Roy, et se retray ; a doncques le Roy leut 
 lesdites Lettres, et quand il les ot leues les mit sur I'oreiller sur 
 lequel il s'appuyoit sur le dregoir, et apres appella ses trois freres, 
 son Chancelier, le Due d'Yorc, le Comte d'Oriceste, I'Archeves- 
 que de Canturbery, les Evesques de Duresme et Norebbich tant 
 seulement et parla a eulx asses longuement sans toucher lesd. 
 Lettres, et puis se leverent et se retrahirent chacun en sa place; 
 Adonc il appella lesd. de Vendosme, de Bourges et d'Yvry, et leur 
 dist qu'il avoit veu lesd. Lettres qu'il luy avoient baillee de par son 
 beau cousin de France, et qu'elles portaient creance a eulx trois 
 seulement, et qu'ils luy deissent la creance. Adoncques luy expo- 
 serent et dirent leur creance par la bouche de Mons. de Bourges, en 
 la maniere que ensuit, si comme ledit Mons. de Bourges et autres 
 dessus nommes nous ont dit et rapporte : 
 
 This confusion and lack of finish in the form of the Relation is 
 doubtless somewhat explained by the letter accompanying it, which 
 draws a picture of the physical and mental discomforts endured 
 on the return trip by a part of the embassy. To this may be added 
 the probable depression of the party in view of the failure of the 
 negotiations, and the certainty of a war for which their country was 
 not prepared. The letter reads as follows :^ 
 
 « Besse, op. cit., pp. iio-iii. 
 
37 
 
 Tres-Reverend Pere en Dieu, et mon tres-honore Seigneur. 
 Pource que je suis passe en la compagnie de Mons. de Braquemont 
 le derenier et que mes chevaux furent moult malmenes et tour- 
 mentes en la mer, apres n'out eu aucun repos, et aussi que ie ne eu 
 aucune chose pour payer mon passage au retour, de I'argent qui a 
 este ordonne egalment pour tous passer et repasser, et m'a convenu 
 emprunter argent et achater et loiier chevaux, ie n'ay peu venir a 
 Paris plustost. Si ne sgay si vous feries bien relation avant ma 
 venue a Paris ; Et parce combien que ayes en f resche memoire tout, 
 neantmoins ie vous envoye par mon clerc, porteur de ces presentes 
 un abrege de ce que fait avons jusques au jour de nostre partement, 
 duquel jour ie m'en rapporte a vous, et a la response en Latin faicte 
 par I'Arcevesque de Canturbery a la replique f aite par vous en Fran- 
 gois. Si vous suplie tres humblement de moy excuser de ma demeure 
 jusqu'a demain, que je seray, se Dieu plaist, a Paris. Escript has- 
 tivement le 25. jour de luillet. 
 
 Vostre humble serviteur, 
 
 Gontier Col. 
 
 Col begins the Relation by stating that the envoys left Paris 
 June 4, reaching Winchester (where Henry V was residing) on 
 Sunday, June 30. They were received by the bishops of Durham 
 and Norwich, the counts of Dorset and Salisbury, ''et plusieurs 
 autres," and taken directly to the King, to present their credentials. 
 He then takes up the events of the Winchester meeting day by day, 
 setting down at length all the diplomatic wranglings about Henry's 
 demands as to French possessions, and the dowry of Catherine, also 
 the date of her marriage. The entry touching the Saturday on 
 which took place the last meeting of the envoys and the King, is 
 only partial, as Col does not attempt to describe the closing scene. 
 Judging by other and less discreet historians, in this he showed his 
 diplomatic training, seeing that his report was intended for the 
 Archbishop of Bourges, the prelate who was directly responsible 
 for the break between the envoys and the King; although in view 
 of the latter's feverish preparations for war, it may be doubted 
 whether Henry ever meant them to succeed."^ Be that as it may, 
 it is interesting to see how nearly the embassy thought it had suc- 
 ceeded in its object according to Col's entry for Saturday, July 6 :® 
 
 "^ Wylie, Henry V, p. 491, n. i ; De Flassan, J. B. G. de R., Histoire generate 
 et raisonnee de la diplomatie frangaise, Paris, 181 1, i, p. 192. 
 ^Besse, op. cit., pp. 105-110. 
 
38 
 
 Samedy, 6. jour de luillet fusmes envoyes querir, a neuf heures 
 devant disner, pour aller devers le Roy, par ceux qui dessus sont 
 nommes, et qui autresfois nous estoient venus querir, et nous mene- 
 rent en la chambre d'embas, et la vindrent les Evesque de Duresme 
 et de Norebbich, et parlerent longuement a Mons. rArchevesque de 
 Bourges, et grand Maistre d'Ostel, et puis allerent a mont devers 
 leur Roy; Et cependant lesd. Archevesque & grand Maistre, nous 
 dirent, qu'ils leur avoient dit, que on voulsist declarer & bailler par 
 escript les protestations que avoient faites Mons. de Bourges, etc. 
 Et on leur avait respondu que la declaration estoit en escript devers 
 eux, et chacun la savoit ; et puis avoit dit que on baillast & declarast 
 jour dedans lequel on delivreroit la fille du Roy nostre Seigneur, a 
 leur Seigneur, engeoliee, etc., et la somme de cinq cens cinquante 
 mil escus, et aussi que on delivrerait les Cites, terres et seigneuries a 
 eux offertes, et que on print une treve a quarante ou cinquante ans, 
 pendant laquelle on feist paix final, et se dedans led. temps paix 
 n' estoit faite ils rendraient reaulment et de faict toutes lesdites 
 villes, chasteaux, et seigneuries a eulx baillees par ce traicte, et de 
 ce bailleroient bonne seurte, et caution souffisante, et que on leur 
 fiangast la fille par paroles de futur, etc., et que tandis que on feroit 
 lesd. treves et autres choses dessusdites, que un Secretaire ou autre 
 de nous alast en France devers le Roy, nostre seigneur, et son Conseil 
 dire cest appointement, etc., et que dedans un mois il eust la 
 responce, et que les autres demeurassent en Angleterre, laquelle chose 
 nous ne vouleusmes accorder. 
 
 Et apres ces choses, retournerent I'Evesque de Vincestre, et les 
 deux Evesques dessusdits, et dirent, que on fiangast Madame K. 
 et que dedans la saint Michel on la livrast a Calais, engeolees etc. & 
 avec ce la somme de six cens mil francs, etc., et baillast on avec ce 
 dedans le temps la possessions desd. terres, villes et seigneuries a 
 eulx offertes, etc., et preist on les treves generales a cinquante ans, 
 etc. 
 
 Ausquels f ut respondu que le temps estoit trop court pour f ournir 
 les choses dessusdites, etc., et que dedans Noel ou la Saint Andrieu 
 on leur livreroit Madame K. etc., et quatre mil francs, car plutost 
 ne pourrait on finer de si grand somme d'or, combien que en mon- 
 noye elle feust preste desia, et conviendroit tout ledit terme pour 
 forger lesd. escus, et faire les joyaux, etc. 
 
 Apres dirent celx de la partie d' Angleterre, que nous alissions 
 en haut devers le Roy, dire en sa presence ce qu'il luy avoient rap- 
 porte et pourparle, et dit entre nous etc., Et ainsi fut dit, accorde, 
 et accomply, et alasmes, et trouvasmes le Roy en la chambre en haut 
 et aucuns de ses Conseilliers et serviteurs, et son Secretaire, les- 
 quels il fist vuider la chambre, et n'y demoura que luy, lesd. Prelats 
 
39 
 
 et nous ; Et lors Mons. T Archevesque venismes pres de luy a genoux 
 et luy dist ledit Mons. TArchevesque les choses dessusdites devant 
 les dessus nommes et TArchevesque de Canturbery; et apres se 
 party de ladite chambre, et nous y demourasmes. 
 
 Et apres ces choses, retournerent a nous lesd. Evesque de Du- 
 resme et de Norebbich, et nous dirent que les choses estoient en 
 bonne disposition, et que nous feissions bonne chere; Et asses tost 
 apres on nous mena disner, et estoient bien deux heures apres midy. 
 
 Venismes disner en la chambre de parement, ou le Roy disna, et 
 fit seoir a sa table I'Evesque de Lisieux au bout d'en haut, puis 
 I'Archevesque de Bourges, puis luy; et au bout d'embas le grand 
 Maistre d'Ostel, et le Baron d' Yvry ; et a I'autre table Maistre lean 
 Andry et Gontier, et apres nous plusieurs notables Personnes, Prelats, 
 et autres gens d'Eglise, et a I'autre coste de lad. chambre le Seigneur 
 de Braquemont, Messieurs Charles d'Yvry, et les autres nobles de 
 nostre compagnie, et en disnant nous vint dire le Due d'Yorc et 
 I'Evesque de Norebbich que nous feissions bon visage, et que tout 
 estoit bien etc., et m'apporta led. Ducaboireen une tasse d'or; apres 
 disner vin et espices; puis alasmes en la chambre ou nous aurions 
 este devant disner, et le Roy demoura en son Conseil moult longue- 
 ment, et estoit vestu court, et ses esperons chausses pour chevaucher, 
 etc. Et apres ce vindrent devers nous le Due d'Yorc, et le Chancelier 
 d'Angleterre, les Evesques de Duresme et de Norebbich, et nous 
 dirent que leur Seigneur estoit d'accord de tout, fors que du terme, 
 mais il vouloit avoir la fille et la somme par nous accordee, c'est as- 
 savoir quatre cens mille escus a la Saint Remy, et la possessions des 
 terres, etc. Et nous leur respondismes comme autresfois que c'etoit 
 impossible dedans si brief temps, etc., et ne feust que pour forger si 
 grand somme d'escus et faire les joyaulx, etc., mais a Noel ou a la 
 Saint Andrieu le ferions, etc. Et lors se partirent pour aller dire a 
 leur Seigneur nostre responce, et tenoient fermement que nous 
 estions d'accord, et qu'il ne tenoit que au terme ; et apres longtemps, 
 qu'il estoit six heures, on nous vint dire, que nous venissions au Roy 
 dire nostre responce, et prendre congie: Et quand nous feusmes 
 venus le trouvasmes assis en la chaere, et toute la sale pleine de gens, 
 d'une part et d'autre, les Prelats d'un coste, ses freres et autres gens 
 de guerre d'autre jusqu'au nombre de plus de mil cinq cens person- 
 nes, et y estoient les Ambassadeurs de I'Empereur, du Roy d'Arra- 
 gon, du Due de Bourgogne, un Heraut, etc. Et lors feusmes assis 
 sur une fourine devant le Roy : Adonc I'Archevesque de Canturbery 
 commenQa a parler en Latin, et recita toutes les Ambassades faictes 
 d'une partie et d'autre, depuis que cest Roy fut couronne Roy d'An- 
 gleterre, comme il appert par sa proposition qu'il a depuis envoyee 
 par escript avecques certaines Lettres closes adregans a nous Am- 
 
40 
 
 bassadeurs dessus nommes, et au Roy nostre seigneur, lesquelles 
 lettres nous ne voulusmes recevoir, ne prendre la charge de les ap- 
 porter au Roy, mais nous en prenismes la coppie. 
 
 The end is garbled, and there is a hint at trouble in the last lines 
 of the entry, rather astonishing coming after the preceding asser- 
 tions that the negotiations were going smoothly. It may have been 
 a revulsion of feeling caused by this disappointment on seeing the 
 success of his embassy jeopardized when he thought everything 
 favorably under way, that led the Archbishop of Bourges to speak 
 as he did. He had taken exception to several points made by the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury^ in his speech. But it was only after 
 Henry had again repeated previous demands as to territory,^^ and 
 the dowry of Catherine, ending bluntly with the statement that he 
 was after all the rightful heir to the throne of France, that the 
 crisis came. 
 
 The Archbishop of Bourges,^ ^ according to the diplomatic usages 
 of the times, ^^ asked permission to speak, and begged to be allowed 
 to bring to the King's notice the fact that^^ not only was Henry 
 not the rightful heir of the throne of France, but he was not even 
 the rightful heir of the throne of England. Henry's rage may easily 
 be imagined and it is not difficult to understand that he told the 
 envoys ** qu'ils s'en allassent, et qu'il les suivroit de pres."^* It is 
 not perhaps to be wondered at, in view of the above, that the French 
 prelate addressed directly to King Henry the firm request *'que tu 
 escupres [exculpes?] entierement la response que tu as faicte, sur 
 ton seel et signe manuel." And it is not at all hard to believe that 
 Col sought to avoid compromising himself by refraining from 
 drawing up the compte-rendu of such prickly negotiations. 
 
 ^ Erroneously called Archbishop of Winchester in Sir Harry Nicolas' His' 
 fory of the Battle of Agincourt, London, 1832, p. 28. 
 
 10 Monstrelet, iii, yz ' 
 
 Les duchez d'Acquitaine, de Normendie, d'Anjou et de Touraine, les contez 
 de Poictou du Mans et de Ponthieu et toutes les autres choses jadis appartenans 
 au roys d'Angleterre ses predecesseurs heritablements. 
 
 11 Hivier de Beauvoir, Guillaume de Boisratier in Societe des Antiquites du 
 Centre, 1867, pp. 87-128. 
 
 12 Monstrelet, op. cit., iii, p. 74. 
 
 ^3 Juvenal des Ursins, op. cit., p. 505 ; Thomas of Walsingham, Historia 
 Anglicana, London, 1863-64, vol. ii, p. 305 ; H. Nicolas, History of the Battle of 
 Agincourt, 25-31 ; Th. Goodwin, History of the Reign of Henry V, 56-61. Bib- 
 liography, Wylie, Henry V, vol. i, p. 490. 
 
 ^* Juvenal des Ursins, op. cit., p. 505. 
 
 \ 
 
41 
 
 Before leaving the Relation of Col, we should take account of 
 an interesting question raised by Mirot in the note in which he gives 
 a resume of the embassy.^^ He says '}^ "Une fort curieuse relation 
 de cette ambasisajde due a Gontier Col et se rapprochant beaucoup 
 du recit du Religieux de St. Denis nous a ete conserve dans Besse," 
 etc. Since Col was a member of the embassy and the above men- 
 tioned Relation was written before the 25th of July, it would seem 
 likely that the Religieux was using his old methods, and had seen 
 Col's material before writing his description of Winchester week. 
 The Religieux seems to use the Relation much in the same general 
 way that he did the Journal. The description of the landing in Eng- 
 land, and the events of Sunday and Monday, are given at much 
 greater length in the Cronica}'^ 
 
 Whatever the reasons, the French party did not return all 
 together, the two secretaries, Gontier Col and Jehan Andrieu, appar- 
 ently having crossed the channel after the Archbishop of Bourges.^® 
 With the two secretaries went J. Fusoris,^^ later tried for treason, 
 he having been accused of furnishing information about the politi- 
 cal state of affairs in France to the Bishop of Norwich. The minutes 
 of the trial^^ throw light on Winchester week, but not very much on 
 Col, who was not called upon to testify, as was Jehan Andrieu, the 
 other secretary of the King attached to the embassy, and who said 
 that neither he nor Col thought of Fusoris as anything but loyal.^^ 
 
 It is not possible to tell whether Col knew Fusoris well. The 
 only reference that the accused makes to Col, mentions his being 
 
 "^^ Memoir es de la Societe de Paris et de Vile de France, vol. xxvii (1900), 
 p. 137, note 7. 
 
 ^^ Unless the reader wishes to return to the untenable suggestion that iden- 
 tified Col with the Religieux de St. Denis — a theory that the mention of Col's 
 laical status would refute. (Froissart, vol. 13, p. Z^2>-) 
 
 i^Besse, op. cit., 95-98; Religieux de St. Denis, op. cit., vol. v, 516-518. 
 
 18 Carte, Rolles, vol. ii, p. 222 : 
 
 Consimiles literas de salvo conductu habent subscripti, videlicet, Episcopus 
 Lexoviensis, Comes Vindocinensis, Karolus Dominus de Yvriaco, Braquetus 
 Dominus de Braquemont, Miles, Magister Johannes Andre & Magister Gonterus 
 Coll. 
 
 Teste Rege apud Westminster 28, Junii. 
 
 18 Probably the same mentioned in Ehrle, Archiv fiir literatur und kirchen- 
 geschichte des Mittelalters, Sechster Band, 1892, pp. 219-220; Bulaeus, Historia 
 Universitatis Parisiensis," vol. v, p. 91. 
 
 ^^ Memoires de la Societe de Paris et de Vile de France, vol. xxvii (1900), 
 pp. 137 sqq. Ed. by Mirot. 
 
 21 Mirot, op. cit., p. 218. 
 
42 
 
 invited to dinner by the Bishop of Norwich and meeting Col there.^^ 
 This was when that prelate was in Paris on the English embassy^^ 
 which immediately preceded that of the Archbishop of Bourges to 
 Winchester. The evidence against Fusoris was of a more or less 
 circumstantial nature, aggravated by his well-known Burgundian 
 leanings, and it was on those grounds that the Prior of the Celestins 
 in Paris refused to entrust to him letters (to monks of his order 
 in England) that Fusoris had offered to deliver for him, but gave 
 them to Gontier Col instead.^^ It would seem as though the Prior 
 scarcely needed any such reason to avoid giving these letters in the 
 charge of a more or less itinerant astrologer, going to England as 
 a hanger-on of the embassy, ostensibly to attempt to collect a bad 
 debt from a prelate of the church, when they could be carried by 
 one of the secretaries of the expedition. Although there is no proof 
 of it, it is highly probable that the Prior knew Col personally, since 
 the Confrerie of the notaries and secretaries of the King met in the 
 buildings of the Celestins in Paris.^^ 
 
 VIII. — Last Years and Death 
 
 Col returned to Paris about the 25th of July, 1415.^ The battle 
 of Agincourt took place in the following October, and diplomacy 
 was at a standstill until Emperor Sigismund's visit to Paris in the 
 following Spring. That ruler was much preoccupied by the Schism, 
 which still prevailed, and saw in a union of French and English in- 
 fluences a means of ending it. He came to Paris with the intention 
 of bringing about a Franco-English rapprochement, and after seeing 
 the King and the dukes, he left for England, accompanied by 
 French envoys. A meeting was arranged between the contending 
 parties at Beauvais (September 9, 1416), to which Col went in his 
 official capacity.^ The envoys did nothing beyond calling for another 
 conference not later than the i6th of August — a failure for which 
 the Emperor (now in England and a guest of Henry V) placed the 
 
 22 Ihid., p. 235. 
 
 23Mirot, Les Amhassades Anglaises pendant la guerre de Cent Ans (Paris, 
 1900), p. 74. 
 
 2* Ihid., p. 222. 
 
 25 E. Raunie, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 309, and note i. 
 
 ^ Besse, op. cit., pp. iio-iii. 
 
 2 Lavisse, Histoire de France, Hachette, 191 1, vol. iv, p. 372; Rymer, vol. 9, 
 p. 366; Religieux de St. Denis, vol. 6, pp. 26-28; Carte, Rolles, ii, pp. 230-231. 
 
43 
 
 responsibility upon the French, whom he accused of being devoid 
 of a conciliatory spirit.^ 
 
 The second meeting was prepared for in both countries; Eng- 
 land sent envoys, and for the French ambassadors* were prepared 
 safe-conducts in which Col's name appeared. Very little was done 
 besides signing a short truce, for Henry, who had come over to 
 his French possessions with Sigismund for the sole purpose of 
 meeting the Duke of Burgundy, wanted to get the French *' nego- 
 ciateurs " out of the way — not for his own sake, apparently, but 
 for that of the Duke of Burgundy, who became his secret ally as a 
 result of this meeting.^ 
 
 In spite of this understanding with the Duke of Burgundy, nego- 
 tiations continued with France. The death of the Dauphin pre- 
 vented a meeting, for which the necessary state papers are dated 
 April, 14 1 7, but which was finally arranged for later in the year.^ 
 Col went on this embassy, which proved to be fruitless,'^ altho the 
 envoys did not return home from the Barneville conference until 
 December 21. 
 
 This is the last diplomatic mission with which I have been able 
 to connect Col's name. He may have gone with the French envoys 
 that met the Burgundians during Easter week, 1418, to settle, if 
 possible, party strife in France, but the name of their secretary is 
 not known.^ As will be recalled, the French and Burgundian pleni- 
 potentiaries had come to an agreement, and Paris was wild with joy 
 at the prospect of peace. When the results were read to the King 
 he inclined in their favor, but the Count of Armagnac presented the 
 most violent opposition to their acceptance,^ and this in the teeth of 
 the Dauphin's defense thereof. This held up all the proceedings of 
 
 3 Rymer, vol. 9, p. zil seq. Religieux de St. Denis, op. cit., vol. 6, p. 34 
 (Col's name not mentioned). 
 
 * Dated August 14, Rymer, vol. 9, p. 377, and good until 14th of September; 
 later extended until the 21st, Rymer, vol. 9, p. 386. 
 
 5 Monstrelet, vol. 3, pp. 162-164; Beaucourt, op. cit., vol. i, p. 267 seq.; 
 J. H. Ramsay, Lancaster and York, Oxford, 1892, vol. i, pp. 240-241. 
 
 ^ Safe conducts, September 24, 1417, Rymer, vol. 9, p. 494; Credentials Octo- 
 ber 2, Rymer, vol. 9, p. 498; Extension of passports, Rymer, vol. 9, p. 505. 
 
 ■^Religieux de St. Denis, op. cit., vol. vi, p. 109; Rymer, op. cit., vol. 9, 
 PP- 517. 537; Beaucourt, op. cit., vol. i, 275, 278. 
 
 8 Beaucourt, op. cit., vol. i, p. 79, n. 2. 
 
 8 Monstrelet, op. cit., vol. iii, p. 257. Religieux de St. Denis, op. cit., vol. vi, 
 pp. 228-230. 
 
44 
 
 ratification, and as the news transpired, there was much discontent, 
 the more so as the Armagnacs were arousing general antagonism by 
 their exactions and brutahty. The Duke of Burgundy saw his op- 
 portunity and seized it. By clever manipulation of certain disaf- 
 fected Parisians, a party of Burgundians were admitted by night 
 into Paris (May 28-29, 1418).^^ The result was a popular uprising 
 culminating in the so-called Armagnac Massacres, in which so many 
 men of prominence were killed,^ ^ and in which there are excellent 
 reasons to believe that Col lost his life. Among these reasons may 
 be stated, first, the purely negative one that his name is not in the 
 list of burgesses who took the oath of allegiance to the Duke of 
 Burgundy in the month of August, 1418.^^ A more conclusive one 
 is presented in Sauval's Antiquites de la ville de Paris,^^ which runs 
 as follows, under the entry " Du compte de confiscations de Paris, 
 depuis le vingtieme decembre 1423, jusqu'a la St. Jean, 1427 " : 
 
 Maison qui fut a M. Gontier Col, occis a Paris, seise rue vielle 
 du Temple, tenant a la ruelle au roi de Sicile, laquelle Jean Spifame 
 ecuyer dit lui appartenir a cause de sa femme, fille dudit W Gon- 
 tier.^* 
 
 Tho this is not altogether decisive of the point, it seems war- 
 ranted, in view of the confusion existing in the probation of wills at 
 this time (especially for those who were on the losing side politi- 
 cally),^^ to accept the theory advanced by M. Antoine Thomas, 
 that Col died at the same time as his friend Jehan de Monstereul, 
 to wit, in the course of the Armagnac Massacres of 1418. 
 
 10 Monstrelet, op, cit., vol. iii, pp. 259-266. Rellgieux de St. Denis, op. cit., 
 vol. vi, pp. 230-236. 
 
 11 Vallet de Viriville, Histoire de Charles VII, roi de France, Paris, 1862, 
 pp. 104, 112. Ramsey, Lancaster and York, vol. i, p. 260, for bibliography. 
 
 12 Le Roux de Lincy et Tisserand, Paris et ses Historiens, p. 371. 
 
 13 Vol. iii, p. 304. 
 
 1* Cf. difficulties experienced by daughter of Nicolas de I'Espoisse, greffier 
 du Parlement (1420). Her husband being in the Dauphin's army, her share in 
 her father's estate was confiscated and she had to take legal steps to recover it. 
 See Testaments enregistres au Parlement de Paris sous Charles VI (p. 605), 
 par A. Tuetey. 
 
 15 A. Thomas, op. cit., p. 81. 
 
PART II 
 LITERARY ANTIPATHIES AND PERSONAL SYMPATHIES 
 
 I. — GoNTiER Col and the Quarrel of the Roman de la Rose 
 
 Like the political situation, the literary conditions were in a 
 good deal of confusion at the end of the fourteenth century. The 
 chief literary characteristic of that period was the gradual decay 
 and disappearance of literary genres much in vogue in the twelfth 
 and thirteenth centuries, to wit, the chansons de gestes, the romances, 
 the animal stories. The aspect of the century is set forth by Paulin 
 Paris in this way: "Le XIV® Siecle reclame le principal honneur 
 dans les grandes compositions historiques, dans les premieres tra- 
 ductions en prose des auteurs grecs et latins, dans les premieres 
 etudes de philosophic morale, et economic politique."^ The deduc- 
 tion is that this is an epoch of " ideologues," more interesting for an 
 intellectual history than for a purely literary one. The ideas stirring 
 men's minds were more absorbing to them than questions of form 
 and genre. 
 
 It is not my intention to discuss the subject of France's indebt- 
 edness to Petrarch nor the role he played in bringing in the begin- 
 nings of the Renaissance.^ Petrarch's stay in Vaucluse, the efforts 
 of Jean le Bon to draw him to court, his mission to Paris, his 
 friendship with PhiHppe de Vitry, whom he considered the only poet 
 France had at that time, are sufficiently known.^ A single point 
 may be noted here. It was Petrarch's friend Berguire^ whose trans- 
 lations from the Latin are the first productions to show some glim- 
 merings of the Humanistic spirit in France.^ In spite of Berguire's 
 medieval cast of mind, there is in his works an attempt to keep within 
 sight of the text he is translating, rather than to use it wholly as a 
 
 "^ Cabinet Historique, vol. 8 (1862), p. 102 seq. 
 
 2 Thomas, op. cit., pp. 88-89. 
 
 3 P. Paris, Mannscrits frangais de la Bibliotheque du roi, vol. iii, pp. 180-181. 
 * A. Thomas, Les Lettres a la Cour de Rome, 1884; L- Pannier, Notice 
 
 biographique sur le benedictin Pierre Berguire; Bibliotheque de V£cole des 
 Chartes, No. 33 (1872), p. 337. 
 
 5 Petit de Julleville, Revue des Cours et Conferences, 27 fevrier, 1896, p. 682. 
 
 45 
 
46 
 
 means of edification, exemplified, for instance, by the interpretation 
 the Middle Ages gave to Virgil's Fourth Eclogue. 
 
 The output of the group of translators of Charles V to which 
 Berguire belonged, is large, and in many cases smacks of the class- 
 room exercise. Yet their work is more than this; its originality 
 consists in the interest these translators took in the Latin texts in 
 their entirety. They must of necessity have acquired a point of 
 view different from that held by those clerics who contented them- 
 selves with a knowledge of antiquity drawn from collections of 
 moral sayings and exempla. Moreover, it is the first time in cen- 
 turies that the human mind is taking on an edge from trituration 
 with a purely lay subject, without any relation to theology. This is 
 also true, for example, of Nicolas Oresme's^ Traite des Monnaies, 
 the first scientific treatise based on pure reason. It is the beginning 
 of the la'icisation of learning and the intellectual life, and it may be 
 questioned whether the Schism did not play a part in this, turn- 
 ing men's minds aside from a subject so painful as the dissensions 
 of Christendom to seek for solace in matters purely secular. These 
 conditions go to show that men were busied pulling down precon- 
 ceived ideas and ideals by which they had been living for genera- 
 tions; and this explains the polemics and the satirical nature of a 
 great deal of the literary activity of the day; an excellent example 
 of which is the " Quarrel of the Roman de la Rose," which took 
 place in 1401. The basic considerations underlying the quarrel 
 were not new. The fabliaux, those " revues " of the day, are full 
 of satire against women;''' but the chivalric convention in litera- 
 ture was at that time too strong to allow anything so foreign to it 
 to find expression in the more dignified literary genres. In the 
 fourteenth century, with the rise of the bourgeoisie, that chivalric 
 convention began to show signs of strain. It is Lanson who says :^ 
 " Une des plus authentiques marques de bourgeoisie dans une ceuvre 
 litteraire, c'est I'effacement ou I'abaissement de la femme." That 
 the bourgeois undercurrent of scorn for women should come to the 
 surface in an epoch dominated by their spirit, is to have been ex- 
 pected. That there should be so much of it, however, is due pos- 
 
 6 Traite de la Premiere Invention des Monnaies, ed. Wolowski, Paris, 1864. 
 '' For literature against women previous to the Roman de la Rose, see Piaget, 
 Martin Le Franc, pp. 28-31 ; also Meyer, Rom. vi, p. 499. 
 8 Histoire de la litterature frangaise, p. 128. 
 
47 
 
 sibly to a reason of a political (or sociological) nature. The bour- 
 geois thinker saw in courtly love an aspect of the feudal system that 
 could not but antagonize him. The courtois attitude towards women 
 was so thoroughly enmeshed in chivalry that terms of fief-holding 
 were used in the contemporary love-poetry. Thus the uprising of 
 literature against women may well be an attack on an important phase 
 of chivalry, i. e., on the relations of the knight to his lady-love. Ac- 
 cordingly, it should not cause surprise to see Jehan de Mon- 
 stereul and Gontier Col, with the latter's brother Pierre, take the 
 stand they did in favor of the work of a man whom they admired, 
 namely, Jehan de Meung. Nor should it occasion surprise to find 
 Christine de Pisan opposing a work that combined the satirical 
 fabliau attitude towards women with the critical one of the me- 
 diaeval monks — Christine, author of a formal protest against the 
 rising tide of literature against women, viz., the Epitre au dieu 
 d'amoiir,^ a work which, as has been pointed out, led indirectly to 
 the famous quarrel.^^ 
 
 The outlines of the quarrel are fairly well known. The imme- 
 diate cause is said to have been a conversation between Jehan de 
 Monstereul, Christine de Pisan, and an unknown (Gerson?), on 
 the merits of the Roman de la Rose}^ Jehan de Monstereul, Col's 
 friend, was evidently not satisfied with the outcome of the discus- 
 sion, for he did not let the matter rest, but wrote to his interlocutors 
 to emphasize his points.^ ^ His letter, the first epistle in the quar- 
 rel, ^^ is lost, and we do not know what were his original arguments 
 in favor of the Rose. In Christine's answer to it,^^ the objections 
 
 ® Roy, CEuvres poetiques de Christine de Pisan, vol. ii, p. 29. 
 
 10 Roy, vol. ii, p. iv. 
 
 11 Roy, vol. ii, pp. iv-v; Piaget, Chronologic, p. 117 (1400-1401). 
 
 12 Piaget, Chronologic, pp. 116-117. 
 
 13 A. Piaget, Chronologic des Epistres sur le Roman dc la Rose, in Etudes 
 Romanes dediees a Gaston Paris, p. 116, says: " Je ne m'occupe pas ici des lettres 
 latines de Jean de Monstereul publiees dans le tome II de rAmplissima Col- 
 lectio de don Martene, ou encore inedites." Petit de Julleville {Revue des Cours 
 et Conferences, 4 juin, 1896) places three undated Latin letters of Jehan de 
 Monstereul (A. C, vol. ii, Col, 1419, 1421, 1422) at this stage of the discussion, 
 in which the Prevot de Lille expresses his admiration for Jehan de Meung and 
 his works. C. F. Ward, The Epistles on the Romance of the Rose and Other 
 Documents in the Debate, Chicago, 191 1, reprints the letters without dating them. 
 
 i*Roy, vol. ii, p. v, n. i; Piaget, p. 117 (1401). 
 
48 
 
 formulated are as follows: (i) Coarseness of vocabulary ;^^ (2) 
 Slurs cast on the married state ;^^ (3) Incitation to loose living ;^'^ 
 (4) Satire on women.^^ She sums up her opinion of the evil effects 
 of the Roman as follows (ibid., p. 2y, 11. 313-327) : 
 
 Mais je treuue, comme il me semble, ces dictes choses et assez 
 d'autres considerees, que mieulx lui affiert, enseuelissement de feu 
 que couronne de lorier, nononbstant que le claimez miroir de bien 
 viure, exemple de tous estaz de soy politiquement gouuerne et viure 
 religieusement et sagement. Mais au contraire (sauue vostre grace) 
 je dis que c'est exortacion de vice, confortant vie dissolue, doctrine 
 pleine de deceuance, voye de dampnacion, diffameur publique, cause 
 de souspegon et mescreandise, honte de pluseurs personnes, et puet 
 estre d'erreur. 
 
 At this point Col steps in.^^ He writes to the prudent honnouree 
 et sauent damoiseiy Christine, asking for a copy of the letter 
 "que tu as nouvellement escript par maniere de invection aucune- 
 ment contre ce que mon maistre enseigneur et familier feu maistre 
 Jean de Meung . . . fist et compila ou livre de la Rose/'^^ At the 
 same time he sends her another of Jehan de Meung's works, Le 
 Tresor, and in this connection it is interesting to quote what Col had 
 to say on the subject of the manuscript of the work that he sent her, 
 for his criticism casts an interesting light on the inaccuracy of con- 
 temporary texts (ibid., p. 30) : 
 
 lequel est incorrect par faulte d'escripuain, qui pas ne I'entendi 
 comme il y pert, et n'ay eu espace ne loisir de le veoir ne corrigier au 
 long pour la haste et ardeur que j'ay de veoir ton dessusdit ceuure, 
 et mesmement qu'il est a supposer que bien sgaras les fautes de Tes- 
 cripuain en ceste compilacion corrigier et entendre. 
 
 On receiving a copy of Christine's letter, he writes again,^! taking 
 her to task for her presumption towards that " tresexcellent et irre- 
 prehensible docteur en saincte divine escripture . . . que si horrible- 
 ment oses et presumes corrigier et reprehendre."^^ 
 
 15 Ward, pp. 18-21. 
 
 i« Ibid., p. 20, 11. 26-29. 
 
 ^"^ Ibid., p. 21, lines 143-159; p. 27, lines 316-322. 
 
 18 Ibid., pp. 22-25. 
 
 19 Roy, vol. ii, p. vi, September 13, 1401 ; Piaget, p. 118. 
 
 20 Ward, p. 29. 
 
 21 Roy, vol. ii, p. vi; Piaget, p. 118. September 15, 1401. 
 
 22 Ward, op. cit., p. 31. 
 
49 
 
 In Col's two letters,^^ he endeavors to make Christine see what 
 he considers the errors of her ways. Christine's reply,^^ far from 
 seizing the opportunity offered her by Col for confession and avoid- 
 ance, reiterates emphatically what she has before said on the point :^^ 
 
 je dis derechief et replique et triplique tant de fois comme tu 
 vouldras que le dit intitule Romant de la Rose, nonobstant y ait de 
 bonnes choses, . . . mais pour ce que nature humaine est plus 
 descendent au mal, je dis qu'il puet estre cause de mauvaise et per- 
 verse exortacion en tresabhominables meurs, confortant vie dissolue, 
 doctrine pleine de decevance, voie de dampnacion, diffameur pub- 
 lique cause de souspegon et rnescreandise et honte de pluseurs per- 
 sonnes et puet estre d'erreur ; et tres deshonneste lecture en pluseurs 
 pars. (In part identical with extract on page 48.) 
 
 Nor does she stop there, but sends all the documents in the case, 
 with an appeal, to Isabeau de Baviere, Queen of France, and Guill- 
 aume de Tignonville, prevot de Paris. ^^ There is no record of any 
 answer made by those dignitaries to Christine's appeal, but at any 
 rate there was a lull in the quarrel until May, 1402,^"^ when there 
 appeared Gerson's Tractatus contra Romantium de Rosa, which is 
 cast in the allegorical form, popular at that time. He assails the 
 Roman under eight headings, among which are three of Christine's 
 points of arraignment.^^ To these the most important counts that 
 he adds are Jehan deMeung's scant respect for sacred things,^^ his 
 theory concernig Paradise, and his attitude towards young men who 
 enter the Church. ^^ Gerson's position is of course easily explained 
 in view of Jean de Meung's abundant satire on the Church. 
 
 This time Col did not take up the cudgels for the Roman de la 
 Rose, but apparently yielded his place in the quarrel to his brother, 
 the Canon Pierre Col,^^ who wrote a fiery defense of Jehan de 
 
 23 Ibid., pp. 32-33. 
 
 2* Ward, pp. 32-33; Piaget, p. 118. 
 
 25 Ward, p. 33. 
 
 26 Ibid., pp. 34-37 ; Roy, vol. ii, p. vii, gives date as the day before Chande- 
 leur, 1401 (i February, 1402, new style) ; Piaget, op. cit., p. 118. 
 
 2'^ Roy, op. cit., vol. ii, p. iii ; Piaget, op. cit., p. 119. 
 
 28 Ward, op. cit., pp. 39-40. 
 
 29 Ibid., p. 40. 
 
 30 Ward, op. cit., p. 39. 
 
 31 Ward, pp. 56-76; A. Piaget, Martin Le Franc, p. 70; A. Piaget, Chrono- 
 logic des Epistres, p. 119. 
 
 His two letters to Christine, the second only a fragment, are in Paris 
 
so 
 
 Meung, and sent copies of it to Christine and Gerson. In this epistle 
 the Canon tries to make Christine de Pisan appear a prude in her ob- 
 jections to the use of certain concrete physiological terms, which 
 attitude on her part, in view of the contemporary state of refine- 
 ment on such questions, makes of her a '' Precieuse d'avant la 
 lettre."^^ Fol amoureux's stories in questionable taste he explains 
 by saying that Jehan de Meung' s great art was to make his char- 
 acters speak in accordance with their role, and that what a Fol 
 amoureux said must not be charged to the author's account.^^ 
 
 Pierre Col is careful not to attack Gerson quite so openly, but 
 in much more measured tones^* he answers some of that worthy 
 Churchman's strictures. Both of his correspondents make rejoinder : 
 Gerson^^ sets forth the point of view of the Church as stated by 
 St. Augustine,^^ and discusses the somewhat lax sex-morality toler- 
 ated by the Canon. ^"^ He showed his distate for the whole matter 
 so clearly that it is not to be wondered at that Pierre Col made no 
 attempt to answer him. Christine's reply^^ is long and prolix, a 
 fact of which she is evidently quite aware; and she makes it clear 
 that the controversy is now closed as far as she is concerned.^^ One 
 might think that Canon Col would have had enough. Not so. That 
 doughty champion began a counter-rejoinder to Christine^^ — at 
 least began, for whether he finished it we do not know, since only a 
 fragment of it still survives. 
 
 in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Fonds Fr. 1563, fol. 185 (b) (for XI) and fol. 
 199 (Piaget) in Ward, p. 10. 
 
 Fragments of Pierre Col's first letter may be found in the Tours library, to 
 judge by the following entry in the Catalogue general des Manuscrits des Bihlio- 
 theques Publiques de France, tome xxxvii, Tours, p. 207, No. 28. Jacques Pub- 
 licius, Traits de I'art epistolaire, iii, au folio 230v° et 231, on lit plusieurs lettres 
 ou fragments de lettres qui ont ete recueillis pour servir de modeles. 8° Formule 
 epistolaire empruntee a la correspondence de Christine de Pisan et Pierre Col, 
 fol. 231 v° . . . " Et de ton eloquence melodieuse je desire," etc. 
 
 32 Petit de Julleville, La Querelle a propos du Roman de la Rose au XV^ 
 Steele in Revue des Cours et Conferences, 4 juin, 1896, p. 544. 
 
 33 Ward, op. cit., p. 66. 
 
 34 Ward, p. 69. 
 
 35 Ward, pp. 77-82, a reprint from the Antwerp edition of Gerson's works 
 (1706), vol. iii, col. 293. 
 
 36 Ward, p. 78. 
 
 37 Ihid., p. 80. 
 
 ^^ Ibid., pp. 83-111. (October 2, 1402.) 
 
 ^^Ihid., p. III. 
 
 *o Piaget, p. 120, note i, p. 82. 
 
51 
 
 In treating the subject-matter of Christine de Pisan's most im- 
 portant epistle, stress is generally laid on her championship of her 
 sex, so vigorously attacked by Jehan de "Meung. The point must 
 not be missed that she also objects to his coarseness of speech, and 
 to his advocacy of an unrestricted "moral code." Petit de JuUe- 
 ville sums up the matter thus :^^ 
 
 Mais il reste a Christine le merite d'avoir discerne le caractere 
 intime du roman de Jean de Meung, qui est dans la tendence de I'au- 
 teur a rehabiliter la nature humaine, libre et affranchie de toutes les 
 lois et de toutes les conventions sociales. Le roman de la Rose 
 renferme les premiers germes d'une renaissance naturaliste dirigee 
 contre la discipline austere et stricte du Christianisme. C'est ce que 
 les savants adversaires de Christine ne voyaient pas ou peut-etre 
 feignaient de ne pas voir. 
 
 The last phrase is a telling one. Freedom from moral re- 
 straint in matters of sex is one of the dominant traits of the Re- 
 naissance, and this point of view permeates the second part of the 
 Roman. It is at least worth while to note that the two men who 
 were most ardent in the defense of the Roman de la Rose were: the 
 best known Humanist in France, Jehan de Monstereul, and the man 
 whom he called his " praeceptor," Gontier Col. It also deserves to 
 be noted that Col waxes eloquent against Christine not only for 
 defending woman, but for talking about things of which he says 
 that she knows nothing and for having the temerity to raise her 
 voice when the great Jehan de Meung had already spoken.^ ^ All 
 
 *i Petit de Julleville, Histoire de la Utterature et de la langue frangaise, 
 u, p. 361-362. 
 
 *2 Ward, op. cit., p. 29, " Et comme dient les relateurs ou refferendaires de 
 ceste chose, t'efforces et estudies de le reprende et chargier de faultes en ta 
 dicte oeuure nouuelle, laquelle chose me vient a grant admiracion et merueille 
 inextimable, et ad ce non croire me meut I'experience et exercite de toy d'auoir 
 sceu, leu et entendu lui ou dit liure, et en ses autres fais en frangois, et autres 
 pluseurs et divers docteurs, aucteurs, et poetes . . . pour toy donner matiere de 
 plus escripre contre lui, se bon te semble, ou a tes (fol. 88 verso a) satalices [i. e., 
 satellites], qui en ce fait font boutee, pour ce que touchier n'y osoient ou ne 
 sauoient, mais de toy veulent f aire chappe a pluye ; pour dire que plus y sauroient 
 que une femme et plus reprimer la renommee (indeficient ent're les mortelz), d'un 
 tel homme . . . " ; p. 31 : "... t'ay premierement par une mienne lettre, que 
 auant yer t'enuoyay, exortee, auisee, et price, de toy corrigier et amender de 
 I'erreur manifeste, folic ou demenance trop grant a toy venue par presompcion 
 ou oultrecuidance et comme femme passionee en ceste matiere — ne te desplaise 
 se ie dy voir." 
 
 See also Pierre Col's letter, Ward, p. 65. 
 
52 
 
 this would tend to show that Gontier Col and Monstereul took ex- 
 ception to her attitude on the question of "les moeurs" as well as 
 on that of "la solidarite feminine." They saw the power of the 
 Church loosening on certain matters of conduct, only to have sub- 
 stituted for ecclesiastical strictures social regulations that imposed 
 the same restraints; it was the "Chambre Bleue" casting its 
 shadow before. These are not the motives that explain the 
 Humanists' defense of the works of Jehan de Meung, whom Col 
 admires so highly, and calls, as we have seen above, " mon maistre, 
 enseigneur & familier feu Maistre Jehan de Meun."^^ Their in- 
 terest in his independence of outlook and lack of subservience to 
 the established order of things is well known.^^ They were intel- 
 lectual pioneers on certain lines, just as he was, and that undoubt- 
 edly was for them the important point in common. 
 
 Another aspect of the Quarrel of the Roman de la Rose that 
 ought not to be lost sight of, is that it is the first French literary 
 quarrel — a departure from the theological quarrels indulged in by 
 the men in orders, who were of course the learned class of the 
 Middle Ages. The presence of a woman in such a quarrel is also a 
 distinct innovation. The subject-matter itself was not entirely new. 
 Reference has already been made to the "fabliau attitude" towards 
 women all thru the Middle Ages, and there were undeniably a cer- 
 tain number of literary lieux-communs in the quarrel. Canon Pierre 
 Col's position, for instance, seems to me little else than a variant of 
 that of the mediaeval monk of a Rabelaisian cast of mind who be- 
 lieved in calling a spade a spade and was quite oblivious to aesthetic 
 preoccupations as well as to those ethical considerations that stirred 
 Christine. 
 
 Petit de Julleville^^ does not consider the quarrel a purely liter- 
 ary one, but states that it was " aussi et surtout une querelle morale 
 et religieuse." This is due to the role played in it by Gerson, whose 
 attitude in the matter is wholly clerical, and whose main interest 
 was not in the phase that is significant for us, viz., the fact that it is 
 a link in the series of works for and against women in France, from 
 the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. Gerson's intervention on 
 
 43 Ward, p. 29. 
 
 4* Lavisse, Histoire de France, vol. iv, p. 405. 
 
 45 Revue des Cours et Conferences, June 4, 1896, p. 540. 
 
53 
 
 Christine de Pisan's side ended the quarrel for the time being, but 
 the fifteenth century is full of works written from the point of view 
 championed by Gontier Col, and some of the most trenchant tirades 
 against women date from this period.^^ The quarrel reached its 
 full development in the sixteenth century with Frangois Rabelais,^^ 
 the most ardent and skilful writer against women of them all. Col 
 gives but a faint foretaste of the doughty author of the " Tiers livre 
 de Pantagruel," albeit an ardent partisan of the ideas on women 
 that they both shared in common. 
 
 So this oldest of literary quarrels in France not only has a cer- 
 tain religious tinge derived from Gerson's role in it, but it is some- 
 what prophetic in its defence, by men of standing and reputation and 
 who were deeply interested in Humanism, of the extreme individual- 
 istic moral code of the Renaissance. Nor is this all, for it also 
 is a forerunner (less far-reaching in scope, it is true, although simi- 
 lar as to subject-matter) of the *'querelle des femmes" which be- 
 longs to the history of the literar}^ development of the Greater Re- 
 naissance. 
 
 II. — Gontier Col a Member of the "Cour Amoureuse" 
 
 In the light of the foregoing, it is rather astonishing to find 
 Col's name on the roster of the famous "Cour Amoureuse,"^ 
 founded in 1401 (14 fevrier, 1400 v. s.), that much discussed or- 
 ganization which at one time was thought to be an "association 
 voluptueuse "^ reflecting Isabeau de Baviere's loose moral code. 
 Jehan de Monstereul and Gontier Col both belonged to it, although 
 one section of the charter expressly covers Col's attitude in the 
 " Querelle." I refer to the following " item," which I will quote in 
 full.3 
 
 Item, pour ce que la hautesse d'amourz est inconprenable et 
 que tous nobles et autres, dignes d'estre amoureux, doivent parer 
 
 *^ A. Lef ranc, Le Tiers livre du Pantagruel et la querelle des femmes in 
 Revue des Etudes Rabelaisiennes, 1904 (i* Fasc), p. 5 seq. 
 
 *^ Lef ranc, op. cit., 1904 (3* Fasc), PP- 102-109. 
 
 1 A. Piaget, La Cour Amoureuse de Charles VI, Romania, xx, p. 429. 
 
 2 Piaget, op. cit., Romania, xx, p. 419. 
 
 3 Bulletins de I'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux- 
 Arts de Belgique, 1886 (No. 12), La charte de la Cour d' Amour de I'annee 
 1401, par Ch. Potvin, p. 213. 
 
54 
 
 leurs cueurs de vertus et gracieusetez chascun a son pooir pour par- 
 venir a bonne renommee; d'autrepart, comme dit est que nostre 
 amoureuse court et seignourie est principamment fondee sur les 
 deux vertus d'umilite et leaute, a I'onneur, loenge et recommenda- 
 cion de toutes dames et damoiselles ; Nous, par meure et tres grande 
 deliberation, avons ordonne et par ces presentes ordonnons a tous 
 noz amoureux subges, de quelconques puissance, seignourie, auctorite 
 ou estat qu'ilz soient, sans aucun excepter, qu'ilz ne facent ou par 
 autre facent faire dittierz, complaintes, rondeaux, virelays, balades, 
 lays ou autres quelconques fagon et taille de rethorique, rimee ou en 
 proze, au deshonneur, reproche, amenrissement ou blame de dame 
 ou dames damoiselles, ou damoiselles, ensemble quelconques f emmes, 
 religieuses ou autres, trespassees ou vivans, pour quelconques cause 
 que ce soit, tant soit grieve dolereuse ou desplaisant. 
 
 This also holds good for " Prince, seigneur, prelat, baron, cheva- 
 lier, escuier, autre notable homme, quelqu'il soit, puis qu'il sera sub- 
 get de la retenue de nostre amoureuse court," etc.* 
 
 The penalty of such infractions is as follows : 
 
 Tout ce que dit est sur peine de effacier les armes de tel mal- 
 eureux delinquant qui telz libelles diffamatoires aroit fait en sa 
 personne ou fait faire par autres, i ou pluseurs. Et apres icelles 
 ses armes ainsy effaciees, on feroit paindre son escu de couleur de 
 cendre, comme homme infame, ennemy d'onneur et mort au monde, 
 pour sa mauvaistie et venimeux corage estre apparant aux veans, 
 tant en son vivant comme apres ses jours. Et nientmains, son nom 
 et seurnom demorroient escripz sur icelluy son escu, paint de couleur 
 de cendres, affin que la gloire de sa renommee apparust aux regardans 
 estre estainte et mauditte generan^ment par toutes terres. 
 
 Alain Chartier^ was expelled from the " Cour Amoureuse " for 
 writing the Belle Dame sans Merci, which was distinctly not in ac- 
 cordance with the spirit of the above-mentioned " item." Why Col 
 and Monstereul did not suffer a similar fate is hard to divine. One 
 explanation might be that they were not affiliated with the Cour 
 Amoureuse at the time of the Quarrel, a not impossible theory, for 
 Col and Monstereul were not members of the C\our when it was 
 founded, their names appearing on a separate (undated) list of 
 seven members who, as A. Piaget thinks, probably took the place of 
 deceased ministres. In reprinting the list of members of the Cour 
 
 4 Potvin, op. cit., p. 214. 
 
 '5 A. Piaget, Un manuscrit de la Cour Amoureuse de Charles VI, Romania^ 
 xxxi, p. 601. 
 
55 
 
 "Amoureuse from the manuscript B. N. No. 5233 {Romania, xx, pp. 
 424-445 ; xxi, pp. 597-598), M. Piaget draws attention to the fact 
 that all the names of those who were connected with the organization 
 appear here, altho the chronology is somewhat haphazard. For in- 
 stance, original members are given titles that they did not bear until 
 many years after (viz., 1401), and no note was made of the death 
 of members, save in two cases; internal evidence leads Piaget to 
 determine the date as " 1416 vraisemblablement." 
 
 Moreover, it seems highly probable that if Col and Monstereul 
 had been members of the Cour at the time of their Quarrel with 
 Christine, she would have remarked upon this fact. It may even 
 be possible that their adhesion to the Cour was a result of the 
 Quarrel. Christine's appeal to the Queen and to Tignonville may 
 have caused a certain tension between them and some of their friends 
 (Gerson, for instance), and they may have desired to give an earnest 
 of their present indifference to the woman question by becoming 
 members of such an association as the Cour Amour euse. This is 
 pure hypothesis, and one really does not have to go so far partly to 
 explain the presence of these two Humanists and litterateurs in the 
 Cour, altho the question has been raised concerning their presence in 
 that Coiir^ for it must not be forgotten that it was not merely an or- 
 ganization complimentary to women. It had a literary side, as the 
 charter shows. It was founded through the initiative of the Duke 
 of Burgundy and Louis of Bourbonnois,''^ and under the auspices 
 of the King, to help pass the time more quickly during an epidemic.^ 
 The literary side of the Cour was worked out with a good deal of 
 care. The twenty-four ministres of the Cour d'amour must have 
 "experte congnoissance en la science de rhetorique,"^ and they 
 
 ® Doutrepont, La litterature frangaise a la cour des dues de Bourgogne, p. 
 520; Piaget, Rom., xx, p. 447. 
 
 ■^ Potvin, op. cit., p. 202 : 
 
 " Se soient voluntairement disposez de cordialment requerir au roy nostre 
 souverain Seigneur Charles, filz de Charles roy de France, sixieme de ce nom, 
 en ceste desplaisant et contraire pestilence de epidimie presentement courant 
 en ce tres chrestien royaume, que pour passer partie du tempz plus gracieuse- 
 ment et affin de trouver esviel de nouvelle joye il ly pleust ordonner et creer en 
 son royal hostel I prince de la cour d'amours, seigneurissant sur les subges de 
 retenue d'icelle amoureuse cour. ..." 
 
 8 Imitation of the Decameron? 
 
 ^ Potvin, p. 203. 
 
56 
 
 " seront tenus de faire balade a chascun puy et de Tapporter en per- 
 sonne eulx estans en sante et en la ville,"^^ etc. A refrain is given 
 out for each puy as a theme for the balades,^^ and the huissier who 
 is on duty that day is given " 4 sous parisis avec ce pour enregistrer 
 les balades de son puy & les nons et seurnons des factistes d'icelles." 
 The paper on which the balades were written was furnished by the 
 Cour. The day they planned to celebrate regularly was that of 
 "Monseigneur Saint Valentin, XIIIP de fevrier prochain venant, 
 que les petis oiseles recommencent leurs tres dous chans, sentans 
 la nouvellete du gracieux printempz."^^ From the charter may 
 be deduced that this was done for the first 14th of February at any 
 rate. They were to begin the day with a mass^^ at eight o'clock, at 
 the Church of Saint Katherine "du val des escolierz,"^^ which was 
 to be attended by the twenty-four ministers, and all those who had 
 written balades for that day. Later, the charter of the Cour 
 Amoureuse was to be read in public " au lieu et a I'eure que on or- 
 donnera," in the presence of " tous noz amoureux subges de retenue, 
 & ainsy a tel jour, d'an en an." It was their '' founder's day," and 
 the members of the Cour were expected to attend, under pain of 
 certain penalties,^ ^ " pour venir diner en joieuse recreacion et amour- 
 euse conversation, au lieu ou ordonne sera par noz commis a ce 
 faire." On that day, all the " amoureux subges de retenue, factistes 
 et rethoriciens " were held to write a balade amoureuse on a refrain 
 of their own choosing, and to read it in the assembly; after which 
 the balades were to be sealed by the " contreseel de notre amoureuse 
 court." They were then taken to the " dames telles que on avizera 
 pour les jugier a leur noble avis et bonne discrecion, lesquelles 
 dames, de leur grace et hautesse, donront deux vergettes d'or, pour 
 couronne et chapel, aux mieux faisans de ce jour, et puis les nous 
 renvoieront." If any of these balades chosen by the ladies had " vice 
 
 ^^ Ibid., p. 205. 
 
 11 Ibid., p. 205. Arrangements are made for copying " refrain " and money 
 for it is allowed the minister at whose house the puy is to meet (p. 204). 
 
 12 Ibid., p. 209. Potvin draws attention to the fact that this was Valentine 
 Visconti's fete day, which she observed with certain ceremonies (op. cit., p. 199). 
 
 13 "a notte, a son dorgues a chant et deschant " (Potvin, p. 209). 
 1* E. Raunie, Epitaphier du Vieux Paris, vol. ii, pp. 261-273. 
 
 15 " sur la paine de privacion de nom et d'armes cy dessus declaire, ou caz 
 toutes voies qu'ilz seroient en sante sans fiction aucune," Potvin, p. 209. 
 
57 
 
 de fausse rime, reditte trop longue ou trop courte ligne en la balade 
 couronnee ou chapelee," they were to be sent back at once to the 
 ladies, for them to judge anew, for, as the charter says : 
 
 Prenroient des autres balades les deux meilleures, pour ce que 
 toutes icelles balades seront enregistrees en noz amoureux registres, 
 chascun an, et ne seroit pas bien seant que la couronnee ou chapelee 
 fussent vicieuses, puisque le vice apparoit clerement en ce meismes 
 jour.^^ 
 
 The Cour also had a great celebration in the month of May, " a 
 tel jour que ordonne sera," consisting of a " feste" and 
 
 diner de puy royal d'amoureuses chancons de cinq coupples dont la 
 forme et taille est assez notoire ; auquel puy, on donra au deux mieux 
 faisans couronne d'argent pesans quatre unces, et chapel d'argent 
 pesant trois unces.^*^ 
 
 There was still another regularly recurring celebration of the 
 Cour d' Amour, to be held on one of the five feast days of the Virgin, 
 and consisting of a "puy royal et diner," for which puys were to be 
 written "serventois de cinq coupples a la loenge et selon la feste 
 d'icelle tres glorieuse vierge." The awards were a " couronne de i 
 marc d'argent pesant, et chapel de cinq unces d'argent pesant, aux 
 deux mieux faisans ce jour."^^ 
 
 Before leaving the literary side of the Cour, it is to be noted 
 that not only balades and serventois were written, but also discus- 
 sions, *'se aucunes questions, pour plaisant passetempz sourdoient 
 entre noz subges en fourme d'amoureux proces pour differentes 
 oppinions soustenir."^^ 
 
 The regular meetings of the Cour were held monthly at the 
 house of the twenty-four ministers in turn, and if the appointed 
 host was out of town or ill, he must find a substitute under pain of 
 expulsion, and of having his arms blotted out of the "amoureux 
 registre," in which were kept the names and the coats-of-arms of the 
 members, and which was apparently a sort of Tout Paris of the 
 times.2^ The registre was to be carefully kept as well as " les papiers 
 
 1^ Potvin, op. cit., p. 210. 
 
 " Ibid. 
 
 ^^ Ibid., p. 211, 
 
 '^^ Ibid., p. 212. 
 
 20 For list of members see Piaget, Rom., xx, pp. 424-444, and xxxi, p. 598. 
 
58 
 
 des balades et autres fais de rethorique,"^^ so that they might be 
 shown to those who wished to see them. 
 
 The literary side of the Cour Amoureuse has been described here 
 in such detail because it probably accounts for some of the names 
 on the membership list, notably those of Monstereul and Col, which 
 seem so out of place in an association bearing such a title. This is 
 not, however, the only association of its kind in the fourteenth and 
 fifteenth centuries, altho set off from the others by its distinctly 
 literary flavor. Passing reference must be made here to the fact that 
 in those centuries were founded several orders of chivalry, such as 
 that of Boucicault,^^ whose chief aim was the defense of women, 
 and that of the Duke of Bourbon,^^ animated by somewhat the 
 same idea. These were all attempts at a revival of the court ois 
 attitude towards women, and it seems probable that they were a 
 phase of the contemporary woman question. The general attitude 
 of criticism of women at that time has already been dwelt upon; 
 these organizations were simply signs of reaction against it. 
 
 III. CoL^s Role in the Quarrel between Jehan de Mon- 
 stereul AND AmbROSIUS DE MiLIIS 
 
 We have found the quarrel of the Roman de la Rose to be inter- 
 esting as showing the attitude of the times towards women, and also 
 because of the light it throws on a little nucleus of Humanists. 
 Another quarrel, or rather series of quarrels, also illuminating in 
 that regard, was that between Jehan de Monstereul and an Italian 
 Humanist, Ambrosius de Miliis,^ with whom he indulged in 
 
 21 Potvin, p. 207. 
 
 22 In Livre des faicts du Marechal de Boucicault, ed. by MIchaud & Pougui- 
 let, Paris, 1854, ch. 28 and 29, pp. 254-257. 
 
 23 Douet d'Arcq, Pieces inedites, vol. i, p. 370 seq. 
 
 1 Thomas, op. cit., pp. 53-54, 64, 68, note i, 83 ; Romania, vol. 33, p. 393, n. 
 2; vol. ii, col. 1456 seq. Heuckenkamp, Le Curial, pp. xii, xxx-xxxv, xlv. 
 Groeber, Grundriss der romanischen Philologie, II Band, p. 1093 seq. 
 
 Through the kindness of M. Antoine Thomas, who has communicated to me 
 a certain amount of unedited data about Ambrosius de Miliis found by him, it 
 is possible to trace some of the movements of the " personnage enigmatique " 
 {Romania, xxxiii, p. 394, note). 
 
 Ambrosius de Miliis was probably in the service of the Duke of Orleans as 
 early as 1398, for there is a letter dated the 22d of September of that year from 
 the Duke of Orleans to the King of Castille, Henry III, signed Des Millez, 
 
59 
 
 polemics over the relative merits of Vergil, Cicero and Ovid.^ This 
 obscure Italian Humanist had come to Paris, and thru the kind- 
 ness of Jehan de Monstereul, who admired him greatly because of 
 his interest in Humanism, became the secretary of Louis of Orleans, 
 and subsequently of Charles, his son. Monstereul and Ambrosius 
 quarrelled, however, and the Italian wrote to CoP complaining bit- 
 terly of the Prevot. 
 
 In this letter, which is rather long, Ambrosius excuses himself 
 for not having written before, because of his manifold duties, and 
 assures Col of his firm friendship. He alludes in uncomplimentary 
 
 whom M. Thomas is inclined to identify with Ambrosius. (G. Daumet, Etudes 
 sur Valliance de la France et de la Castille, pp. 206-207; Bibliotheque de V£cole 
 des Hautes Etudes, fasc. 118, 1898.) After the assassination of Louis of Orleans, 
 the King gave him the post of notary, so he claimed in his law-suit tried 
 before the Parliament of Paris, September 9, 1415, against Jean le Boursier, 
 concerning a post of notaire du roy a bourses et a gages, in which he said 
 Charles V " volt par avant ccccix et ce dit an, qu'il fust son notaire, et lui bailla 
 gages extraordinaires de iii'' frans. Puiz fu absens." {Arch. Nat., X'A 4790, 
 fol. 327 v°.) From another source (M, Faucon, Rapport de deux missions en 
 Italic, in Archives des Missions scientifiques et litteraires, 3® serie, vol. viii, 
 Paris, 1882, p. 94) it appears that in 1412 he was in Asti, in the service of Charles 
 of Orleans, and had been in the service of that prince the previous year as 
 well. All of 141 1 was not spent in Italy, for in the spring of that year a certain 
 Johannes Dyonisii, epicier et bourgeois de Paris had seized a horse and two 
 coffres belonging to Maistre Ambrosius, to liquidate a debt of 18 livres tournois 
 hotel charges, incurred by Ambrosius and his family {Arch. Nat., X'A 58, fol. 
 134). In 1413 Ambrosius is back in Paris (we are following the Manuscript 
 Archives Nat. X'A 4790, fol. 327 v°, concerning the law-suit) and claims that 
 " et I'an CCCCXIII, le Roy memoratif de ce qu'avoit voeu et des lettres qu'avoit 
 baillie a Ambroise, lui donna I'office de maistre Lorent Larin qui restoit forfait 
 oudit office. Et encores, le vi® jour de May, CCCCXIIII, lui donna le Roy, 
 vacant par mort, et eut ses lettres. . . . The law-suit dragged on. Maistre 
 Jaques de Claye succeeded in having adjudged to him the rights of Jean le 
 Boursier, and continued the case. The last mention of the matter is dated 
 March 17, 1417/8 {Arch. Nat., X'A 4792, fol. 32 v°), and M. Thomas is inclined 
 to accept the theory that Ambrosius met his death at the time of the Burgundian 
 uprising in Paris (1418). There is still one later reference to Ambrosius, May, 
 1417, in the catalogue of the library at Blois (published by L. Delisle in the 
 Cabinet des Manuscrits, I, 105-108, art. 47, p. 107), where a reference is made 
 to the " Lettres closes de Maistre Ambroise," etc. Pierre Champion, in La 
 Librairie de Charles d'Orleans (1910), p. 5, note 2, raises the question as to 
 whether this is not Ambrosius de Miliis, a query in the affirmative answer to 
 which M. Thomas concurs. 
 
 2 Thomas, op. cit., pp. 53-54 64, 83. Ampl. Col., vol. ii, cols. 1423 and 1426. 
 
 8 Ampl. Col., vol. ii, col. 1456. 
 
6o 
 
 terms to Monstereul, and represses fear lest the latter succeed in 
 turning Col against the writer by impugning his sincerity, and he 
 attributes Monstereul's enmity to what he calls a puerile cause, viz., 
 to the fact that the writer, carrying on his own business with a cer- 
 tain personage, humbly but firmly refused to yield to Jehan when the 
 latter was bent on some trifle of no importance. Ambrosius accuses 
 Monstereul of selfishness, self-interest and greed, and of acquiring 
 much wealth by means best known to himself. He indulges in specu- 
 lations as to the Prevot's reasons for amassing so much money tho 
 he has no family ties, and again refers to Monstereul's reputation 
 for avarice. Ambrosius next gibes at Jehan's belletristic pretentions, 
 at his reading to no good purpose, and at his desire to collect his 
 letters for posterity (it is indeed rather interesting to note that Jehan 
 was consciously collecting and preparing them with that aim in 
 view). The Prevot's claims as a philosopher and as an orator are 
 next commented upon by the Italian Humanist, who notes the fact 
 that Jehan acknowledges a certain difficulty in understanding some 
 of Seneca's maxims. The writer goes on to suggest to Col that he 
 attempt to make Monstereul mend his ways ; that he argue secretly 
 with him at first, and that if this is not successful he try publicity. 
 
 The Italian then writes concerning his own present way of life, 
 what he calls "meam in praesens campestrem vitam & ejus quod a 
 negotiis superest otii dispensationem tuae deduci notitiae cupio." 
 He refers here to his life as secretary of the Duke of Orleans, and 
 alludes to Col as experienced in that career in which the writer is a 
 beginner. He considers his profession one that offers wonderful 
 opportunities for usefulness to the State, and rejoices that he has 
 this position as secretary of the Duke of Orleans, although the 
 responsibility is great. 
 
 Col apparently communicated this letter to Monstereul, and to 
 Clamanges as well, for in the Lydius edition (p. 31) of the latter's 
 works there is a letter written by him to Jehan, in which he speaks 
 of seeing "non epistolam sed hostilem potius accusationem quam 
 Ambrosius ad optimum Guntherum nostrum de te scripsit." Nico- 
 las expresses his amazement that any one should think such things 
 of the Prevot, much more of some one befriended by him. Cla- 
 manges is also astonished that such accusations should be sent to 
 Col, the Prevot's most faithful friend : 
 
6i 
 
 . . . ilia scrita . . . suis author ad Guntherum tuum inter 
 omnes mortales . . . fidelissimum, sincerissimum, integerrimum-q : 
 amicum mittere ausus est. 
 
 If the Italian did not refrain from such conduct from ethical 
 motives, it seemed strange that he did not do so from reasons of 
 policy, for his conduct was not of a nature to inspire confidence in 
 the breast of any other would-be benefactor. Clamanges considers 
 Ambrosius a case for pity rather than for resentment, and that un- 
 consciously he had done the Prevot a favour by openly showing him- 
 self the false friend that he was. From this point to the end of the 
 letter, the writer generalizes on friendship in true Clamangese style. 
 
 This letter is not the only one, on the subject of Ambrosius' 
 epistle to Gontier, with which the name of this Churchman has been 
 connected. 
 
 In the Opera Omnia of Nicolas de Clamenges, Lydius edition, 
 p. 33, Epistle VII bears the following heading: 
 
 Sub nomine Guntheri Colli regij Secretarij, ad eundem Ambro- 
 sium scripta, suae ingratitudinis in lohannem Praepositum Insulen- 
 sem increptoria. *' Justum erat, Ambrosi, si saperes aut boni in te 
 viri imaginem, etc."^ 
 
 These opening words coincide with those found in an entry con- 
 cerning the manuscript of a letter (attributed to Col), in the Tours 
 library,^ which runs as follows : 
 
 3 Fol. 60. Lettre de Gonthier a Ambroise de Miliis, pour le 
 blamer de sa conduite a I'egard de Jean, prevot de Lille. " Justum 
 erat, Ambrosi, si saperis aut boni in te viri " ..." in quam partem 
 tue habene laxabuntur." Suit la rubrique de cette lettre, '' Responsio 
 Gontherii ad sequentem epistolam." 
 
 The following number, on fol. 61, is the letter of Ambroise de 
 Miliis that caused all the trouble. It is reprinted in the Am, Col., 
 vol. II, col. 1456. 
 
 The two letters are practically the same as far as subject-matter 
 is concerned. Both of them bitterly upbraid Ambrosius de Miliis 
 for attacking Jehan de Monstereul, and object to the attempt to 
 bring the writer into the quarrel, on Ambrosius' side, against his 
 
 4 Manuscript of letter listed in Rheims library, number 628, fol. 20. 
 
 5 For text, see App. D. 
 
62 
 
 close friend the Prevot Jehan. The writers enumerate all the favors 
 that Jehan had done for Ambrosius; how he had hospitably wel- 
 comed Ambrosius to his house, and obtained a good position for 
 him, and incidentally touch on the Italian's pertinacity when seek- 
 ing a post. Both of the letters dwell on the fact that Jehan had 
 praised Ambrosius very highly and did all that he could to help him. 
 Both letters also speak of Ambrosius' former professions of grati- 
 tude, and how, far from expecting to be attacked by him, Jehan 
 would have expected of him succor and defense, in case of need. 
 Nor had Ambrosius hurt himself alone; he had aroused the sus- 
 picions of the French, who would no longer be so hospitable to for- 
 eigners. Another regrettable aspect of the matter was Ambrosius' 
 duplicity, as he had never shown any signs that his friendship was 
 waning, and his letter had been a great surprise. Both letters dwell 
 on the fact that the Prevot ought to feel indebted to Ambrosius for 
 at last putting aside his hypocrisy, and taking openly a hostile stand. 
 The letter of the Lydius edition contains two short passages here 
 not found in the Tours MS. Both letters refer to Ambrosius' 
 acknowledgment that the cause of his resentment was a trifling inci- 
 dent, and follow this reference by an exhortation to Ambrosius to 
 return to his better self. The Italian Humanist is told that he ought 
 to accept in good part what a friend says frankly and openly, and 
 that otherwise he is in danger of having no friends, only flatterers. 
 The privilege of frankness of speech between friends is next 
 touched upon, and the fact that a more or less violent discussion 
 ought not to break up friendship, but on the contrary renew it, 
 quoting Terence to the effect that the quarrel of lovers is the re- 
 newal of love, and concluding by accusing Ambrosius of being over- 
 sensitive. Both letters also accuse him of wishing, in his attacks 
 upon the Prevot's ignorance, to display his knowledge; all that he 
 had displayed however was his bad faith. At this point there is in 
 the Lydius letter a digression on the dangers of allowing oneself 
 to be carried away by eloquence without wisdom, since there is no 
 true eloquence without wisdom, and since wisdom does not abide in 
 a heart full of gall. Wisdom is then defined, and the suggestion is 
 made that if Ambrosius had more of that quality, he might the better 
 see some of his own mistakes. Both letters conclude by saying that 
 
63 
 
 the writer does not wish to enumerate the insults that Ambrosius 
 has hurled at Monstereul, for that would take too much time, and 
 that Ambrosius' attacks need no answer, as the Prevot's integrity is 
 his own best defense, but that if any were necessary the Italian must 
 remember that such accusations may well be two-edged. 
 
 The endings of the two letters differ somewhat. The Lydius let- 
 ter suggests to Ambrosius that Monstereul has other friends, whose 
 answers w^ould have been very different in tone from the above if 
 they had received such a letter from the Italian ; and concludes with 
 a quotation from Virgil anent the native guile of the Ligurian, and 
 warns Ambrosius against making it applicable in his case. The 
 Tours letter ends wuth the warning that if he does not know how to 
 curb his tongue and pen, he had best be more circumspect in the 
 future in giving them free rein. A perusal of the two letters reveals 
 so much similarity between them, that the first impression is that it 
 must be the same text. A closer inspection, however, brings out the 
 following facts : 
 
 For the first eighteen lines the Tours MS. and the Lydius edition 
 letter coincide. This is also true of some twenty additional lines of 
 the Tours MS. There are a few passages where the order of the 
 words is different, and where some omissions and intercalations 
 occur. Passages also occur in which the Tours letter and the one in 
 the Lydius edition use an entirely different arrangement of material, 
 and as we have already seen, the Lydius letter has elaborations not 
 in the Tours MS.^ These elaborations are obviously in the Cla- 
 mangese style, and it may well be that the Tours epistle was attrib- 
 uted to Gontier through some misunderstanding due to the fact that 
 Nicolas de Clamanges had written it sub nomine Gimtheri Colli, as 
 the Latin rubric has it. The question is an intricate one, but it is 
 interesting to note that in Jehan de Monstereul's letter to CoH in 
 answer to the epistles under discussion, he quotes the two lines of 
 Virgil that end the Clamanges letter, and that do not appear in the 
 Tours MS. That is our chief interest in this letter of Monstereul, 
 which for the most part is composed of a mass of invective against 
 
 « The foregoing remarks are illustrated by the two letters ; for complete 
 text of which, see App. D. 
 
 ^ Bibliotheque Nationale. Fonds Latin. 13062, fol. 72v°., App. E. 
 
64 
 
 Ambrosius, of rebuttal of the various charges made against him by 
 the ItaHan, and of protestation of friendship for Col. 
 
 While none of the epistles in the quarrel are formally dated, the 
 epistle VI of Nicolas de Clamanges to Jehan de Monstereul bears 
 at the end, Datum Parisiis. It was after 1 394-1 395 (A. Muntz, 
 Nicolas de Clemanges, sa vie et ses ecrits, Strasbourg, 1846, p. 11) 
 that Nicolas was called to Avignon to take the post of secretary 
 to Benedict XIII, so that the quarrel apparently took place 
 before Nicolas left for Avignon. Moreover, in his letter to Col, 
 Ambrosius de Miliis speaks of himself as a raw recruit in com- 
 parison with Col, who is a veteran, and makes plain by ref- 
 erences to his position in the household of the Duke of Orleans that 
 he is speaking of his career as secretary of the prince.^ Ambrosius 
 was probably secretary to the Duke circa 1398, as has been said 
 above, so that in all likelihood the quarrel took place between 1395 
 and 1398. According to this hypothesis, it precedes chronologically 
 the quarrel of the Roman de la Rose; but here it has been treated 
 afterwards because of its closer connection with Col's literary group, 
 whose activities will presently be discussed. 
 
 The role of Col in this quarrel with Ambrosius de Milliis shows 
 the esteem in which he was held by the group, and that is what is 
 valuable for us in it. Ambrosius' letter suggests that Col has more 
 real understanding of Humanism than Monstereul, at least in the 
 eyes of the writer, a point of view that might be substantiated by 
 the very attitude of admiration for Col's learning seen in several 
 letters of Monstereul himself. In view of the lack of more soHd 
 evidence this is as far as the point can be considered here. Before 
 leaving this subject, it may be noted that this quarrel is another 
 point of resemblance between the French group and the Italian 
 Humanists, who were in practice such individualists that they could 
 get along with nobody. A good example of their combative attitude 
 is found in the Italian Humanist, Niccolo Niccoli, who eventually 
 quarreled even with his friend Leonardo Bruni. The difficulties 
 
 ^ Ampl. Col, vol. ii, ep. Ixxv : Supervacuum tamen fuerit, & prope temera- 
 rium hujus ipsius vitae, modum ne dicam motum tibi eruditissime vir, explicare 
 quam tu jam veteranus miles doceas. Ego tyro rudis ad istam tibi quies & agi- 
 tatio, illius tibi commoda & incommoda omnia sunt experta. 
 
65 
 
 of the later Italian Humanists, the Gargantuan quarrels of Poggio 
 and Filelfo, are too well known to need more than a passing refer- 
 ence. 
 
 IV. — The Question of the Curial 
 
 In the same Tours Manuscript that contains Col's letter to Am- 
 brosius de Miliis, blaming him for his behavior to Monstereul, and 
 two letters of the Italian Humanist to Col/ is also found the un- 
 signed Latin letter De Vita Curiali, that most critics consider the 
 Latin text of Alain Chartier's Curial.^ The letter has nothing by 
 which to identify it, save the following descriptive note :^ " Actum 
 ambasie die secunda februari anno Domini millesimo quadrin- 
 gentesimo vicesimo quinto." The only important deduction from 
 the above is that it was written before 1425. The letter has been 
 reprinted by Martene in his Amplissima CollectioJ^ with a heading 
 not in the Tours MS. "Ambrosio de Miliis ad Gontherum," and 
 the date 1435 instead of 1425. Collon^ considers this an "attribu- 
 tion douteuse," although it is warmly championed by Heuckenkamp 
 and accepted by Groeber.^ The German savant had not seen the 
 Tours MS., which he thought was probably lost,''' and so bases his 
 theory on the probability (although he admits the contrary possi- 
 bility) that the " Ambrosius de Miliis ad Gontherum" heading was 
 to be found in the Tours MS., which did not prove to be the case. 
 This of course weakens Heuckenkamp's point that Chartier did not 
 write the De Vita Curiali, a theory that has been vigorously attacked 
 by Piaget^ and Thomas.^ To both these savants the Latin Curial 
 
 1 MS. No. 978. 
 
 2 A. Piaget, Le miroir aux Dames, Neuchatel, 1908, pp. 25-26 ; Romania, vol. 
 XXX, pp. 45-48; p. 393, n. 2. 
 
 3 Catalogue general des Manuscrits des Bibliotheques Publiques de France, 
 No. 37, Tours, p. 703. 
 
 *II, c. 1459 seq. 
 
 ^ Cat. Gen,, p. 703. 
 
 ^ Le Curial, Halle, 1899, pp. xxx-xxxiv. Groeber also accepts Heucken- 
 kamp's theory, Grundriss, 2', p. 1104. 
 
 ^ Op. cit., p. xi, G. Paris and A. Thomas concur in the statement that it 
 was not lost (Rom., xxviii, p. 484). 
 
 8 Romania, 1901, pp. 45-48. 
 
 ^Romania, 1904, p. 393, note 2; p. 394. 
 
66 
 
 was due to Chartier's pen, and the inscription in Martene, "Ad 
 Gontherum," suggests that the editors of that compilation simply- 
 found this letter among others written by Ambrosius and Col to 
 each other, and moved by a probability, put down the ascription as 
 an actuality. 
 
 Heuckenkamp, although accepting — as has been said above — 
 Ambrosius de Miliis' authorship of the De Vita, does not believe 
 that the " Gontherum " referred to is Gontier Col. His reasons are, 
 that if it had been written to Col, it would necessarily have been 
 written before 1395, as Col began his court career in that year. It 
 is a little difficult to see as M. Piaget notes^^ why Heuckenkamp 
 makes his court life begin with Col's journey to Avignon and disre- 
 gards his position as King's notary since 1380. Moreover, while 
 denying that the De Vita Curiali is dedicated to Col, Heuckenkamp 
 makes a suggestion concerning the " Gontherum " of the Amplis- 
 sima Qollectio reprint. He surmises that it is the " Franc-Gontier " 
 that Philippe de Vitry had just popularized in his Dit de Franc- 
 Gontier — the countryman contented with a quiet existence along 
 with a mate of his choice.^^ This theory identifying the "ad Gon- 
 therum " with Franc-Gontier is attractive, but the first lines of the 
 De Vita Curiali makes it hard to accept.^ ^ "Vir diserte," as re- 
 ferring to " Franc-Gontier," could scarcely be considered apt by any 
 reader of Vitry's poem. Moreover, although we have seen that 
 the term " frater " was used loosely among the Pre-Renaissance 
 group, — an example of which is Nicolas de Clamanges' oft-repeated 
 "frater carissime" addressed to Col, — there is a considerable dif- 
 ference between such a usage and the fact of the Humanist author 
 of De Vita Curiali, calling Franc-Gontier "carissime frater." 
 
 10 Piaget, Romania, 1901, p. 46, and Le Miroir aux Dames, Neuchatel, 1908, 
 pp. 25-26. Je rappelle pour memoire que M. Heuckenkamp a tente d'enlever 
 a Chartier la paternite du Curial, qui serait I'oeuvre d'un humaniste italien, Am- 
 brosius de Miliis. Mais cette these, qui un moment a rencontre une grande 
 faveur, n'est plus aujourd'hui sontenue ni sontenable. 
 
 11 Heuckenkamp, Curial, p. xlv. G. Paris refutes this theory, Romania, 
 xxviii, p. 484. 
 
 12 Heuckenkamp, Curial, p. 2. The opening lines : 
 
 " Suades sepius et hortaris, vir diserte ac carissime frater, ut tibi ad vitam 
 curialem anhelanti ingressum locumque preparem et in officio curiali assequendo 
 intercessione opeque adiutem," etc. 
 
67 
 
 While there is no evidence going to show that Alain Chartier did 
 know the members of the Pre-Renaissance group/ ^ there is also 
 nothing to prevent our supposing that he was probably not ignorant 
 of their activities. 
 
 As far as sentiments expressed are concerned the De Vita 
 Curiali might have been written by any one of several of the Pre- 
 Renaissance group, as well as by Alain Chartier. Vitry's poem has 
 already been mentioned, and it is believed to have inspired Pierre 
 d'Ailly to write Combien est miserable la vie d'un tyrant}^ Both 
 these were done into Latin by Nicolas de Clamanges.^^ Monsteruel, 
 in his letter to Col and Manhac,^^ approaches still more closely the 
 idea that inspired the De Vita Curiali, viz., scorn for court life. 
 The letter is cast in the form of a vision, that threadbare literary 
 commonplace of the period, and describes how Terence appears to 
 the author, roundly abuses court life, and advises him to give it up, 
 to live in the country, love solitude, read books, etc. All this is 
 much in the tone of the De Vita Curiali. 
 
 Here are four men with distinct Pre-Renaissance sympathies, 
 extolling the simple life and describing the drawbacks of a court 
 existence. The subject was accordingly decidedly in the atmosphere 
 among this little group of writers — perhaps as a contrast to the stormy 
 times in which they dwelt. Living in a country rent by internal strife 
 and foreign wars, it may be that these men felt a longing for a quiet 
 life, for an occasion of mental stock-taking — a revulsion against 
 the artificialities of court life. Or it may have been simply an at- 
 tempt to use literature as an escape from life. There is still another 
 consideration which seems plausible and which might explain these 
 poems about country life. Monstereul quotes Vergil's Eclogues 
 
 13 A. Thomas, in Romania, 1904, p. 393. 
 
 ^*Rom. XXIX, p. 112 sq.; Rom. XXVII, p. 64. P. Tschackert: Peter von 
 Alii, Gotha, 1877, P- 353- 
 
 15 A. Miintz, Nicolas de Clemenges, Sa vie et ses Merits, Strasbourg, 1846, 
 p. 60. 14. Descriptio vitae tyrannicae se trouve dans Phil. Camerarius, Operoe 
 horarum subcisivarum, p. 61. 15. Carmen de vitae rusticae felicitate. Ibid. 
 The translation is also found in Lydius' edition of Clamanges, Opera Omnia, p. 
 355. Nicolai de Clemangis Descriptio vitae tyrannicae cum detestatione ac repro- 
 batione. Note dedication: Ad Guntherum Colli. 
 
 ^^Ampl. Col, vol. ii, col. 1398. 
 
68 
 
 as though they were famihar/^ and to a group who knew and ad- 
 mired Petrarch, Vergil's Eclogues were probably not unknown. 
 What more natural than that the above-mentioned Frenchmen 
 wrote and translated the poems in a conscious imitation of a classic 
 literary genre, to wit, the pastoral. To be sure, this genre was not 
 a flourishing one in France at this epoch. There had been a period 
 of efflorescence of that theme in the twelfth century with the pas- 
 tourelle, but its great vogue had passed, and although there is more 
 of the pastoral element in France in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries than is generally acknowledged, it was found most often 
 in the Nativity plays, noels, chansons, and political pastorals; that 
 is to say, the pastoral setting was used as a cover under which to 
 edify religiously, or to attack, flatter or exhort, politically. So 
 while there was enough of the French pastoral influence extant at 
 that time to lead us to admit that the Franc-Gontier at any rate may 
 have owed to it part of its inspiration, we can scarcely deny at least 
 a tincture of the Humanistic spirit to the poems of Vitry and Ailly. 
 
 V. — Group Aspect of Contemporary Literature 
 
 The quarrel between Jehan de Monstereul and Ambrosius de 
 Miliis also brings out the group aspect of the Pre-Renaissance, 
 for like the real Renaissance, it had its coterie, to wit, a rather 
 closely knit Hterary group with an aggressive cast of mind, which 
 we might suggest is one of the favorite means by which France 
 puts into motion her literary reforms. This would describe the 
 Pleiade, as it would the Lyons School, and could also be used with- 
 out too great an extension of the term, to the group to which Gon- 
 tier Col belonged. This group also consisted of a number of men 
 moved by the same literary ideal, altho the great difference be- 
 tween them and the two Renaissance coteries lies in the fact that 
 the men of the earlier group were amateurs of letters rather than 
 professionals — as were Ronsard and Maurice Sceve. The signifi- 
 cance to us of this group as such is briefly this. Bound by ties of 
 friendship certain men exchanged letters that are important in giving 
 
 1'^ Thomas, op. cit., p. 60. Ampl. Col., vol. ii, col. 1405. The same line is 
 quoted in both places, Vergil, Eclogue 2, line 35. 
 
69 
 
 US information about them and their intellectual activities that is 
 available nowhere else. Such a source of information is peculiarly 
 valuable when dealing with a man like Col, who was permeated by 
 the diplomatic fear of putting pen to paper; whose self-effacing 
 tendencies are hinted at in the beginning of one of Monstereul's 
 letters, " Sed rursus peto a te, Gonthere, ne lateas "^ ; and whose de- 
 plorable habits as a letter-writer Monstereul complains of to him 
 although he tries to defend him against the criticism of his friends 
 on that score. 2 If Col was indeed chronically a poor correspondent, 
 it would explain the paucity of letters by him that have come down 
 to us — rather puzzling in view of the large number of letters extant 
 written to him by his friends.^ 
 
 The dearth of letters by Col could not be quite satisfactorily 
 explained on the theory of a possible confiscation of his property 
 and seizure of his papers, attending his supposed murder in 1418, 
 for a like fate befell other men, whose correspondence, or at least 
 enough to judge them by, has been preserved for us. A case in 
 point is Gontier Col's friend, Monstereul. 
 
 A good example of the value of the letters of the members of 
 this group is the " praeceptores " letter, written to Col and Manhac 
 by Monstereul ; although in view of the dates when Col and Mons- 
 tereul became secretaries of the King, and in the absence of any 
 trace of Col having taught in any of the Paris colleges, the term 
 " Praeceptores " is probably not to be taken literally, but is used in 
 the same loose way that Nicolas de Clamanges uses " f rater caris- 
 sime" in his letters. Moreover, Monstereul studied in Paris 
 (though he did not take his degree),^ and perhaps this circum- 
 stance affects somewhat the attitude of the good Prevot. There 
 is also another point to be noted. Gontier Col went to Avignon in 
 1395 where he first came in personal contact with Italian thought. 
 Jean de Monstereul visited Italy for the first time in 1394-1395. 
 It seems not unlikely that he got a glimpse of Humanism, just 
 enough to appeal to his imagination, and when he returned to Paris 
 and was thrown with his fellow-secretary Col, who had also just 
 
 1 Thomas, op. cit., p. 80. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 62. 
 
 ' Clamanges, Monstereul, Miliis. 
 * Thomas, p. 5. 
 
70 
 
 returned from his first contact with Italian life, and who had 
 similar literary tastes with possibly more complete formal scholastic 
 training, it is not to be wondered at that he takes the attitude he 
 does towards Col. 
 
 Monstereul's letters to Col are a mine of information,^ and show 
 that he was a friend for whom the Prevot de Lille had great respect. 
 In one of them is found a good description of Col's attitude towards 
 learning and scholars.^ Here Monstereul speaks of Col as the man 
 who first advised him to study, who inspired him by his exhortation 
 and his example. He also refers to Col's habit of taking books on 
 his travels with him so as not to waste any time. This testimony to 
 his love of books is confirmed by one of Col's safe-conducts from 
 the EngHsh King,'^ which specifically mentions "libris" in the list 
 of Col's possessions. Monstereul also speaks of his friend's love 
 for discussing things pertaining "ad eloquentiam" (rhetoric), and 
 his encouragement extended to men interested in learning. In still 
 another letter of Monstereul to Maitre Gontier the latter's love for 
 the classics and Vergil is again emphasized.^ 
 
 In spite of the testimony of the Prevot de Lille as to Col's love 
 of Vergil, this author is not quoted by Col in the very pedantic 
 speech he made before the Duke of Brittany, nor in his letter to the 
 Pope, although both contain classical allusions. Col quotes from 
 the Bible (6 citations), "Boece" (i), "Cato" (i), "les droiz" 
 (i), "la loy" (i), "Grace" (i), Petrarch (i), "Roman de la 
 Rose" (i), "Salust" (i), "Terence" (i), "la Tragedie" (i), 
 anonymous (5). In his letter to the Pope he cites only the Bible, 
 Sallust, and Anneus Seneca, once each. The list is not particularly 
 significant for our purpose, I think, save to note the absence of quo- 
 tations from Vergil (as already mentioned) or Pliny, although 
 there is evidence to prove that Col owned a manuscript copy of the 
 letters of Pliny. This information is drawn from a letter of the 
 eminent churchman, Nicolas de Clamanges,^^ a friend and cor- 
 
 ^ Ibid., p. 37. 
 
 6 Ibid., p. 80. 
 '''Rymer, vol. 9, p. 139. 
 
 8 Thomas, op. cit., p. 80. 
 
 9 Thomas, op. cit., pp. 62-63. 
 
 10 For his letters to Col, consult his Opera Omnia, Lydius edition, 1613, 
 which contains all but fifteen, for which A. Miintz, Nicolas de Clemenges, pp. 
 
71 
 
 respondent of Col's. The story runs that Clamanges, during his 
 stay at Avignon as papal secretary, came to know the librarian of 
 Benedict XIII, and that when Nicolas spoke of his friend Col having 
 a manuscript of the letters of Pliny and that a copy might be made 
 for the Pope's library, the librarian was overwhelmed with joy.^^ 
 
 From the nature of the writings that Col has left us, there is 
 little internal evidence as to his first-hand knowledge of the classics, 
 and this information must be drawn from other sources. We have 
 said that Monstereul tells us that Col admired Vergil; Clamanges 
 tells us that Col owned a copy of Pliny's letters. Beyond this it is 
 not safe to go, for although Monstereul describes Col as one who 
 
 23 and 2^, note 2, refers to the following works: D'Achery, Spicilegium, Paris, 
 "^y^S, vol. i; Buloeus, Historia universitafis Parisiensis, 1670; Baluse, Miscel- 
 lanea, 1713 (vol. vi). For unedited letters of Clamenges to Col, see BihliO' 
 theque Nationale; Fonds Latin, 3127, folios 2ivo and 36VO, 37rto, 
 
 11 Nicolas de Clamanges, Opera Omnia (Lydius edition, 1613), Ep. 38, pp. 
 121-122, cited by L. Delisle, Cabinet des Manuscrits, i, p. 486. While Clamanges' 
 letter fixes Col's ownership of a copy of Pliny's Letters, which is the only thing 
 that directly interests us here, we might note that in the Catalogue de la Biblio- 
 theque d'Urbain V (1369) (in M. Faucon, La librairie des Papes d' Avignon, 
 vol. i, pp. 93-262), there are references to four copies of Pliny without noting 
 which Pliny is meant: p. 154, No. 694; p. 162, No. 798; p. 163, No. 800; p. 176, 
 No. 965. 
 
 However, in view of the following entry, it is possible that both were 
 represented : 
 
 Francisci Petrarca, Epistolae de Rebus Familiaribus et Variae (ed. Fraco- 
 setti, Florentiae, 1862), vol. ii, p. 182, Epistola V. 
 
 " In versiculis aut'em ad te scriptis quos tam ardenter efflagitas, scito Plinii 
 Secundi consilio opus esse, quem Italia excedens in patria sua, Veronae scilicet, 
 ingenti virorum illustrium comitatum acie, dimisi. Hie mihi Plinius nusquam 
 est, nee alteri, quod equidem ego noverim, nisi romano pontifici." 
 
 Although it is known that the Pope's library under Benedict XIII had suf- 
 fered losses, in the Catalogue of the library of Peniscola there is the following 
 reference to Pliny's letters (M. Faucon, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 140, No. 933) : 
 " Plinius secundus in epistolas." 
 
 There are several other references to PHny in the same catalogue, without, 
 however, distinguishing between the two Plinys as above (Faucon, vol. ii, p. 128) : 
 
 No. 77Z- Item, Plinius in uno volumine. 
 
 No. 774. Item (6) Prima Pars Plinii. 
 
 No. 775. Item Secunda Pars Plinii. 
 
 No. 776. Item. Plinius in uno volumine. 
 
 The lack of exact dates make it impossible to identify No. 933 with the manu- 
 script that was to be copied for the Pope from Col's copy of Pliny's letters. F. 
 Ehrle, in his Historia Bibliothecae Romanorum Pontificum turn Bonifatianae turn 
 Avenionensis (Romae, 1890), throws no light on the subject. 
 
72 
 
 was interested in original sources, the fact that Col quotes Terence, 
 Cato, Horace is no proof that Col has read them in the original, 
 although this is probable. The manner in which he quotes Petrarch 
 and Jehan de Meung along with the Latin writers and the Bible is 
 refreshingly Renaissance in tone. 
 
 Nicolas de Clamanges' letters to Col also show the friendship 
 existing between the two men. His role in the quarrel with Am- 
 brosius de Miliis has already been mentioned, and it is rather inter- 
 esting to note that it is in one of the letters in the quarrel, that of 
 Nicolas to Jehan, that there is perhaps the clearest statement of the 
 friendship of Col and Jehan.^^ Another letter of Nicolas makes 
 mention of Pierre Col, Gontier's brother.^ ^ He also writes to Col 
 on such varied subjects as the corruption of the times,^^ their 
 common love of books,^^ the plague raging in Paris,^^ and Col's 
 troubles during the Civil Wars.^"^ 
 
 From a broader point of view, Nicolas is interesting to us not 
 only because of his relations with Col, but because of the stand he 
 took in regard to the state of the Church. I do not wish to touch 
 the subject as to whether he wrote the De Corruptio or not, but this 
 much is to be noted: That it is a product of the period and was 
 believed for a long time to be his ; and that such a violent attack on 
 the Church did not astonish people into indignantly denying the 
 possibility of his having written it. So the Pre-Renaissance like the 
 real Renaissance had in it elements that were germs of the Reforma- 
 tion, although they were all blended together at the beginning of both 
 movements. In the real Renaissance, after a little time, they be- 
 came separated; in the Pseudo-Renaissance, the movement was 
 checked before any very great development could take place. 
 
 The letters of Monstereul and Nicolas de Clamanges not only 
 give us information about the three friends, but also serve to show 
 their connection with prominent savants and litterateurs of the day, 
 such as the famous Gerson, although his position towards them is 
 fairly well defined by his role in the quarrel of the Roman de la 
 
 12 opera Omnia, p. 31, " Tamen inter," etc. 
 
 ^^ Ibid., p. loi. 
 
 ^*Jbid., p. loi. 
 
 ^^ Ibid., p. 305. 
 
 16 Ibid., p. 95. 
 
 1'^ Ibid., p. 259. 
 
73 
 
 Rose. Another prominent savant to whom Monstereul has written 
 a few letters was Pierre d'Ailly, whose lay interests were not only 
 Humanistic, but scientific rather, if I may phrase it so. He was of 
 an inquiring turn of mind, but that faculty of his for investigating 
 untrodden paths, instead of spending itself exclusively in the search 
 and study of Latin texts, turned to astrology and geography, and 
 his De Imagine Mundi was the result of this work.^^ It would fall 
 quite outside of my province to discuss the question as to how much 
 of an inspiration Ailly's work proved to be to Columbus in his ex- 
 plorations. This much is sure, the discoverer of the New World 
 owned a copy of the De Imagine Mundi/^^ and quoted Ailly's 
 work.^^ In addition to the geographical interest which was a promi- 
 nent factor of the real Renaissance, Ailly is significant from still 
 another point of view, i. e., as a writer of mystic poetry.^^ Among 
 his works are Le livre du Rossignolet, which has been called a 
 "chant de mystique amour,"^^ la piteiise Complainte et Oraison 
 devote de humaine creature qui de Vestat de peche nouvellement a 
 Dieu veut retourner, and Le Jar din amour eux de Vdme devote, 
 which was printed in Lyons between 15 15 and 1527.^^ The element 
 of mysticism in the works of Marguerite de Navarre and of the 
 School of Lyons, which is known to all, shows still another bond 
 between the false and the true Renaissance. 
 
 In spite of their interest in the classics and the sciences, how- 
 ever, Ailly and Gerson must be regarded as thoroughgoing theo- 
 logians, too deeply steeped in mediaeval traditions and too busy 
 with the Schism to be considered forerunners of the Renaissance 
 on the purely literary side. 
 
 Philippe de Vitry has already been mentioned, but it is a little 
 difificult to define his personal relations to the three friends, in view 
 
 18 C. Guignebert, De imagine Mundi ceterisque Petri de Alliaco geographicis 
 opusculis, Paris, 1902. 
 
 18 H. Harrisse, Fernand Colomb, sa vie, ses oeuvres, Paris, 1872, pp. 88, 
 119, 170. 
 
 20 A. de Humboldt, Examen critique de I'histoire de la geographie du nou- 
 veau continent, etc., i, 60-70, 76-83. 
 
 21 L. Salembier, Les ocuvres frangaises du Cardinal Pierre d'Ailly, eveque 
 de Cambrai, Revue de Lille, Decembre, 1906. 
 
 22 Ibid., p. 200. 
 
 23 J. Babelon, La Bibliotheque Frangaise de Fernand Colomb, Paris, 1913, 
 pp. 92 and 93. 
 
74 
 
 of the paucity of material. ^^ It is easy to take Philippe de Vitry 
 as an example of the mutations of reputation, for few writers have 
 been the subject of such varied statements and corrections.^^ This 
 poet, whom Petrarch addressed as "Tu poeta nunc unicus Galli- 
 arum,"^^ is represented to us by the Dit de Franc-Gontier already 
 mentioned and by the Chapel des fleurs de lis. He was long con- 
 sidered the author of that interminable Ovide moralise now ascribed 
 to Chrestien Legouis de S^^-More.^''' 
 
 There are a number of contemporaries of Col who had no per- 
 sonal relations with him that have left any trace, although some 
 corresponded with Monstereul and it seems not out of place to men- 
 tion a few of them here, inasmuch as they were very representative 
 of this epoch. I have in mind first of all the group of translators. 
 Passing reference has already been made to the fact that, although 
 the translators of Charles V (with whom must also be counted those 
 of the Dukes of Berry, Burgundy and Orleans) had by no means 
 the point of view of the modern scholar towards their text, neither 
 was theirs wholly that of the mediaeval clerc. Their attitude on 
 the linguistic side may not be devoid of interest. Let me quote 
 Brunot :^^ 
 
 Au XIIP siecle, si considerable que soit le nombre des termes 
 empruntes au latin, si conscients meme que puissent etre certains 
 emprunts, on ne voit point d'effort systematique pour naturaliser des 
 mots latins. 
 
 Or c'est la ce qui caracterise les latiniseurs de I'epoque nouvelle 
 (fourteenth and fifteenth centuries). A tort ou a raison, soit 
 eblouissement des chefs-d'oeuvre qui leur sont reveles, soit paresse 
 d'esprit et incapacite d'utiliser les ressources dont leur vulgaire dis- 
 pose, ils se sentent incapables de I'adapter a des besoins nouveaux 
 et ils le declarent. Ils ont desormais une doctrine, et un systeme.^^ 
 
 24 A. Thomas, Les lettres a la cour des Papes, Rome, 1884, pp. 56-59- 
 
 ^5 Romania, xxvii, pp. 55-92. A. Piaget, Le Chapel des fleurs de lis de 
 Philippe de Vitry. 
 
 26 P. Paris, Manuscrits frangais de la Bibliotheque du Roi, iii, 180-181. 
 
 ^''Romania, x, 455. B. Haureau, Memoire sur un commentaire des meta- 
 morphoses d'Ovide in Memoires de VAcademie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 
 vol. XXX, Part ii, pp. 52-53- 
 
 28 Histoire de la langue frangaise des origines a igoo, Paris, 1905, vol. i, pp. 
 515-517. For mention of Pre-Renaissance group, Jehan de Monstereul, Gontier 
 Col, pp. 525-526; Petit de Julleville, op. cit,, vol. ii, p. 541. 
 
 29 Op. cit., vol. i, p. 518. 
 
75 
 
 The systematic enriching of the language was also the end and 
 aim of the Pleiade on the linguistic side, although theirs was a much 
 broader programme than that of the translators of Charles V. It 
 is also worth noting the fourteenth and fifteenth century opinion as 
 to the role of the translator in developing literature, in view of the 
 importance of the Renaissance translators, who can not be disre- 
 garded when the literature of the sixteenth century is studied. The 
 results of the systematic vocabulary-building with Latin material 
 are undeniable. Brunot says :^^ " Le nombre de mots latins intro- 
 duits a cette epoque ne saurait etre determine, meme par approxima- 
 tion " , . . " Dans I'ensemble toutefois il restera certainement acquis 
 que importation s'est alors fait en masse." This is significant, for 
 it shows certain of the aims and results obtained by the Pre- 
 Renaissance on the linguistic side to have been shared by the Pleiade. 
 Herein lies their importance for us. 
 
 The first two translators of the fourteenth century in point of 
 time, Oresme and Berguire, seem to have had no connection with 
 our group, but mention might be made of Laurent de Premierfait, 
 who, it will be remembered, remonstrated with the Prevot de Lille 
 when that worthy had the laws of Lycurgus carved on the front of 
 his house, and accused him of Paganism. Monstereul treated this 
 charge with little seriousness. He thanked his friend for his good 
 advice, but had no hesitation about stating that his interests leaned 
 to mundane things rather than to sacred ones.^^ This attitude is 
 quite Renaissance in tone; it involves the "separation of Faith and 
 Reason,"^^ which was logically worked out in Pomponio Lato. 
 Without, indeed, going quite so far afield, Monstereul's own con- 
 temporary, Coluccio Salutato, said that the Bible was only poetry, 
 in parts, and he cited the poetic books of the Scriptures to defend 
 his stand concerning the reading of the pagan poets. ^^ 
 
 This incident shows that Monstereul's point of view reflected 
 some of the Paganism of the Italian Humanists. It will be noted 
 that Col left no similar trace of incipient tendencies. The point has 
 
 30 op. cxt., vol. i, p. 518. 
 
 31 Ampl. Col., vol. ii, col. 1409, No. xlvii. 
 
 32 Revue des Cours et Conferences, May 21, 1896, p. 447 ; Petit de Julleville, 
 Jean de Montr euil. 
 
 ^^Epistolario di Coluccio Salufati,Rom2i, 1896 (ed.Novati), vol. iii, pp. 541-542. 
 
76 
 
 been raised by Hauvette as to whether the Laurent de Premierfait 
 of the Lycurgus incident can be the one who translated Boccacio's 
 De casibus virorum illustrihus, and the Decamerone into French. He 
 explains the problem by positing two distinct sides to Premier f ait's 
 nature,^^ interpreting him as an interesting type of a transitional 
 man, with all the contradictions so frequently found in a transitional 
 epoch, to wit, that of a member of the Church of Rome who did 
 not hesitate to translate the Decamerone, and yet of one who called 
 a friend to account for his fondness for Lycurgus, on the ground 
 that it was too secular. Of course, this is a case of the mote and 
 the beam, but it admirably illustrates the subsequent Renaissance 
 struggle between love for divine and profane interests, and as such 
 appeals to us. 
 
 The first translator of the Decamerone into French is also an 
 innovator in a small way, for he was one of the first to translate a 
 book written in a modern tongue, although his method of doing so 
 is mediaeval enough to warrant attention being drawn to it. As 
 Laurent de Premierfait did not know Italian, he took a collaborator, 
 an Italian monk, who translated the Decamerone into Latin, and Lau- 
 rent translated the Latin version into French. ^^ This probably did not 
 seem at all questionable to a century that had translated a number of 
 Greek texts, not from the original, but from the Latin transla- 
 tions and modern scholarship has been skeptical of the claims put 
 forward that Guillaume Fillastre knew that language, ^^ since not 
 
 34 Hauvette, De Laurentio de Primofato, p. 29 : 
 
 " Laurentium de Primofato cum Laurentio Joannis adversario aequari posse 
 vix credibile arbitramur, Non tamen de duobus distinctis Laurentiis agi confi- 
 denter asseverare audemus ; hoc saltern confirmari posse nobis videtur: si 
 Laurentius unus et idem est qui M. Tullii, Aristotelis et praesertim Boccacii opera 
 transtulit, sacrorumque studiorum causam adversus paganae antiquitatis fautores 
 oravit, fateri debemus duos homines, duas indoles, duas mentes in uno corpore 
 exstitisse." 
 
 The only good argument against this theory is one brought forward by 
 Hauvette himself, viz., that in view of the flippant tone of Jean de Monstereul's 
 letter to Laurent de Premierfait, it' is improbable that he (J. de M.) would let 
 slip such an excellent " tu quoque" as that afforded by a mention of Laurent 
 de Premierfait's translations of Boccacio. 
 
 35 Hauvette, op. cit., pp. 66-67. 
 
 36 Thomas, op. cit., pp. 81-82. L. Delaruelle, G. Bude, Paris, 1907, p. 5 : 
 
 " On trouve en tete d'une traduction du Phedon, qui est a la bibliotheque de 
 Rheims, une lettre de Filiastre au chapitre de Reims pour qui il avait fait 
 executer le ms. {Catalogue General des Manuscrits, xxxix, i* Partie, p. 171.) 
 
77 
 
 a Greek MS. is found in this library of Rheims, which contains a 
 number of his MSS. His interest in antiquity was pronounced, 
 however, and that is what gave rise to the idea that he was a Hel- 
 lenist. He had an inquiring turn of mind, and classical antiquity 
 was not alone in holding his attention. He had an interest in the 
 sciences of mathematics and geography, and his work in the last- 
 named subject would have made its mark,^"^ had it not been com- 
 pletely cast in the shade by the geographic works of his brilliant 
 friend and contemporary, Pierre d'Ailly. 
 
 Passing mention may also be made of Jean Courtecuisse,^^ trans- 
 lator of the Traite des Quatre Vertus, who with Jacques de Novion 
 took Monstereul's side in his quarrel with Ambrosius de Miliis.^^ 
 
 When the Pre-Renaissance movement is viewed in its general 
 aspects, it is interesting to note the number of points it has in com- 
 mon with the Renaissance proper. The most striking is the influ- 
 ence of Humanistic Italy through its well-known men, through the 
 presence of its less well-known Humanists in Paris, and through 
 trips into Italy undertaken by Frenchmen with scholarly training. 
 To this may be added the role of the literary coterie in the develop- 
 ment of both the Pre-Renaissance, and the Renaissance proper. 
 In fact, the group to which Col belonged might well be compared 
 without stretching a point to the literary groups of the sixteenth 
 century. Other points common to the two movements are, the 
 activity of the school of translators, and the movement for the con- 
 scious enrichment of the vocabulary. The writers on mysticism in 
 the sixteenth century remind us that the Pre-Renaissance had 
 Pierre d'Ailly and Jean Gerson, while in an entirely different field 
 Christine de Pisan's role in contemporary letters is a faint forecast 
 of the role of the sixteenth century woman in literature. 
 
 To these purely literary resemblances between the Pre-Renais- 
 sance and the Renaissance proper might be added other points in 
 common that are not primarily of a literary character. A case in 
 
 Cest la . . . ce qui a donne lieu a la tradition ... qui constitue une erreur 
 evidente. Parmi tous les livres de Filiastre qu'a recueillis la bibliot'heque de 
 Reims il n'y a pas un seul ms. grec." 
 
 ^"^ R. Thomassy, Guillaume Filiastre considere comme geographe, Paris, 1842. 
 38 A. Coville, Recherches sur Jean Courtecuisse et ses ceui/res oratoires, in 
 Bibliotheque de V^cole des Chartes, No. 65 (1904), pp. 469-529. 
 89 Thomas, op. cit., p. 83. 
 
7^ 
 
 point would be the desire for reform within the fold of the Roman 
 Catholic Church, set forth by such men as Nicolas de Clamanges 
 and Jean Gerson in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, a move- 
 ment that had its parallel in the sixteenth century, and eventually led 
 to the Reformation and the Counter-Reform. In still another field 
 certain activities of the Pre-Renaissance foreshadow the real 
 Renaissance. I refer to certain theoretical writings, such as those 
 of Pierre d'Ailly, on various physical aspects of the earth, which 
 were the Uvre de chevet of that master of experimental geography, 
 Christopher Columbus. 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing that traces of some of the 
 dominant literary tendencies of the sixteenth century may be found 
 in French literature at the end of the fourteenth and at the begin- 
 ning of the fifteenth centuries. 
 
 VI. — The Role of the " Negociateur " in the Early 
 Renaissance 
 
 Gontier Col and Jehan de Monstereul were " negociateurs," i. e., 
 diplomatic agents, and by reason of their position came in contact 
 with foreign life. It was while on a diplomatic mission to Avignon 
 in 1395 and to Florence in 1396, that Col had an opportunity to 
 come into personal contact with Italian thought. Monstereul also 
 went to Italy in his official capacity about this time (1394-1395).^ 
 The imagination of both men was apparently fired by the new spirit 
 that was permeating contemporary Transalpine thought. Col, in 
 the course of his life, devoted his energies mainly to English em- 
 bassies, and the fiscal matters of the kingdom ; but Jehan de Mons- 
 tereul went to Avignon in 1404, and to Rome in 141 2. During the 
 last-named trip he came to know the Early Renaissance Italian men 
 of letters, such as Coluccio Salutato, Leonardo Aretino, Niccolo 
 NiccoH.2 
 
 That Col and Monstereul were of such a cast of mind that they 
 would have caught some spark of Humanism even if they had never 
 come in personal contact with Italian life, seems improbable. It is 
 Jean de Monstereul, the one of the two friends who had made a stay 
 
 1 Thomas, op. cit., pp. 9 and 89. 
 
 2 Ibid., pp. 10 and 12. 
 
79 
 
 in Italy and had known the Italian men of letters, who was the real 
 Humanist, for Col is left far behind by his friend on this score, and 
 Col's importance is rather that of the " enlightened amateur," who 
 encourages by his interest and by his discerning praise or criticism. 
 Both his knowledge and that of Monstereul of matters Italian 
 was brought about thru their diplomatic careers. The role of 
 diplomacy in spreading the Humanistic spirit is therefore to be 
 noted ; the more so that Col and Monstereul were not primarily liter- 
 ary men, but intellectuals of the day, with minds alert to new ideas 
 and a new outlook on life. 
 
 In this connection it might not be devoid of interest to note that 
 diplomacy was responsible for Petrarch's visit to Paris in 1361, and 
 although he had established friendly relations with Frenchmen dur- 
 ing his stay at Vaucluse — notably with Berguire^ — it was after this 
 embassy that Jean le Bon tried to induce the Italian poet to come to 
 his court,^ and his stay apparently made an undeniable impression on 
 the French court. ^ Nor was this true only of France at this time. 
 The same phenomenon may be observed in contemporary England 
 where there were also men whose position as diplomats opened to 
 them mental vistas that they might not have known otherwise. 
 Chaucer is perhaps the most eminent example. 
 
 Altogether it seems plausible that these " negociateurs " played 
 a role in bringing Humanism into France by reason of the life they 
 led. Doors that would have been closed to the average foreign 
 traveler were opened to them thru their official position, and men 
 with their tastes and eagerness for antiquity were keenly alive to 
 all the advantages that their profession threw in their way. 
 
 VII. — Conclusion 
 
 In the Hght of what has gone before concerning Col and the 
 Pre-Renaissance group in France at the end of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury and the beginning of the fifteenth, the following salient points 
 are conspicuous. Col, like some of the contemporary Italian 
 Humanists and in contrast with the second generation of Humanists, 
 was not first and foremost a professional man of letters. He was 
 
 8 Ibid., p. so. 
 
 4 Robinson, J. H., Petrarch, New York and London, 1914, pp. 125-126. 
 
 s G. Lanson, Histoire de la litterature frangaise, Paris, 1916, p. 156. 
 
8o 
 
 an example of the " negociateur-amateur " and belonged by birth 
 to the bourgeoisie^ which had come to the fore in the fourteenth cen- 
 tury. He was also typical of the la'icisation of learning — a field of 
 human endeavor that had for centuries been confined to the clerical 
 caste. A testimony to the breaking down of bars in this direction 
 is seen in the semi-literary quarrel of the Roman de la Rose, in 
 which a layman (Col) and a woman (Christine de Pisan) take part. 
 Maitre Gontier's attitude in this quarrel is dictated both by his 
 bourgeois point of view, which was not particularly tolerant of the 
 knightly attitude on the woman question, and by his defense of the 
 individualistic moral code, which was peculiarly characteristic of the 
 Renaissance. 
 
 As for the artistic side of the Pre-Renaissance, Col shows an 
 interest in fine manuscripts, tapestries, relics of the Saints set in 
 jewels — a taste which in all its phases was Mediaeval as well as 
 Renaissance ; and there is no documentary evidence to show that he 
 had leanings towards the artistic tastes of the early Italian 
 Humanists. 
 
 Col's chief interest to us lies in that his was what may be 
 called a pioneer mind : he was deeply absorbed in the contemporary 
 quickening of intellectual pursuits, whether in the classics or the 
 "sciences." In his case, the interest was in the classics, and his 
 genuine love of books is pretty well established by contemporary 
 evidence. The other point of contact for us lies in his relations with 
 Monstereul, and the role he played in the latter' s development along 
 the lines of Humanism. In this case, Col taught better than he 
 knew, for Monstereul, who called him his " praeceptor," surpassed 
 him in his receptivity of the new spirit. 
 
 The connection between Col, Monstereul and Clamanges, and 
 the role that they played as a group, in the early development of 
 Humanism in France, must also be noted as well as the importance 
 played by the diplomatic position of Col and Monstereul, in throw- 
 ing them in contact with the Humanists. It seems fairly clear that 
 the role of diplomatic missions must not be disregarded when tracing 
 the introduction of Humanism into France. 
 
 As has been observed. Col has left little literary baggage, 
 whether as regards descriptions of his missions or personal letters. 
 
8i 
 
 Yet enough can be gleaned from them and from contemporary 
 documents to get a fair idea of the sturdy figure of the bourgeois 
 of Sens, diplomatic agent and "carrier" of Humanism, who by his 
 class, his affiliations, and his intellectual sympathies, foreshadows 
 some of the dominant characteristics of the following literary age. 
 
82 
 
 APPENDICES 
 
 Appendix A 
 
 Le compte de Hemon Ragnier argentier de la Royne pour un an 
 commengant le premier jour de fevrier 1400 et finissant au derre- 
 nier jour de Janvier 1401 tout inclus. 
 
 Archives Nationales, KK 42, fol. 35 v°. 
 
 A Jehan Tarenne changeur et bourgoys de Paris Pour cent 
 mars de vaisselle d'argent dore prinse et achetee de luy par I'ordon- 
 nance de la Royne et qu'elle a donne et fait presenter de par elle 
 C'est assavoir a la fille de Monsieur le Vidame de Laonnois grant 
 maistre d'ostel du Roy le jour de ses nopces Ix™ de ladite vaisselle. 
 A la fille Maistre Gontier Col pareillement et pour semblable cause 
 XX™ et a Jehan de la Barre receveur en Languedoc semblablement 
 XX™ lesquelles parties font ensemble lesditz C™ de vaisselle que 
 valent au pris de VIII 1. parisis chacun marc VIIPl. p. que paiez lui 
 ont este par vertu des lettres de mandement de ladite dame donnees 
 le XX VP jour de fevrier Tan mil CCCC et ung et par quictance 
 faicte le XV® jour d'avril apres Pasques mil CCCC et deux tout cy 
 rendu a court. 
 
 Appendix B 
 
 D'Hozier, Pieces originales, vol. 807, Piece 4. (Bib. nat.) 
 
 Saichent tuit que ie Gontier Col congnoiz avoir eu et receu de 
 Jehan le franc tresorier du Roy nostresire es terres que souloit 
 tenir en Normandie le Roy de Navarre la somme de Cent quinze 
 livres tor. que mons. Charles de Navarre me devoit pour la vente 
 bail et delivrance de six hanaps d'argent dorez et esmailles en fons 
 pesans douze mars cinq onces quinze esterlins les quelx mon dit 
 seignour a euz de moi. de laquelle somme des CXV 1. t. dessus diz, 
 je me tiens a bien paie et en quite le dit mons. Charles le dit tresorier 
 et tous autres. Donne soubs mon seel et sing manuel le XXIIIP 
 jour de fevrier I'an mil CCCIIIP^ 
 
 Gontier ( Sceau pendant en 
 cire rouge). 
 
83 
 
 Appendix C 
 D'Hozier, Pieces originales, vol. 807, Piece 5. (Bib. nat.) 
 
 Saichent tuit que ie Gontier Col. clerc notaire et secretaire 
 du Roy nostresire. Confesse avoir eu et receu de Nicolas de la 
 Heze. Receveur et voyer de Mante et de Meullent. la somme de 
 Cent dix nuef livres dix s. par. a moy deue. pour mes gaiges de 
 six s. par. par iour que je prengs du dit seigneur a cause de mon 
 office de notaire et pour mes manteaulx. come il appert par deux 
 cedules de la Chambre aux deniers d'ycellui seigneur, donnees 
 I'une le XXP de Janvier. MCCCIIIP^ et VIII et I'autre le XV' 
 de Janvier MCCCIIII^ et X verifiees en la chambre des comptes 
 du Roy nostresire a Paris le XIIP jour de novembre MCCCIIIP* 
 et XIII. -De laquelle somme de cent dix nuef livres dix s. par. a 
 moy payee par le dit Receveur et voyer par vertu du mand (ement) 
 dudit seigneur donreceut (sic) a messieurs les tresoriers de f ranee 
 donne le XXIX« iour doct (obre) I'an MCCCIIII^ et XIII. ex- 
 pedie par yceulx tresoriers et ataiche aux diz mand (emens) et 
 cedules le XVIIP de mars. I'an MCCCIIII^ et treze Je me tieng 
 pour bien content et paye et en quitte le Roy nostre dit seigneur, 
 ledit Receveur et voyer et touz autres. tesmoing mon seel et signe 
 manuel mis a ces presentes. Escriptes de ma main le XXIP jour 
 du dit moys de mars, mil CCCIIIP^ et treze. dessus dit. 
 
 Gontier (Sceau pendant 
 en cire rouge.) 
 Appendix D 
 
 The two following Latin letters are those mentioned on page 63 of the 
 text. The first is described as follows in the Catalogue General des Manuscrits 
 des Bibliotheques Publiques de France [vol. XXXVII (1905). Tours, par M. 
 Collon, p. 703, No. 978, Recueil II]. " Correspondance d'Ambroise de Miliis 
 avec Gontier (Probablement Gonthier Col, ambassadeur de Charles VI). . . . 
 3° Fol. 60. Lettre de Gonthier a Ambroise de Miliis pour le blamer de sa con- 
 duite a I'egard de Jean, prevot de Lille." 
 
 Immediately following it will be found the letter published in the Opera 
 Omnia of Nicolas de Clamanges (pp. 33-36), written sub nomine Guntheri Colli, 
 that bears such a striking textual resemblance to the foregoing. 
 
 lustum erat Ambrosi, si saperes aut boni in te viri imaginem 
 ostendere velles te tuis benefactoribus grati animi vicem rependere 
 nee pro impensis tibi beneficiis tot eos maledictis et convitiis inces- 
 
84 
 
 sere aut si morem nature gerens ingratus esse decreveras alium pro- 
 fecto querere debebas (ad quern?) tua criminatoria scripta tot in 
 Johannem prepositum Insulani iniurias euomentia dirigeres. | Nee 
 me tue ingratitudinis astipulatorem talia michi de meo amico et 
 singulari amico scribens significasse videreris. Satis tibi esse opor- 
 tuerat ab uno te iura fidei | legem benevolentie f edere amicicie vio- 
 lari absque hoc quod alios ab isto infamj vitio abhorrentes tecum in 
 suspicionem et consortium perfidie consimilis adscisceres. Sed 
 quamquam me eo ipso a te lesum putem quod me potissime delegisti 
 ad quem tanta de amicissimo probra conscriberes que etsi digna tuo 
 ore duxisti et meis tamen auribus et suis moribus indignissima sunt 
 omictam tamen iam de mea lesione dicere et ad causam amici veniam 
 et quam si verus et integer eius amicus sum ut certe sum non secus 
 atque meam putare debeo. Non inficiaberis ut opinor lohannem 
 de te optime meritum quod si perges inficiarj omnes pene qui te 
 noverunt. Ymo vero sol ipse qui tantam ipsius in te benevolentiam 
 vidit testimonium adversus te dicturi sunt nemo est enim pene qui 
 tot eius in te officia | tot tui commendaciones | tot pro te interces- 
 siones nesciat. Scio ego scis tu ipse sciunt plures sua et mea 
 precipue instancia factum esse ] ut tu pauper inops alienigena 
 miserabilis potius quam invidiosus illius incliti principis famulatum- 
 que nunc tantopere extolleris adipiscereris cum ilium et me quotidie 
 pro aliquo servicio impetrando tot supplicibus precibus fatigares 
 tot importunitatibus obtunderes. Taceo domum lohannis non aliter 
 quam sibimet ipsi tibi semper patuisse et tuarum miseriarum ac in- 
 opiarumprofugium fuisse nee dico quam f amiliariter quam liberali- 
 ter quam festive quam lepide quam amice domus ilia exceperit et 
 tractarit. Omicto et ea narrare que de eius in te amore et honore 
 singulariter ipse^ | vel maxime comperta habeo cum mecum sepius 
 et familiarius de hiis rebus quam cum alio quopiam loqueretur 
 quibus te ad astra laudibus efferebat quam creber et assiduus de te 
 illi sermo erat quantum tuam humilitatem tuam modestiam tuos 
 gestus tuos mores nundum apprime cognitos commendabat. Quan- 
 tum tuam eloquenciam nundum caninam effectam venerabatur quo- 
 modo te in literarie et stili accuratione supra quam res et Veritas 
 erant exaltabat. ut vel sic tuae inopie per aliquam promotionem 
 1 [Fol. 60 verso.] 
 
85 
 
 subveniret. Quomodo illo suo visceroso et flagranti affectu suo cor- 
 diali et sincero more omnia tua ampliabat | et <ut'> tue necessitati 
 simul que utilitati consuleret in mains ferebat. | Pro hiis tot in te 
 erogatis beneficiis et plerisque aliis que enarrare longum esset num 
 quid a te nunc une optimo contempni meretur | et tot impure lingue 
 contumelias audire. que eo sibi graviora sunt quod te non auctorem 
 talium sed si ab alio in eum dicerentur futurum certe vindicem et 
 fidum in repellendo adiutorem sperabat | nee certe ego ipse aliter 
 sperassem. Sed tu votis suis et spe mentem bonam sepe falli 
 docuisti. Itaque non tibi uni hac tua petulancia offuisti sed | multis 
 aliis exteris advenisque et tuis presertim conregionalibus ac popu- 
 laribus quorum verbis aut votis nos gallici tuo exemplo edocti non 
 tarn facilem de postero fidem habebimus veriti scilicet ne quod in 
 te experti sumus anguis aliquis cauda percuciens in herba lateat. 
 Quod si prior ipse te lesisset | si uUa in te signa non dico digni 
 animi sed minus solito amici aut benivoli perdidisset aliquo tamen 
 saltem pallio tua convicia tegerentur Nunc vero quod nichil lesus 
 nichil abeo jniurie passus | tam virulenta et procaci oratione in eum 
 Repente jnvasisti omnia pene flagiciorum genera que tuus fecundus 
 animus excogitare potuit in eius contumeliam coacervando tuum 
 tand<em> nobis ingenium diucius celatum aperiusti tuam frontem 
 diu obductam exporrexisti tui animi latebras et archana longua 
 simulacione contecta in lucem eduxisti. Unde magne merito gratie 
 tibi ab eo habende sunt quod tandem apud se fingere desisti et 
 qualis animo esses talis lingua et vultu esse cepisti. Nam quam 
 frivola ilia sit occasio qua nescio quando verba^ | quedam 
 acerbiora in te eum protulisse Refers verba ipsa satis demo- 
 strant nuper inquis me meum negotium serio agentem interpel- 
 lans I quia non ilico missis omnibus nugis suis responsa ferebam 
 in verba iniuriosa prosiluit | meque michi ipsi natum cum im- 
 properio obiecit. O acerbam contumeliam | o nefarium verbum 
 capitalique merito supplicio plectendum. Redi queso paulisper ad 
 te-0-Ambrosi et discussa animi tui caligine tecum tandem cogita 
 utrum tanta in amicum tuum maledicta pro hac unica voce libere et 
 confidenter ut amicorum verba decet emissa congerere debuisti | 
 Nonne et suis ex meritis et jure amicicie tantum sibi apud te licere 
 2 [Fol. 6i recto.] 
 
S6 
 
 poterat | ut unum illud verbum sine tanta tua stomacacione enun- 
 ciaret. Si hac lege amicos habere vis | ut apud te non loquantur. 
 nisi prefinito et que tibi placeant Vide | ne amicis orbatus loco 
 eorum assentatores amplectaris qui te in tuis erroribus palpando 
 foueant | et iuxta comici verbum ex stulto insanum faciant. Quis 
 nescit in amiciciis verissimis sepe verborum votorum animorum dis- 
 sentiones sepe reprehensiones objurgaciones interuenire quibus non 
 solum non tollitur amicicia sed potius proficitur atque integratur. 
 Quod ipsum eciam comicum vite humane sagacissimum expressorem 
 non latuit | amancium inquit ire amoris integratio est. | A quo enim 
 objurgacionem, aut castigacionem equo animo accipies | si ab amico 
 nolis. Quomodo autem ab amico castigacionem feres si unam ab eo 
 sententiam paulo asperiorem et tuo placito aduersantem non 
 tuleris. Nihil ergo est quod iuste causeris occasionem tibi ab eo 
 tam inimice insectacionis aut mendose vituperacionis obiectam | sed 
 tuus aut invidia adversus eum aut egritudine alia tabescens animus 
 suique morbi iam prevalentis ulterius impaciens | banc tandem oc- 
 casionem fluxam levem invalidum et ut pro Re digna verba dicam 
 perversam et iniustam commentus est qua id quod diu conceperat 
 et intra se aluerat parturiret. Et tuam forte scientiam ostentare 
 voluisti qui lohannem de ignorancia tam amara inuectione coarguis. 
 Scilicet probe docuisti te scire conuiciarj maledicere amicos calump- 
 niarj scelera et mendacia in eos | fingere quas artes sacius fuerat 
 non edidicisse^ | vel si animo inheserant illic melius recondite latuis- 
 sent quam in amicorum et innocencium suggillacionem exerceren- 
 tur. Nolo autem nunc particularia opprobia-que in eum iacularis 
 actingere | quia et res prolixior esset cum de hoc longam texueris 
 inuectiuam et Responso nichil opus est cum a tuis calumpniis sua 
 satis eum defendat integritas. | Quamquam si res purgacione vel 
 responso digna esset | et te quoque non jndignum indicaret cum quo 
 sibi contentio suscipi deberet facile satis sibi erat tua iacula in caput 
 tuum Retorquere et ut apud Persium est | mordaci Radere vero 
 auriculas | Nee desunt alij eiusdem amici quibus si talia de eo 
 scripsisses tibi | a tergo longe aliter quam presens portat pagina 
 Rescripsissent. Vale et si tue lingue ac stilo f renos apponere nescis 
 I Vide tamen si mihi credis deinceps considerantius in quam partem 
 tue habene laxabuntur. 
 3 [Fol. 6i verso.] 
 
87 
 
 Nicolai de Clemangiis, Opera Omnia, Lydius edition Lugduni 
 Batavorum, cb be XIII pp. 33-36. Epistola VII. Sub Nomine 
 Guntheri Colli regij Secretarij, ad eundem Ambrosium scripta; 
 suae^ ingratitudinis in lohannem Praepositum Insulensem increpa- 
 toria.* 
 
 lustum^ erat Ambrosi, si saperes, aut boni in te viri imaginem 
 velles ostendere, te tuis benefactoribus grati animi vicem rependere 
 nee pro impensis tibi beneficijs maledictis illos eonuitijsq;^ incessere. 
 Aut si* ingratus esse decreueras, alium vtique quoerere^ debebas, 
 ad quern tua criminatoria scripta, tot in lohannem Praepositum In- 
 sulanum iniurias euomentia dirigeres. Nec^ me^ tali abhorrentem 
 vitio, tuae ingratitudinis adstipulatorem,^ talia mihi de meo amico® 
 singulari amico scribens insinuasse videreris.^^ Satis tibi esse opor- 
 tuerat ab uno te, iura fidei, legem beneuolentie,^^ f oedus^^ amicitiae^^ 
 violari. Absque hoc quod alios immeritos a tantisque peruersitati- 
 bus alienos tecum in susceptionem^* vel consortiums^ perfidiae^^ 
 consimilis adscisceres. Sed quamquam me eo ipso a te non medi- 
 ocriter lesum putem, quod me potissimum delegisti, ad quem talia de 
 amicissimo conscriberes : quae^^ et si digna tuo ore aut thalamo^^ 
 duxisti, et meis tamen erant auribus, & suis moribus indignissima. 
 Omittam tamen de mea laesione^^ dicere, &^^ ad causam mei amici 
 veniam : quam si verus atque integer ilUus amicus sum,^^ non secus 
 atq; meam aestimare^^ debeo. Imo^^ eo magis quam propriam 
 curare, quo honestius de amicorum iniuria, quam de nostra labora- 
 mus. Non inficiaberis, vt opinor, loannem optime^^ de te meritum, 
 
 * Foot-notes show variant readings found in ms. lat. 3127, fol. 13 recto — 
 fol. 14 recto, Bibliotheque Nationale. 
 
 1 sue. 13 amicicie. 
 
 2 1* suspicionem. 
 
 3 conviciisque lacessere. ^^ consorcium. 
 
 4 si morem nature gerens. ^^ perfidie. 
 
 5 querere. i'^ que. 
 
 ^ Ne. 1^ calamo. 
 
 7 a me. ^^ les-. 
 
 8 stipulatorem. 20 ^d causamque. 
 ^ et de meo : et singulari amico. 21 sive non. 
 
 10 videris. 22 extimare. 
 
 11 beni-. 23 Ymo. 
 
 ^2 f edus. 24 Johannem de te optime. 
 
ss 
 
 quod si ausu impudentissimo perges inficiari, non modo pene omnes, 
 qui ambos nouerunt, testimoniu aduersus te dicent, sed sol ipse: 
 suae^^ per dies beneuolentiae^^ testis assistet: Luna autem atque 
 sydera per- noctes Quis enim nescit, domum lohannis, non aliter 
 atq.^^ sibimet ipsi die noctuq; tibi patuisse, tuarumque miseriarum 
 atque inopiarum perfugium fuisse: quam^® familiar iter, quam 
 liberaliter, quamque^^ f estiue, iocunde, lepide domus ilia te exceperit 
 & tractarit?^^ Tantumne de laetheo^^ flumine bibisti ut obliuisci 
 potueris sua meaque instantia^^ atque opera factum esse ut illius 
 clarissimi principis famulatum, quo tantopere modo insolescis^^ 
 adipiscereris ? Cum tu pauper, inops alienigena, miserabilis potius^* 
 quam inuidiosus, me atque ilium, supplici prece, assidua postu- 
 latione,^^ incredibilique importunitate,^^ pro aliquo tibi impetrando 
 seruitio quotidie^^ obtunderes? Tuaene^^ memoriae^^ tam cito ex- 
 ciderunt tot illius in te officia, tot tui laudes, & commendationes :*^ 
 tot pro te apud quoscumque poterat intercessiones. Omitto ilia 
 commemorare, quae*^ de illius in te amore, studio, affectu, honore, 
 singulariter prae multis alijs comperta habeo. Cum saepius"^^ ac 
 familiar ius quam cum quouis alio de ijs*^ rebus mecum loqueretur, 
 quantum tuam humilitatem, tuam modestiam, tuos gestus, tuos 
 mores, nundum** apprime cognitos commendebat. Quinimo^^ creber 
 imo*^ assiduus, de te illi sermo erat, quibus te ad coelum laudibus 
 efferebat, quantum*^ [fol 13 verso] tuam eloquentiam (nundum*^ 
 caninam) extolebat:*^ quomodo te in litteris, & styli^^ cultu, supra 
 quam res aut Veritas erat exaltabat: quomodo illo suo visceroso 
 ingentique affectu omnia tua in mains augebat. quo vel sic tuae^^ 
 
 25 sue. 39 .rie. 
 
 26 benivolente. ^° -ciones. 
 
 27 ac. *i que. 
 
 28 desunt. 42 gg. 
 
 29 deest. 43 his. 
 
 30 tractauerit. 44 non-. 
 
 31 letheo. 45 Quam. 
 
 32 -cia. 46 ymo. 
 
 33 nunc imtumescis. 47 Note deleted. 
 
 34 pocius. 48 non-. 
 
 35 -cione. 49 extollebat. 
 
 36 opportunitat'c. so stJii. 
 
 37 deest. 61 tue. 
 
 38 Tue. 
 
89 
 
 indigentiae^^ per aliquam posset promotionem^^ esse consultum. 
 Non tua tarn lubrica tunc erat memoria, cum^* tanta promittebas 
 beneficia, nuUo umquam tepore a tua mente labi: cu^^ obsequium, 
 gratitudine mutua vice relaturum^^ spondebas. Pro ijsne" quoeso 
 tantis in te cumulatis meritis & alijs plaenisque^^ quae longum nimis 
 esset enumerare, iure a te contemni^® meruerat, totq impurissimae^^ 
 linguae^^ contumelias audire? Quae^^ idcirco ipsi^^ grauiora sunt, 
 quod talium te nequaqua auctorem, sed si ab altero in eum iaceren- 
 tur®* fidum in repellendo adiutorem futurum sperabat: nee ipse 
 tente^^ aliter sperassem. Sed tu verum esse docuisti, quod Poeta 
 Elegiacus^® ait : 
 
 Fallitur augurio mens bona saepe^^ suo.^® Tu itaque hac tua 
 petulantia/® non tibi uni obfuisti/^ verum multis^^ exteris, aduenis- 
 que/^ conregionalibus ac popularibus, quorum verbis aut promis- 
 sionibus/^ veriti scilicet ne quod in te sumus experti, anguis aliquis 
 Cauda percutiens in herba latitet. Quod si prior ipse te laessisset/* 
 si vlla in te signa, non dico alienati animi, sed minus solito amici, 
 aut beneuoli/^ prodidisset: aliquo^^ saltem pallio tua insectatio 
 tegeretur. Nunc vero, quod nihil laesus/^ nihil ab eo iniuriae^^ 
 passus, tam virulenta procaciq. oratione in ilium repente inuasisti, 
 omnia fere criminu genera, quae^^ tuus faecundus^*' animus excogi- 
 tare preualuit, in ilium iaciens, tuum tandem nobis ingenium 
 diutius^^ celatum atque obtectum, palam ex latebroso inuoloto^^ 
 euoluisti, tuam frontam longius obductam exporrexisti, tui praeg- 
 
 " -cie. 
 
 6» -lancia. 
 
 53 -cionem. 
 
 70 offuisti. 
 
 54 quando. 
 
 71 multis aliis. 
 
 55 quando. 
 
 72 aduenisque tuis tamen precipue. 
 
 56 relaturum te. 
 
 73 promissionibus nos Galli tuo 
 
 57 his. 
 
 exemplo edocti, non tam facilem de 
 
 58 plerisque que. 
 
 postero fidem habebimus. 
 
 59 contempni. 
 
 7* les-. 
 
 «o -sime. 
 
 75 beni-. 
 
 «i -gue. 
 
 76 aliquo tamen. 
 
 «2 Que. 
 
 77 lesus. 
 
 " sibi. 
 
 78 -rie. 
 
 «* dicerentur. 
 
 79 que. 
 
 «5 de te ; certe. 
 
 80 fee-. 
 
 ®* eligiacus. 
 
 81 -cius. 
 
 67 sepe. 
 
 82 inuolocru, involucro. 
 
 «8 cf. Ovid. Hes. i6. 234. 
 
 
90 
 
 nantis cordis arcana,^^ longa simultatione^* contecta, aliquando in 
 lucem eff udisti : hac^^ super re, magnae^^ ab illo tibi merito haben- 
 dae^^ gratiae sunt: quod tandum apud ipsum^^ fingere desijsti, Et 
 qualis animo eras, talis lingua, vultu, calamo esse caepisti:^^ quod 
 fraudem, dolum, fallaciam,®*^ duplicitatem parras®^ (vt ait Ver- 
 gilius)^^ Ligurum artes, apud ipsum^^ tadem aperuisti, apud alios 
 fortassis etia nuc obtectas, (quo nuda & aperta cerneret^* veritate, 
 quale erat amicum sortitus.) Nam quam friuola ilia sit occasio, 
 qua nescio cum^^ verba quaedam®® acerbiora in te ilium protulisse 
 causaris, verba ipsa apertius^^ ostendunt: Nuper inquis me meum 
 negotium®^ serio agentem^^ interpellans, quia non ilico^"" missis om- 
 nibus, nugis ipsius^^^ responsa ferebam, in verba iniuriosa prosi- 
 luit,^^^ meq^°^ iniuriaru^^* cum iurgio obiecit. O acerbam con- 
 tumeliam, o nefarium improper ium capitalique merito supplicio 
 plectedum. Redi quaeso^^^ paulisper ad te o Ambrosi, discussaque 
 animi tui caligine,^^^ tecum^^^ tandem cogita, utrum ne tanta in 
 amicum maledicta pro hac vna voce libere ac fiducialiter emissa, 
 sicuit inter amicos licet congerere atque euomere debueris. Nonne^^^ 
 & iure amicitiae^^^ & suis tantis in te meritis, tum ista apud te dicere 
 sibi licere debebat, tum, te ilia patienter^^^ audire decebat. Si hac 
 lege habere amicos vis, vt apud te non loquantur, nisi praefinito^^^ 
 & que^^^ tibi placeant. Vide ne amicis orbatus loco eorum assenta- 
 tores amplectaris, qui te palpando in errore foueant. Tuxtaque 
 Comici sententiam,^^^ ex stulto insanum faciant."* Quis ignorat in 
 
 83 archana. ^^^ illico. 
 
 8* simulacione (simula?). loi suis. 
 
 85 Qua. *"2 prosiliit meque uni natum cum 
 
 88magne. uirgilio obiecit (sic). 
 
 8^ habende sunt gre. ^^^ Note deleted. 
 
 88 se. • io*iniurijs. 
 
 89 cep-. ^^^ queso. 
 
 »o f allaciam : dolum. lo* calligine. 
 
 9^ patrias. ^^"^ tandem tecum. 
 
 »2 Vir. Aen. XI. 716. los Note deleted. 
 
 *3 se. ^^^ amicicie. 
 
 »* cerneres. ^^° pacienter. 
 
 95quando. m pref-. 
 
 96 quedam. ^^2 que. 
 
 »7apercius. 113 Xerence. Eunuchus. 2. 2. 23. 
 
 98 negocium. ^i* Note deleted. 
 
 99 Note deleted. 
 
91 
 
 veris amicitijs^^^ maximan pater e libertatem loquendi, arguendi, 
 repraehendendi, objurgandi: magnas quoque soepe^^^ interuenire^^^ 
 dissentiones,"® quibus non tollitur amicitia/^® sed magis perficitur 
 arque integratur. Quod etiam ipsum^^^ Comicum, vitae humanae^^^ 
 sagicissimum expressorem, minime latuit, cum dixit :^^^ Amantium 
 irae/^^ amoris redintegratio^^* est. A quo obiurgatione vel cas- 
 tigatione^^^ (aequo animo accipies si ab amico nolis? Quemad- 
 modum^^^ autem ab amico castigationem)^^^ feres si vnum verbum 
 paulo asperius, tuoque placito aduersum, non tuleris : nihil ergo est 
 quod iuste obtendas accusationem^^® tibi ab es tarn inimicoe^^® accusa- 
 tionis, tamque^^^ criminosae^^^ [fol. 14 recto] vituperationis^^^ obiec- 
 tam: Sed tuus aut inuidia adversus eum, aut aegritudine^^^ alia^^* 
 turbatus animus, & ipsa sua turbatione^^^ non satis rationi obsequens, 
 nee frenis se moderationis cohibere praeualens, quod iamdudum in 
 se conceperat, atque intra se clausum aluerat, tanden more ulterioris 
 impatiens parturire voluit, f orasque effundere : utque aliqua specie^^^ 
 excusationis^^^ suam culpam palliaret, banc infirmam occasionem, 
 cum firmiorem habere^^^ non posset, tanta^^^ effundendae^*^ maligni- 
 tatis excogitauit. Tuam ante scientiam^*^ vt arbitror^*^ ostetare volu- 
 isti qui loannem^*^ de ignorantia^^* taamara inuectione redarguis. 
 Scilicet probre^*^ docuisti, te scire conuitiari,^*^ mordere, maledicere, 
 calumniari, mendacia in amicos^*^ & crimina fingere, quae^*^ non tam 
 doctorum sunt hominum quam malarum ac perfidorum : quas pro- 
 
 115 amiciciis. 
 11® sepe. 
 11^ animorum. 
 118 -ciones. 
 lis -cicia. 
 
 120 ipsum etiam. 
 
 121 vite humane. 
 
 122 Terence : Andria 3, 3. 23. 
 
 123 ire. 
 
 12* integracio. 
 125 -cionem. 
 i2« desunt. 
 
 127 quomodo 
 
 128 obtendat occasionem. 
 
 129 inimice -cionis. 
 
 130 -nose. 
 
 131 Note deleted. 
 
 132 -cionis obtectam. 
 
 133 ggri"-. 
 
 134 al (aliter?). 
 
 135 -cione. 
 
 abbreviation). 
 
 136 spe (sans 
 
 137 -cionis. 
 
 138 invenire. 
 
 139 tante. 
 
 140 -dende. 
 
 141 ut arbitror sententiam. 
 
 142 Note deleted. 
 1*3 Johannem. 
 
 144 -rancia. 
 
 145 probe. 
 1*^ -ciari. 
 147 animos. 
 1*8 que. 
 
92 
 
 fecto artes sat vis^*^ fuerat non edidicisse, vel si animo memori- 
 aeq ;^^^ tenacius haerebant/^^ melius illic reconditae^^^ latuissent, qua 
 in amicorum, innocentumq ; suggillatione^^^ foras erumperet. Sed 
 tibi forte animos eloquentia^^* tollit. Si illam cum sapientia haberes, 
 doceret ipsa sapietia non te inde^^^ extolli oportere/^^ Si vero sine 
 sapientia habes, docet te Tullius^^^ talem eloquentiam ciuitatibus 
 ac rebuspublicis esse pernitiosam.^^® Quomodo autem cum isto 
 folleo pectore, atque maliuolo animo sapientiam^^^ habere potes: 
 cum scriptum sit : In maleuolam^®^ animam non intrabit^®^ sapientia. 
 Porro cum Philosophi definiant sapientiam/^^ rerum diuinarum 
 humanarumque esse notitiam, de qua potes gloriari sapietia ut 
 aliorum ita exaggeres ignorantiam/^^ qui ipsam satis^^* Gramatica 
 vix es assecutus? Nam de arte quidem Rhetorica^^^ quid aliud 
 quatum ad te attinet dicam, nisi quod facilius si sobrie saperes, tua 
 in ilia arte vitia^^® tuosque error es, ab alijs fortassis agnitos, ipse 
 forte^®^ posses agnoscere.^®^ 
 
 Nolo ante nunc particulatim singula^®® quae in loanne^^^ iacu- 
 laris opprobria^^^ attingere, quoniam ea^^^ res prolixior esset, cum 
 logam inde texueris inuectiuam, & nihiP^^ videtur responso^^* opus 
 esse, cu a tuis obtrectationibus^^^ sua satis illu defendat"^ inte- 
 gritas/" Quamquam si res purgatione vel responso digna esset, 
 & te quoque non indignum indicaret, cum quo sibi cotentio suscipi 
 deberet, facile satis ipsi^^^ erat,^^® tua in caput tuii iacula retor- 
 quere, tuasque (ut apud^^^ Persium est) — mordaci rodere ferro^®^ 
 Auriculas. 
 
 149 satius, sacius. i*"^ rethorica. 
 
 150 -rieque. i^" vicia. 
 
 151 here-. i«^ deest. 
 
 152 -dite. 1^® cognoscere. 
 i53suggillacioni (sic). iss fimgula (sic) (simgula?) 
 
 154 Note deleted. "o johannem. 
 
 155 deest. 1^1 obprobria. 
 
 156 opportere. i'^^ et. 
 
 157 tulius. 1^3 nichil. 
 
 158 -ciosam. i^* responso videtur opus esse cum. 
 
 159 -ciam. 1^5 -cionibus. 
 
 160 maliuolam. i^e deffendat. 
 
 i«i introibit. 1^7 integitas (sic). 
 
 162 diffiniant sapienciam. i'^^ deest. 
 
 163 -ciam. 1" f oret. 
 
 164 vix es grammaticam satis as- i^o Pers. i. 107. 
 secutus. ^^1 radere verbo. 
 
93 
 
 Nee desunt alij ipsius amici, quibus si talia de illo scripsisses, 
 aliter ac^^^ praesens portat pagina, tibi rescripsissent. Vale, & vide 
 ne illi versus Vergiliani^®^ in alium moribus & patria tui similem 
 scripti te respiciant, tibique merito possint aptari. 
 
 Vane^^* Hgus, frustri^^^ nimis^^^ elate superbis. 
 Nec^^^ quicquam patrias tentasti^^^ lubricus artes.^®^ 
 
 182 quam. i^e animis. 
 
 183 virgiliani. is^ Ne. 
 
 184 Vane Ligur, f rust'raque animi i^s temptasti. 
 
 elate superbis. Vide Aeneid lib. ii. i^^Aen. XI. 715, 716. 
 
 185 f rustraque. 
 
94 
 
 APPENDIX E 
 
 Bibliotheque Natidnale. Ms. latin 13062. fol. 69. ro' — fol. 
 75. vo. 
 
 The letter is long and tedious, made up of endless repetitions and 
 redundancies in which Jehan de Monstereul's wrath finds vent. It 
 is of little value to us, save for the passages cited below. 
 
 For reference to quotation from Vergil, fol. 72. verso. 
 
 Maxime nobis gallis horum nesciis quin/prorsus ea abhorren- 
 tibus ut/scopulos, debuisses nempe si quid sensus inesset, tuis dum- 
 taxat similibus, talium quidem artificiosissimus talia/reservasse 
 apud quos hec sententia publice locum habet, aliud in pectore, aliud 
 in lingua promptum habere, dicere unum et aliud facere, et ubi 
 tandem decipere legitime est mercari, de/cuiuscomodi mercurii 
 doctoris tui sententiis eas te dudum comprobantem reprehendi et 
 extunc pro/tuisque nonnullis aliis obprobriis illud tibi maronianum. 
 me/recolo/ scriptonenus impinxisse. Vane/ligur, frustaque animis 
 elate superbis, nequiquam patrias temptasti lubricus artes.^ 
 
 Passing references to the Ligurian are to be found as follows : 
 
 fol. 70. versO'. 
 
 . . et denique quod sui de/simillimo liguro alio tullius pridem 
 ait. 
 
 fol. 71. recto. 
 
 . . te rogaverim gonthere mi . . . ne huic assueto malo liguri 
 canante virgilio acetero (?) credas vel confidas . . . 
 
 fol. 74. verso. 
 
 . . perfidiam liguris . . . 
 
 fol. 75. recto. 
 
 Meminisse necesse est, tametsi melius me tutemet scias, optime 
 mi gonthere, et/pluries pluribus recitasti, te scilicet de isto ligure 
 nullatenus habuisse notionem, aut pro/eo intercessisse quoquo pacto, 
 nisi per me, nisi mea monitione, mea/prece, et inductu. 
 
 1 Virgil Aenead 11 : 716. 
 
95 
 
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I02 
 
 NAME INDEX 
 
 Abbaye de Saint-Remy, 6. 
 
 Agincourt, 42. 
 
 Ailly, Pierre d', 67, 12>, 77, 78. 
 
 Amiens, 26. 
 
 Andrieu, Jehan, 41. 
 
 Andry, Jean, 39. 
 
 L'Aretino, 78. 
 
 Armagnac, i, 27, 43, 44. 
 
 Aragon, king of, 39. 
 
 d'Auvergne, Martial, 10. 
 
 Avignon, 11 -16, 20, 22, 64, 69, 71, 78. 
 
 Barneville, 43. 
 
 Baye, Nicolas de, 27. 
 
 Beaumoulin, Charles de, 6. 
 
 Beauvais, 42. 
 
 Benedict XIII, 12, 14, 64, 71. 
 
 Berguire, 45, 75, 79- 
 
 Berry, duke of, 11, 15-20, 26-27, 74. 
 
 Berry, Mme. de, 18. 
 
 Boccacio, 76. 
 
 Boethius, 33, 70. 
 
 Boisratier, Guillaume de, 40. 
 
 Boucicaut, 58. 
 
 Bourges, archbishop of, 28, z^, 37, 38, 
 
 39, 40, 41- 
 Braquemont, seigneur de, 27, Z9- 
 Brittany, duke of, 29, 31-34. 
 Bruni, Leonardo, 65. 
 Burbon, duke of, 58. 
 Burgundians, i, 3. 
 Burgundy, duke of, 11, 13, 18, 20, 21, 
 
 26-28, 43-44, 55, 74- 
 Bus, Gervais du, 10. 
 Calais, 20, 22, 38. 
 Canterbury, archbishop of, ^6, 2)7, 39, 
 
 40. 
 Catherine of France, 28, 35, 37-38, 40. 
 Cato, 33, 72, 7^' 
 Celestins, 5 ; prior of, 42. 
 Chacerat, Jean, 5. 
 Chacerat, Marguerite, 3, 5, 6. 
 Chalons, 13. 
 Charles V, 9, 23, 64, 74. 
 Charles VI, i, 3, 9, 11, 18, 21, 22, 28, 35. 
 Chartier, Alain, 10, 55, 65-67. 
 Chester, bishop of, z^. 
 Clamanges, Nicolas de, i, 5, 60, 61, 6z, 
 
 64, 66, 69, 70-72, 78, 80. 
 Cicero, 59. 
 Clement VII, 11. 
 Cloche, Jehan de la, 25, 
 Col, Catherine, 4, 6. 
 Col, Isabeau, 6. 
 
 Col, Gautier or Walter, 4. 
 
 Col, John, 4. 
 
 Col, Nicolas, 4, 6. 
 
 Col, Pierre, 6. 
 
 Col, Pierre (Canon), 5, 47, 49, 50, 52, 
 72. 
 
 Col, Simon, 4. 
 
 Columbus, Christopher, 73, 78. 
 
 Confrerie, of the notaries and secre- 
 taries of the king, 8, 9, 10. 
 
 Cornwall (Cornouaille), bishop of, 31. 
 
 Cour Amoureuse, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58. 
 
 Courtecuisse, Jean, 77. ' 
 
 Crecy, 24. 
 
 Dauphin, 43. 
 
 Deschamps, Gilles, 13. 
 
 Dijon, 13. 
 
 Dorset (d'Orsete), le Comte, 36, 37. 
 
 Durham (Duresme), bishop of, 36, 37, 
 38, 39. 
 
 Dyne, 6. 
 
 Filelfo, 65. 
 
 Florence, 16, 21, 78. 
 
 Franc-Gontier, 66, 67, 68. 
 
 Fusaris, J., 41, 42. 
 
 Gerson, Jean, 49, 50, 52, 55, 72, 77, 78. 
 
 Gregory XI, i, 11. 
 
 Guillaume le Compasseur, 6. 
 
 Hauvette, H., 76. 
 
 Henry V, 28, 29, 37, 40, 42, 43. 
 
 Horace, 33, 70, 72. 
 
 Hovenden (Houemden), Comte de, 36. 
 
 Isabeau de Baviere, 49, 53, 55. 
 
 Isabella of France, 20-23. 
 
 d'lvry, baron, 39. 
 
 Jacquerie, 24. 
 
 Jacques Bonhome, 24. 
 
 Jean le Bon, 8, 45, 79. 
 
 Jean le Fevre, 10. 
 
 Fillastre, Guillaume, 76. 
 
 Jeanne of Navarre, 29, 31, 32, 33. 
 
 Joecte, arcediacre de, 31. 
 
 Langley, bishop, 28. 
 
 Leicester, 28. 
 
 Leulingham, 23. 
 
 Lisieux, bishop of, 39. 
 
 London, 28. 
 
 Lycurgus, 75, 76. 
 
 Lyons, 13, 68, 73. 
 
 Machaut, 4. 
 
 Manhac, Pierre, 10, 67, 69. 
 
 Marche, Comte de, 36. 
 
 Mareschal, le comte, 36. 
 
103 
 
 Marguerite de Navarre, 73. 
 
 Matheolus, 10. 
 
 Mauleon, arcediacre de, 31. 
 
 Meung, Jehan de, 32, 47-52, 72. 
 
 Milan, duke of, 21. 
 
 Miliis, Ambrosius de, 58-66, 68, 72, 77. 
 
 Monstereul, Jehan de, i, 3, 5, 10, 44, 47, 
 
 53-55, 59-65, 67-70, 73, 75, 77-8o. 
 Montargis, 33. 
 Niccoli, Niccolo, 65, 78. 
 Norwich (Norebbich), bishop of, 36, 
 
 37,^ 38, 39, 41, 42. 
 Novion, Jacques de, 77. 
 Noyon, bishop of, 26. 
 Oresme, Nicolas, 46, 74. 
 Orleans, 6. 
 Orleans, Louis of, 11, 16, 17, 55, 59, 60, 
 
 64, 74- 
 Orleans, Charles of, 59. 
 Ovid, 59. 
 Paris, 34. 
 Paron, 5, 6. 
 
 Petrarch, 16, 45, 68, 70, 72, 74, 79. 
 Pleiade, 60, 75. 
 Pliny, 34, 71. 
 
 Pisan, Christine de, 2, 47-53, 55, 77- 
 Poictiers, Dit de, 24. 
 Poggio, 65. 
 
 Premierfait, Laurent de, 75, 76. 
 Rabelais, 53. 
 
 Religieux de St. Denis, 15, 16, 41. 
 Renard le Contrefait, 23. 
 Renes, arcediacre de, 31. 
 Rheims, 77. 
 Richard II, 20, 21, 22. 
 Roman de la Rose, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 
 
 64, 70, 72, 80. 
 
 Ronsard, 68. 
 
 Roy, M., 34. 
 
 Saint-Augustin, 50. 
 
 Saint-Jean-Porte-Latine, 8. 
 
 Saint, 19. 
 
 Saint- Valentin, 56. 
 
 Sainte Colombe, 6, 19. 
 
 Sainte Catherine, 56. 
 
 Sainte More, Chrestien Legouis de, 74. 
 
 Sallust, 34, 70. 
 
 Salutato, Coluccio, i, 75, 78. 
 
 Sceve, Maurice, 68. 
 
 Seine, 7. 
 
 Seneca, 60; Anneus, 70. 
 
 Sens, 2, 5, 6, 7, 26, 81. 
 
 Serinvilliers, Casin de, 25. 
 
 Sigismund, 42, 43. 
 
 Spifame, Jean, 46. 
 
 du Souch, seigneur, 36. 
 
 Terence, 33, 67, 70, 72. 
 
 Thomas, A., 44, 58, 59. 
 
 Tignonville, 26, 49, 55. 
 
 Urban II, i. 
 
 Urban V, 13. 
 
 Vannes, arcediacre de, 31. 
 
 Vaucluse, 45, 79. 
 
 Vendosme, 36. 
 
 Venice, RepubHc of, i. 
 
 Vergil, 34, 46, 59, 68, 70, 71. 
 
 Visconti, Valentine, 17. 
 
 Vitry, Philippe de, 45, 66, 73, 74. 
 
 Winchester (Vincestre), bishop of, 38. 
 
 Yonne, 2. 
 
 York (d'Yorc), duke of, 36, 39. 
 
 d'Yvry, Mons., 36. 
 
 Winchester Week, 34. 
 
 Addenda: 
 
 3runot,^.74,7G. 
 
 IIauvette^/r.76, 
 
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