rhyssain – Page 10 – French Travel Boutique

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François I’s Bed

François made considerable changes to the Loire Valley royal residences in Amboise and Blois. He built a magnificent new hunting chateau at Chambord where he set up the arrangement of an “apartment”, a series of rooms, the “chambre” or bedroom being the main feature. This was to become the standard layout in royal residences. Chambord was not designed to be a permanent residence and François stayed there with the court for a total of seven weeks during his reign. The furniture was transported for each visit and the chateau remained unfurnished in between. Celebrated interior designer Jacques Garcia drew up the plans for a new presentation of François’ chateau to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci in 2019. The original “lit à la francaise”, a style from a later period, has been replaced by a more accurate reconstruction. The room also contains a camp bed, most likely used for a manservant during the night as well as a bed used for travelling. The King and his court were always on the road, so beds were transported from place to place. The travel bed in François’ bed chamber at Chambord did not belong to him but is a rare original from the same period.

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Marguerite

Duchesse d’Etampes’ bedroom at Fontainebleau

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The Mistress’ Bedroom

Anne was from a noble family but had been one of over 30 children her father had with 3 wives. She was very intelligent and it is claimed that the family had been pragmatic enough to invest in her future as a potential royal mistress, knowing there was no money for the dowry normally required for a regular noble marriage. François’ mother Louise did not like his long term mistress Françoise de Châteaubriant. She deliberately did not include her in the group of young women she had accompany her to meet François when he returned from captivity in Spain. Anne de Pisselieu had been part of her group and if François fell for her that would be no problem at all. Françoise de Châteaubriant was not prepared to walk away. At 31 she was facing a determined, much younger woman who knew exactly what she wanted. Anne won the day. François made her the Duchesse d’Etampes and their affair lasted until François’ death 21 years later. Not surprisingly, the Duchesse d’Etampes’ bedroom at Fontainebleau was situated close to François’. The Chateau of Fontainebleau became François’ favourite residence after he almost completely rebuilt it. It was the custom for the King to visit the mistress in her bed chamber, never the other way around. https://youtu.be/HgaIKfMtZBc The room was decorated by Primaticcio with large statues and frescoes representing the love stories of Alexander the Great. Two hundred years later, King Louis XV transformed the bedroom into a staircase. However, a large section of the original décor remains, as incongruous as that may seem to visitors today.

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Duchesse d’Etampes

“The most learned of the beauties and the most beautiful of the learned.”

The “Leonardo da Vinci bed on display at Clos Luce is not the original, but it is from the same era

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Leonardo da Vinci’s Bed

In the first year of his reign François had celebrated his 21st birthday by leading his army to a stunning military victory in Italy in 1515. Shortly after, François met Leonardo da Vinci in Bologna. Previous French kings had called on Leonardo during their Italian campaigns but the dashing young French king had inherited his mother’s passion for art and he clearly appreciated Leonardo’s talents. Leonardo accepted François’ invitation to come to France, arriving a few months later. Leonardo was 64 but looked much older. He was accompanied by a 25 year old named Francesco Melzi who was from a noble family in Milan. Melzi had been Leonardo’s student for ten years. Leonardo brought with him at least three paintings including the Mona Lisa. François gave Leonardo the manor house near his chateau at Amboise (known then as Cloux and now as Clos Lucé). In addition he gave him the official title of “First Painter, Engineer and Architect to the King”. Both Leonardo and Melzi were paid a generous salary by François, who treated Leonardo more as a father figure, making no demands on him. Leonardo died at Cloux three years later. François bought the Mona Lisa from Melzi who was Leonardo’s heir and placed it in his favourite residence at Fontainebleau. It remained there until Louis XIV decided to display it at Versailles. After the French Revolution the Mona Lisa was taken from Versailles and placed at the Louvre where it is currently admired by more than seven million people each year. The 1818 Ingres painting, 300 years after the actual event, depicts François I at Leonardo’s death bed. The King liked to visit Leonardo although the rumour of an underground tunnel linking the Chateau of Amboise to Clos Lucé is unlikely. François was not present when Leonardo died.

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Rigaud d’Aureille

Officers in the royal entourage played an important part in introducing the new style of furnishing. Most of them came from the rich bourgeoisie and their important work for the King opened the possibility of climbing the social ladder. They were usually good business people or valiant military men who wanted to demonstrate their social ascension by building a chateau, along with the most fashionable interior décor. Rigaud d’Aureille (sometimes spelt Rigault d’Oureille or Rigault d’Oreille), baron of Villeveuve, was a perfect example of this new trend. He was the governor and royal officer of Agen and Gascony, serving as Maître d’hôtel, which involved managing the household for four French kings. Three of these – Charles VIII, Louis XII and François I – had a major focus on claims to land in Italy . All three kings were all impressed with the “modern” style they had seen in Italy, and set about introducing these ideas into France in varying degrees. In the late 1400’s Rigaud d’Aureille started building the magnificent Château de Villeneuve-Lembron on his land in central France. He died in 1517, two years after François became king. Rigaud’s son Maximilien inherited the château. On July 15, 1533 François I stayed there on his way to Marseille for the wedding of his son Henri to Catherine de Medici. Visitors to the Château de Villeneuve-Lembron can visit the “François I bedroom” which has been set up to commemorate this event. RIGAUD D’AUREILLE’S BED – THE ORIGINAL! It is surprising to find that Rigaud d’Aureille’s oak bed, along with some other original pieces of his furniture, remained in his Villeneuve-Lembron chateau for centuries. A well known architect/collector who had purchased the bed and other original furniture from the room bequeathed it to the Decorative Arts Museum in 1905. This is one of the very rare surviving examples of a “lit à dais” , the new style for royal and noble residences from the end of the Middle Ages. The “chambre” or bedroom was still a public room at that era, which explains the trestle table set up for dining, although eating in bed was also common. The four poster sculptured bed still has Rigaud d’Aureille’s coat of arms.

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Leonardo da Vinci

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François I’s women

“A COURT WITHOUT WOMEN IS LIKE A GARDEN WITHOUT FLOWERS” François was tall (at 1.98 meters he is the tallest head of state in French history) and considered handsome. His reign started with a famous military victory in Italy, cementing the idea of a virile young King/chevalier. His fifteen year old wife Claude, was the daughter of the previous King Louis XII. It wasn’t a love match but François was very protective of her. Claude knew he wasn’t faithful but she was proud to be married to the dashing young King. He slept with her every night when they were together and his dalliances were relatively discreet to the point that one major biographer denies the beautiful Françoise de Châteaubriant was his long term mistress, as is generally accepted. In the ten years between the marriage and her death at the age of 24, Claude gave birth to seven children. Shortly after Claude died, François lost a battle in Italy and was taken to Spain as a prisoner of his rival Charles V.* Part of the terms of release included François’ marriage to Charles V’s sister Eleanor. Eleanor was happy with the deal her brother had made. She would be Queen of France and married to a virile man nearer her own age, unlike her late husband, the middle aged King of Portugal who had already been married to two of Eleanor’s aunts when she married him at 19. When she arrived in France, Eleanor was treated with great respect as Queen. However, it was not a question of a romantic relationship. Shortly after his release from Spain, François was a 31 year old widower when he met 18 year old Anne de Pisseleu. The blue-eyed blonde became his mistress. François liked smart women and Anne, who was made the Duchesse d’Etampes, was described as “the most learned of the beauties and the most beautiful of the learned.” *Charles V was the Holy Roman Emperor. His territories surrounded France. He was head of the House of Habsburg (over the Netherlands and Austria) as well as King of Spain, making him king of the Spanish territories in southern Italy. His most fierce dispute with François was over Burgundy (Charles grandmother was Mary of Burgundy).

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The Valois Kings

KINGS OF FRANCE 1000 – 1500 The history of the Kings of France starts in 987 when Hugh Capet, the Count of Paris wasvoted in as the King of the Franks. He wanted to found a dynasty and had his son Robertcrowned as well to promote the automatic accession to the throne. The Capetian Kings ruled France from that date until the French Revolution in 1789. The accession to the throne went directly from father to son until 1316. Philippe IV wassurvived by three sones. The eldest, who became King Louis X died that year at the age of26. His second wife was pregnant and she gave birth to a son five months after his death.The child was officially King of France from his birth but he died four days later. Louis Xwas also survived by a daughter. Louis’ brother Philippe managed to manoeuvre thesituation so that he, not his niece, inherited the French throne. As it turned out, Philippe V was survived by only daughters. Having established theprecedent of male only accession, his younger brother succeeded him as Charles IV. Likehis two elder brothers, Charles IV died without a male heir. The three brothers had a sisterIsabella who had married the King of England. Her son Edward III of England claimed theFrench throne which would lead to the Hundred Years War. Next in line through the male only inheritance rule now enshrined in French Law was the sonof Charles de Valois, Philip IV’s brother. His son became the first of the Valois branch of theCapetians under the name Philippe VI in 1328. Once again the crown passed from father to son until 1498 when Charles VIII died without amale heir. Next in line to the throne was the Duke of Orleans who became Louis XII. Onceagain he died without a male heir. The new King of France was François of Angoulême. Hisinterests included art and architecture and his legacy is an important factor in the attractionFrance has to tourists from all over the world. It is with him we begin our journey. THE VALOIS KINGS 1515 – 1589 François I Henri II François II Charles IX Henri III

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François I

“Prince of the Renaissance” When François’ was born in 1494, he was the second cousin of the second cousin to the French King — a long way from the throne. However, against the odds, at the age of 20 François became King of France. Most of the millions of visitors to France have no idea the vital role he played in so many sites they visit. François brought the Italian Renaissance to France, assembling a magnificent collection of Italian paintings and statues. His favourite residence was the Chateau of Fontainebleau. Artists such as Primaticcio, Fiorentino and Cellini worked there and sculptures and paintings by artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were displayed (the Mona Lisa was originally in Francois’ bath apartment there). In Paris, François started the rebuilding of the Louvre as the main royal residence as well as building a new Hôtel de Ville.* His interest in architecture resulted in him building or reconstructing seven chateaux in fifteen years. Given this lasting legacy and his contribution to the arts, it is interesting that, like his contemporary Henry VIII of England, most biographers seem to concentrate on François’ love life.