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Music and ceremonial in the Low Countries: Philip the Fair and the Order of the Golden Fleece*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2008

William F. Prizer
William F. Prizer
Affiliation:
University of California at Santa Barbara
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Extract

The Order of the Golden Fleece, a chivalric order that flourished in Burgundy and the Low Countries from 1431 to 1559, has attracted the attention of historians of politics, culture and art since the nineteenth century, but it has been little explored by music historians, who have contented themselves with a mention of the order's existence and with descriptions of one of its more famous, but less characteristic, events: the Feast of the Oath of the Pheasant. Nevertheless, the order had a strong influence on sacred music during the period of its greatest activity, requiring polyphonic music for many of its functions and perhaps commissioning works by such composers as Josquin Desprez and Alexander Agricola. This influence is intimately tied to the structure of the Order of the Golden Fleece and to the desire of the successive sovereigns for ostentatious display when the group met.

Type
Research Article
Information
Early Music History , Volume 5 , October 1985 , pp. 113 - 153
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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References

1 The three contemporary accounts of this banquet are published in Beaucourt, G. du Fresne de, ed., Chronique de Mathieu d'Escouchy (Paris, 1864), ii, pp. 116–237.Google Scholar See also Marix, J., Histoire de la musique et des musiciens de la cour de Bourgogne sous le règne de Philippe le Bon (1420–1467) (Strasbourg, 1939, repr. Baden-Baden, 1974), pp. 37–43Google Scholar, and Fallows, D., ‘Specific Information on the Ensembles for Composed Polyphony, 1400–1474’, Studies in the Performance of Late Mediaeval Music, ed. Boorman, S. (Cambridge, 1983), pp. 134–6.Google Scholar The most complete discussion of the order and music to date is Marix, , Histoire de la musique, pp. 32–7.Google Scholar

2 In this article I examine the order in detail only under Philip the Fair. I plan, however, a study of the celebrations of the order under its five other sovereigns: Philip the Good, Charles the Bold, Maximilian I, Charles v and Philip ii.

3 On the symbols of the order, see Doutrepont, G., ‘Jason et Gédéon, patrons de la Toison d'Or’, in Mélanges Godefroid Kurth, Bibliothéque de la Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres de l'Université de Liège 2 (Liège, 1908), ii, pp. 191–208.Google Scholar For further on the significance of these fleeces, see below, p. 131.

4 ‘Pour la tres grande et parfaite amour que avons du noble estat et ordre de chevalerie,… nous, a la gloire et loenge du tout puissant notre Creatur et Redempteur, en revereance de sa glorieuse Vierge Mere at a l'onneur de monsiegneur Saint-Andrieu glorieux apostre et martir, a l'exaltacion de la foy et Sainte Eglise et excitacion de vertus et de bonnes meurs’. H-KB, MS 76. e.12, fol. [4r]. This is one of a number of copies of the statutes of the order

that were given to each new member. I have adopted this one, the original portion of which was copied around 1470 and which also includes an armorial of the chevaliers. There is also a published facsimile of a copy of the statutes in the Österreiche National bibliothek, ed. H. Gerstinger, Le livre des ordonnances de l'Ordre de la Toison d'Or (also published as Das Statutenbuch des Ordens vom Goldenen Vlies), 2 vols. (Vienna, 1934).Google Scholar The following abbreviations are used for libraries and archives throughout this study:

B-AGR: Brussels, Archives Générates du Royaume

B-BR: Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale

D-CO: Dijon, Archives Départementales du Côte-d'Or

H-KB: The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek

L-AN: Lille, Archives Départementales du Nord

5 On the officers and their duties, see Koller, F., Au service de la Toison d'or (Les officiers) (Dison, 1971).Google Scholar

6 The meetings were moved ‘au second jour de may pour cause de ce que ledit jour Saint Andrieu est ainsi que du fort de l'hyver et y fait communement grans froidures, negez et gellez, parquoy les enchiens chevaliers dudit ordre ne pouvoient bonnement aller a ladite feste’. Archives of the Order of the Golden Fleece, Register 1; quoted from Chevalier F. J. de Bors d'Overen, ‘Histoire chronologique de l'ordre de la Toison d'or’, i (B-BR, MS 20851, fol. 78v). I have made use of this copy instead of the original because the archives of the order, now in Vienna, are not open to scholars.

7 D-CO, G. 1128, pièce 1: ‘Dijon, Chapitre de la Sainte-Chapelle. Ordre de la Toison d'Or, 1431–1531’. Proclamation of Philip the Good making the Ste Chapelle the official chapel of the Golden Fleece, January 1432 (n.s.), partly published in Marix, , Histoire de la musique, p. 33Google Scholar, and in Quarré, P., La Sainte-Chapelle de Dijon (Dijon, 1962), p. 26.Google Scholar Neither author includes, however, the list of masses that were to be celebrated. I shall discuss the musical ramifications of these masses in a later study.

8 D-CO, Liasse b. 11628 (14 February 1425 [n.s.]). Partly published in Marix, , Histoire de la musique, pp. 162–3.Google Scholar

9 The documents detailing this copying are included in D-CO, g. 1520, ‘Fabrique de la Sainte-Chapelle’ for 1436 (n.s.), and are partly published in Marix, , Histoire de la musique, p. 34.Google Scholar It may be that the lost Mass of the Golden Fleece composed by John Hothby was also intended for the Ste Chapelle. On this Mass, see Johannis Octobi tres tractatuli contra Bartholomeum Ramum, ed. Seay, A., Corpus Scriptorum de Musica 10 (n.p., 1964), p. 75Google Scholar, and Strohm, R., ‘European Politics and the Distribution of Music in the Early Fifteenth Century’, Early Music History, 1 (1981), pp. 321–2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

10 A copy of a letter of 14 October 1557 from Philip ii to the dean and canons of the Ste Chapelle informing them that he is sending money for the choir is included in de Bors d'Overen, ‘Histoire chronologique de l'ordre de la Toison d'or’, ii (B-BR, MS 20852, fols. 161r–162r). See Quarré, , La Sainte-Chapelle, pp. 25–6Google Scholar, for a notice concerning Charles v as well as for the celebration of 1626.

11 de Reiffenberg, Baron F. A. F. T., Histoire de l'ordre de la Toison d'Or (Brussels, 1830), p. 96.Google Scholar This work, in large part a condensation of registers now in the archives of the order in Vienna, remains the most complete treatment of the order.

12 de Turck, E.J., ‘Inventaire des archives de l'ordre de la Toison d'or’, ii, pp. 12–14Google Scholar (B-BR, MS 20830). This is a copy, written 1759–60, of material from the archives of the order of the Golden Fleece.

13 Ibid., pp. 93 and 96. The 1503 meeting finally took place on 8 January 1504 (n.s.).

14 ‘Le lundi [29 novembre], alla a Estampes, ou il sejourna le jour sequent, pour l'honeur de la feste de Sainct-Andrieu.’ Quoted from Gachard, M., Collection des voyages des souverains des Pays-Bas, i: Itinéraires de Philippe le Hardi, Jean sans Peur, Philippe le Bon, Maximilien et Philippe le Beau (Brussels, 1876), p. 134.Google Scholar

15 Throughout this study, I use the term ‘meeting’ to describe the official gatherings of the order and reserve the frequently seen term ‘chapter’ to indicate the actual secret conclaves held during the meeting.

16 These instructions are all included in H-KB, MS 76. E. 12, Items 25–8. This manuscript, however, shows the more primitive statutes in that the chevaliers are allowed to wear any robe to the Marian Mass. These were changed to white by Charles the Bold. Olivier de la Marche, ‘Espitre pour tenir et celebrer la noble feste du Thoison d'Or’, written in late 1500 or early 1501, errs in stating that the order celebrated no Marian services under Philip the Good and that these were added by Charles the Bold. The overwhelming evidence of the chronicles and documents of the order is that at least the Marian Mass was celebrated. At the first meeting in 1431 le Fèvre reports a Marian Mass (Morand, F., ed., Chronique de Jean le Frvre, seigneur de Saint-Rémy (Paris, 1876), ii, p. 209)Google Scholar; and d'Escouchy, , Chronique, i, p. 355Google Scholar, reports the same for that of 1451. For de la Marche's statement, see Beaune, H. and d'Arbaumont, J., eds., Mémories d'Olivier de la Marche, iv (Paris, 1888), p. 167.Google Scholar

17 Reiffenberg, , Histoire de l'ordre, p. 75.Google Scholar It is also possible that a Marian Vespers had been added by the time of the meeting of 1461 in St Omer. In 1458 Philip the Good received a special Marian Office intended for the meetings of the order. See below, pp. 129–31, for this office and its musical ramifications. de la Marche, Olivier, ‘Espitre’, p. 167Google Scholar, states that the two Vespers were added by Charles the Bold. It is difficult to place complete credence in this description, however, since de la Marche seems confused about the services in general: not only does he state that no Marian Mass was celebrated by Philip (see n. 16), but he also reverses the order of the last two sets of services, placing the Vespers and Mass of the Holy Ghost before those of the Virgin.

18 Marix, , Histoire de la musique, p. 34.Google Scholar

19 See, for example, B-AGR, Chambre des Comptes, Registre no. 1923 (‘Compte de G. de Rupple, Argentier du due de Bourgogne, 1468’), fol. 22v: ‘Item. Pour avoir fait mener et ramenez lesdites coffres [de la chapelle] a la feste de la Thoison d'or …’.

20 B-BR, MS ii. 5799, fol. 39r-v

21 Ibid., fols. 39v–44v.

22 Ibid., fol. 43r-v.

23 B-BR, MS ii. 6287, fol. 40: ‘et ne fust point fiat les sollempnitez acoustumées a cause de son hatis partement pour aller en Espaigne’.

24 De Turck, , ‘Inventaire des archives de l'ordre de la Toison d'or’, i, pp. 327–43Google Scholar (B-BR, MS 20829). The Chroniques de Jean Molinet, ed. Doutrepont, G. and Jodogne, O., ii (Brussels, 1936), pp. 222–30Google Scholar, describes the same meeting, although with less detail concerning the services.

25 De la Marche, , ‘Mémorial de la fête de la Toison d'Or tenue à Bois-le-Duc en 1481’, Mémoires, iv, pp. 146–7.Google Scholar

26 L-AN, B. 2151; published in van Doorslaer, G., ‘La chapelle musicale de Philippe le Beau’, Revue Beige d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'Art, 4 (1934), pp. 42–3.Google Scholar

27 All three names are included in a list of 1483 (L-AN, B. 3446, pièce 119897).

28 B-AGR, Papiers d'Etat et de l'Audience, no. 12, pièce 284. None of the three singers listed above as having been in the chapel in 1483 and 1495 is listed here, so the total number may have been eighteen rather than fifteen.

29 The ‘Espitre’is included in the Mémoires of de la Marche, IV, pp. 158–89.Google Scholar For the date of the ‘Espitre’, see Ibid., pp. cxxii–cxxiv.

30 The church of Notre Dame des Carmes, no longer standing, was at the corner of rue Neuve and rue du Chêne. See Henne, A. and Wauters, A., Histoire de la ville de Bruxelles, 2nd edn, ed. Martens, M. (Brussels, 1975), iii, pp. 193–202Google Scholar, for a description of the church and its building history. The order had already met at Ste Gudule in 1435 under Philip the Good. The choice of churches is included in de Turck, , ‘Inventaire’, ii, p. 20Google Scholar (B-BR, MS 20830). In spite of this decision, the order again used Ste Gudule in 1517 (n.s.) at the first meeting presided over by Charles v.

31 Chroniques de jean Molinet, II, pp. 479–82.Google Scholar Molinet follows the basic pattern seen also in other chroniclers of Burgundy and the Low Countries, describing in detail the first meeting of the order that he witnesses and giving only a brief description of later meetings. See also de Turck, , ‘Inventaire’, ii, pp. 32–53Google Scholar; and Reiffenberg, , Histoire de l'ordre, pp. 232–49.Google Scholar

32 Frigio's letter is found in Mantua, Archivio di Stato, Archivio Gonzaga, Autograft Volta, Busta 1, no. 114. It is dated 24 January 1501.

33 ‘Les dames qui seront sur le hourt regardant la feste’. De la Marche, , ‘Espitre’, pp. 175–7 and 182–3.Google Scholar

34 De la Marche, , ‘Espitre’, p. 177Google Scholar, also indicates that the chapel should be present: ‘Et ainsi pour ce premier jour vous aurez xxiiii ou xxv platz de viande, sans y comprendre le service des heraulx et les chantres qui doivent estre delivrez en viandes crues.’ See also Marix, , Histoire de la musique, p. 33Google Scholar, for this passage and the meaning of the word ‘crues’.

35 B-AGR, Papiers d'État et de l'Audience, no. 13, piéce 336.

36 Agricola is first included in the payment registers in a marginal addition to B-AGR, Papiers d'État et de l'Audience, no. 22, fol. 103v, where he is listed as receiving 12 solz a day, the wages of a chaplain. E. Lerner, in his article on Agricola, in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Sadie, S., 20 vols. (London, 1980), i, p. 162Google Scholar, states that Agricola had already been added to the chapel in February 1500. This may result from a misunderstanding of B-AGR, no. 22, the body of which was in fact copied on 1 February 1500 (n.s.), but in which the addition concerning Agricola is dated 6 August.

37 Philip hired Bredemers officially on 15 January 1501 (B-AGR, Papiers d'État et de l'Audience, no. 22, fol. 103r). He was undoubtedly the ‘organiste d'Anvers’ who, along with Claes van Liere. already a member of the chapel, was requested to come to ‘servir a la feste de Toison d'Or’ on 12 January 1501. See Van Doorslaer, , ‘La chapelle musicale’, p. 40.Google Scholar For further on Bredemers, see idem, ‘Herry Bredemers, organiste et maître de musique, 1472–1522’, Annates de l'Académie Royale d'Archéologie de Belgique, 76 (1914), pp. 209–56.

38 L-AN, b. 3495, pièce 121041.

39 L-AN, b. 2152, pièce 70529. This particular escroe, drafted in Bruges on Good Friday 1501 (n.s), is horribly water-stained and faded towards the bottom. As far as can be discerned, however, at least the chapelains (those paid 12 solz in the above list) are the same as those on 13 July 1500, with the exception of the additions of Agricola and Bredemers, both mentioned above, and the lack of van Gheldrop's name.

40 ‘Lesdites chappellains … seront tenuz de en tout honneur et reverance faire le service divin, chanter messe, vespres et complies, chacun jour, a heure devé et au lieu ou Monditseigneur sera … et en chantant l'introyte de la messe, les kyries, gloria, l'euvvengille, le credo, sanctus, pater noster, l'agnus dei et semblement l'introyte des vespres et complyes, aux capitaulx, magnificat et nunc dimittis’ (B-AGR, Papiers d'État et de l'Audience, no. 22, fol. 104r). This listing is not without problems. It seems strange that the chapel should sing the gospel, although there are some gospel motets by Josquin and others. This may be intended in the same sense that Charles the Bold's ordinance of 1469 included the gospel: that priests from the chapel take turns reading it. See Fallows, , ‘Specific Information’, p. 148Google Scholar, where the relevant section from the 1469 ordinance is published. There is, moreover, no introit to vespers or compline; the scribe must have misappropriated the word, intending to signify the first antiphon of vespers and compline and that which ‘introduces’ the chapter at vespers and, perhaps, the responsory at the chapter during compline. I am grateful to Alejandro Enrique Planchart for this interpretation. The entire passage from the ordinance of 1500 is published in Van Doorslaer, , ‘La chapelle musicale’, p. 45Google Scholar, though with slightly different spellings.

41 On the date of B-BR, MS 9126, see Kellman, H., ‘Josquin and the Courts of Netherlands and France: the Evidence of the Sources’, in Josquin des Prez: Proceedings of the International Josquin Festival-Conference, New York, 21–25 June 1971, ed. Lowinsky, E. E. (London, 1976), p. 210Google Scholar, and Hamm, C., ed., Census-catalogue of Manuscript Sources of Polyphonic Music 1400–1550, i, Renaissance Manuscript Studies 1/i (Neuhausen-Stuttgart, 1979), p. 94.Google Scholar On the contents of the MS see Van den Borren, C., ‘Inventaire des manuscrits de musique polyphonique qui se trouvent en Belgique’, Acta Musicologica, 5 (1933), pp. 70–1.Google Scholar

42 On the Chigi Codex, see Kellman, H., ‘The Origins of the Chigi Codex: the Date, Provenance, and Original Ownership of Rome, Biblioteca Vaticana, Chigiana, C. VIII. 234’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 11 (1958), pp. 6–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and idem, ‘Josquin and the Courts of the Netherlands and France’, p. 210.

43 On the text of the L'homme armé tune, see Reese, G., Music in the Renaissance, revised edn (New York, 1959), p. 73Google Scholar, and Cohen, J., The Six Anonymous L'Homme Armé Masses in Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale, MS V1 E 40, Musicological Studies and Documents 21 (n.p., 1968), pp. 19–20.Google Scholar See also Perkins, L. and Garey, H., The Mellon Chansonnier (New Haven and London, 1979), ii, pp. 333–4.Google Scholar I plan to develop the idea that the L'homme armé masses may have been associated with the Order of the Golden Fleece in a future study on the order at the time of Charles the Bold.

44 Bologna, Civico Museo Bibliografico Musicale, MS Q 19, fols. 4v–5. Nobis Sancti Spiritus is described as a late work in Lerner, , ‘Agricola’, The New Grove Dictionary, i, p. 162.Google Scholar Although Q 19 is an Italian manuscript, its function as a compilation of northern repertory is well known. See Lockwood, L., ‘Jean Mouton and Jean Michel: New Evidence on French Music and Musicians in Italy, 1505–1520’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 32 (1979), pp. 234–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and the literature cited there, as well as Hamm, C., ed., Census-catalogue, i, pp. 73–4.Google Scholar

45 B-BR, MS 9848, fol. 33r, ‘De Sancto Spiritu’.

46 ‘“Ut Phoebi radiis”: the Riddle of the Text Resolved’, Josquin des Prez, ed. Lowinsky, , pp. 560–3.Google Scholar I am indebted to Professor Lewis Lockwood for calling Josquin's motet to my attention.

47 Prima pars

Ut Phoebi radiis soror obvia sidera luna,

Ut regis Salomon sapientis nomine cunctos,

Ut remi pontum quaerentum velleris aurum,

Ut remi faber instar habens super aera pennas,

Ut remi fas solvaces traducere merces,

Ut remi fas sola Petri currere prora,

Sic super omne quod est regnas, o Virgo Maria.

Secunda pars

Latius in numerum canit id quoque coelica turba,

Lasso lege ferens aeterna munera mundo

La sol fa ta mi na clara praelustris in umbra,

La sol fa mi ta na de matre recentior ortus,

La sol fa mi re ta quidem na non violata,

La sol fa mi re ut rore ta na Gedeon quo,

Rex o Christe Jesu, nostri Deus alte memento.

The translation is from Callahan, op. cit., pp. 560–1; the italics, however, are mine. As Callahan points out (p. 563), the solmisation syllables in the secunda pars are reversed in Josquin's motet, and the meaning is not clarified until they are read backwards, the initial ‘La’ always being held over to the next line. Thus lines 5 and 6 of the secunda pars read ‘A lana te rima flos quidem non violata,/ A lana te rima flos ut rore Gedeon quo’.

48 B-BR, MSS 9027 and 9028; published, Paris, 1517. Although Fillastre announces in this work that he will explain all six fleeces, he actually includes only the first three. See Doutrepont, , ‘Jason et Gédéon’, pp. 204–5.Google Scholar

49 ‘Copie autentique de l'office de la Sainte-Vierge dressé pour les fêtes de l'ordre, dirigé sur le symbole de la Toison de Gédéon, examiné et approuvé par Guillaume, Evêque de Toule, et par l'Université de Louvain et presenté en 1458 à Philippe le Bon.’ De Turck, , ‘Inventaire’, iii (B-BR, MS 20831), pp. 8–9.Google Scholar Dr Richard Vaughan, one of the last scholars to study the material in the archives of the Golden Fleece, informs me that he did not see this office. Neither is it mentioned in the modern inventory of the archive, Ruwet, J., Les archives et bibliothèques de Vienne et l'histoire de Belgique (Brussels, 1956), pp. 765–99.Google Scholar

50 Osthoff, H., Josquin Desprez, 2 vols. (Tutzing, 1962–1965), ii, pp. 79–80.Google Scholar

51 On Josquin in Milan and his absences from the payment registers, see Sartori, C., ‘Josquin des Pres cantore del duomo di Milano’, Annates Musicologiques, 4 (1956), pp. 55–83.Google Scholar

52 The 1461 meeting is described in the ‘Cartulaires de Saint-Bertin’, published in Reiffenberg, , Histoire de l'ordre, p. 43.Google Scholar

53 The meeting at 's-Hertogenbosch, held under Maximilian, began on 6 May 1481 and was not followed by another meeting until 1491 in Mechelen. It is described in de la Marche, , Mémoires, iv, pp. 146–52Google Scholar, and in the Chroniques de jean Molinet, I, pp. 360–6.Google Scholar

54 Lowinsky, E. E., ‘Ascanio Sforza's Life: a Key to Josquin's Biography and an Aid to the Chronology of his Works’, Josquin des Prez, ed. Lowinsky, , pp. 31–75, esp. pp. 50–60Google Scholar, and Lockwood, L., ‘Aspects of the “L'homme armé” Tradition’, Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, 100 (1974), pp. 97–122, esp. p. 112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

55 De' Cavalieri's letter is published in Osthoff, , Josquin Desprez, i, p. 51.Google Scholar It is translated in Stevenson, R., ‘Josquin in the Music of Spain and Portugal’, Josquin des Prez, ed. Lowinsky, , p. 217.Google Scholar See also L. Lockwood, ‘Josquin at Ferrara: New Documents and Letters’, Ibid., pp. 109–10 and 122.

56 What follows is based principally on Wright, C., ‘Dufay at Cambrai: Discoveries and Revisions’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 28 (1975), pp. 175–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

57 Dufay's testament is published in Houdoy, J., Histoire artistique de la Cathédrale de Cambrai, Mémoires de la Société des Sciences de l'Agriculture et des Arts de Lille, ser. iv, 7 (1880), pp. 409–15.Google Scholar The sections concerning the Requiem are found on pp. 411–12.

58 On the funeral service for Dufay, see Wright, , ‘Guillaume Dufay’, pp. 219–20.Google Scholar

59 Ockeghem was in Cambrai in 1462 and again in 1464, when he stayed at Dufay's house. Wright, , ‘Guillaume Dufay’, p. 208.Google Scholar For the possibility that Dufay's Ecce ancilla Mass was influenced by Ockeghem, see Planchart, A. E., ‘Guillaume Dufay's Masses: a View of the Manuscript Traditions’, in Papers Read at the Dufay Quincentenary Conference, ed. Atlas, A. W. (Brooklyn, 1976), pp. 43–4.Google Scholar

60 On 8 January 1515, the chapter at Cambrai ordered that a motet of Dufay be sung for Epiphany. Wright, , ‘Guillaume Dufay’, p. 220.Google Scholar

61 Wright, , ‘Performance Practices at the Cathedral of Cambrai. 1475–1550’, The Musical Quarterly, 64 (1978), p. 303.Google Scholar

62 For the copying of the Requiem by Mellet, see Fallows, D., Dufay (London, 1982), p. 78.Google Scholar

63 Wright, , ‘Guillaume Dufay, pp. 217–18.Google Scholar

64 ‘Charles Due de Bourgogne … luy estant party de Cambray le dernier jour d'avril 1473 pour s'acheminer en icelle ville [de Valenciennes]’. De Bors d'Overen, ‘Histoire chronologique de l'ordre de la Toison d'or’, i (B-BR, MS 20851, fol. 165r). This should be added to the list of occasions on which Charles was in Cambrai and may have seen Dufay in Wright, , ‘Guillaume Dufay’, p. 209.Google Scholar

65 All accents and punctuation have been added and all abbreviations realised by the author to this and all documents quoted in this study. I should like to thank Signorina Anna Maria Lorenzoni of the Archivio di Stato of Mantua for checking my transcription of this letter. I should also like to thank Father T. Frank Kennedy, S J., of the College of the Holy Cross, for reading my translation and for clarifying several liturgical questions.

66 Letter torn.

67 ‘Grande’ cancelled in original letter.

68 The phrase ‘Quetavos de la’ seems to be a garbled translation by Frigio, perhaps of French. Its significance may be ‘Quietatevi, abbiate pace nell'aldilà’.

69 Actually the dauphin, later Charles vii.

70 One of the symbols of the order and of Burgundy itself was the fire steel, a metal that throws off sparks when struck against a flint. This was in the form of the letter B for Burgundy.

71 Frigio is confused here. Following the Treaty of Troyes in May 1420, Henry v served as regent of France until his death in 1422. After Philip the Good declined the office, Henry was succeeded by his brother John, Duke of Bedford. Philip was regent briefly from 1429. See Seward, D., The Hundred Years War: the English in France, 1337–1453 (New York, 1978), pp. 182–90 and 219.Google Scholar

72 Frigio errs here. Henry v was not captured by Philip, nor did he die in prison.

73 These chairs were intended for Ferdinand the Catholic of Spain (1452–1516) and for Henry vii of England (1457-–1509), both members of the order. Neither was present at the 1501 meeting.

74 A ‘sedile a zelosia’ was a chair with a hanging in front that permitted the occupant to see out without being seen.

75 That is, narwahl horns.

76 The patart was a coin of little value, worth approximately the same as the sol tournois. See Cotgrave, R., A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues (London, 1611, repr. Columbia, South Carolina, 1950)Google Scholar, s.v. ‘patart’.

77 Adolphe de Clèves and Louis de Bruges had been accused of disloyalty to Maximilian I, then sovereign of the order. Their case had been under discussion since 1490. See Reiffenberg, , Histoire de l'ordre, pp. 180–6.Google Scholar

78 Frigio must be confused here. According to the statutes, the chevaliers were to wear white robes to this service and red robes to the services of the Holy Ghost, not vice versa.

79 These were the registers containing the noble deeds and faults of the chevaliers, which were used in the examination of each chevalier's behaviour during the chapter.

80 There is a problem concerning the number of new members elected at this meeting. According to La Toison d'Or: cinq siècles d'art et d'histoire, Catalogue of an Exhibition held at Bruges (Tielt, 1962), p. 38Google Scholar, there were only eight new members named at this meeting: Philip's son Charles; Wolfgang, Lord of Polheim; Eitelfried ii, Count of Zollern; Corneille de Berghes, Lord of Zevenberghe; Philip, Bastard of Burgundy and Bishop of Utrecht; Michel de Croy, Lord of Sempy; Jean de Luxembourg, Lord of Ville; and Philibert ii of Savoy. According to Reiffenberg, , Histoire de l'ordre, pp. 245–6Google Scholar, Henry, Prince of Gaul and the future Henry viii of England, was also elected. The Bruges catalogue lists Henry as the first member elected at the 1505 meeting in Middelbourg. Both Reiffenberg and Frigio agree that three additional places were reserved for chevaliers to be named by Philip in Spain. Neither here nor in 1505 did Philip name any Spanish members.

81 Presumably the traditional Marian Vespers, sung on Saturdays.