The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria Part 21

On the 22nd of January 1531, a funeral procession, headed by the young Crown Prince of Denmark, as chief mourner, escorted Margaret's body and heart to Bruges. Whilst awaiting translation to its final resting-place at Brou, her body was laid in a vault beneath the high altar in the Convent of the 'Annonciades'; her heart, enclosed in an urn, was placed in the tomb of her mother, Mary of Burgundy, in the church of Notre-Dame, but on the 6th of February following, it was given to the Mere Ancille by the emperor's command to replace her body, which, on April the 21st, 1532, was sent to Brou. This long delay in carrying Margaret to her final resting-place was due to the fact that at the time of her death the church of Brou was not finished, and it was two years before the tombs were completed. But at last in June 1532 Margaret was laid to rest beside Philibert and his mother in the beautiful church which her love and piety had called into being, but whose glories she had not lived to see completed. The funeral ceremonies lasted three days, the 10th, 11th, and 12th of June. Accompanied by the chief men of the town, the Syndic of Bourg went out to meet the funeral _cortege_, which was escorted by the Marshal of Burgundy, the Count of Hochstrate, the Archdeacon of Fauverny, and Claud de Boisset, who was afterwards Bishop of Arras. At the service the sermon was preached by Brother Anthony of Saix, Commander of the Abbey of St. Anthony of Bourg, in French as well as in Latin, so that all might understand. Amongst her many talents he mentioned 'her subtle excellence in painting,' in which pastime he a.s.serted she frequently indulged.

The leaden urn which contained her intestines was placed in a vault in front of the high altar in the church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Malines, but in 1778 the urn was found to be much damaged, and was enclosed in an oaken chest, and reburied under one of the stone slabs in the choir, between the first step of the high altar and the wall, where a small X in the pavement marks the spot.

By her will Margaret dowered fifty maidens of Bresse with fifty pounds apiece, and amongst other legacies bequeathed her wine-gla.s.s incrusted with silver, a silver spoon and silver medal to the 'Annonciades' at Bruges; besides a gilded and illuminated copy of the Gospel of St.

John, and her rosary, which contained ten agates, on the largest of which were engraved the virtues of the Holy Virgin Mary. This relic had been worn by Jeanne de Valois, the unhappy wife of Louis XII. of France, foundress of the Order of the Annunciation. The other stones were interspersed with small beads of gold, a gold heart hanging from the end of the rosary. This gift was accompanied by a portrait of Margaret painted on wood by Bernard van Orley, and two touching letters addressed to the Mere Ancille. The Church of the 'Annonciades'

was demolished in 1578, when the nuns retired to a house called 'Fluweelhof' at Bruges, carrying Margaret's remains with them.

In 1531 the emperor caused an alabaster monument, decorated with gold statuettes, to be erected to Margaret's memory in the church outside the Porte des Anes. But in 1578 it was horribly mutilated by the rebels, and what was left of it was transferred in 1714 to the church of the new Convent at Fluweelhof. A pavement of black and white marble was added, and a figure representing the Annunciation of the Virgin, before whom Margaret was depicted kneeling at her prie-dieu, holding her 'Book of Hours' in her hands, with her patron saint, Margaret, behind her, and her maids of honour by her side, bearing the arms of the empire, Burgundy, Bourbon, and Castile. The debris of the former monument was used to make these figures. In the centre of the niche containing the monument was placed a painted heart in a mirror with this inscription in Flemish:--

'Here lies the n.o.ble heart of the very excellent Archd.u.c.h.ess of Austria, Madame Margaret, daughter of the invincible Emperor Maximilian and of the Lady Mary of Burgundy, his wife, foundress of this Convent of the Annunciation at Bruges, niece of Jeanne, Queen of France, and foundress of the Order of the Annunciation, widow of the Prince of Spain, etc., aunt of his Imperial Majesty Charles V., who gave this heart in the year 1531, the 6th of Feb., in eternal remembrance.'

In the same niche behind the figure of St. Margaret is the inscription which the emperor also caused to be erected at Malines:--

D. O. M.

Ill.u.s.trissimae Margaritae, Archiducissae Austriae, Invictissimi Maximiliani imperatoris natae, Ac principis Hispaniarum primo, Deinde ducis Sabaudiae relictae, Harum inferiorum regionum gubernatrici.

Carolus Quintus, Caesar Augustus, Amitiae posuit.

CHAPTER XV

THE CHURCH OF BROU

The church of Brou, near the town of Bourg en Bresse, was built by Margaret of Austria in the beginning of the sixteenth century, as a monument to her husband, Philibert of Savoy, and in fulfilment of a vow made by Duke Philibert's mother, Margaret of Bourbon, in 1480.

The first stone was laid by Margaret in 1506, and the building finished in 1530; but the work did not really begin until 1513, and the interior decoration was not completed before 1532.

Whilst in Flanders Margaret carefully watched over and superintended the progress of the work, but she did not live to see it finished, and after her death Charles V. took little interest in the completion of the building.

The church was consecrated on the 22nd of March 1532 by Bishop Jean Joly de Fleury and dedicated to Saint Nicolas de Tolentin.

The church of Brou is of the latest, and not the best, period of Gothic architecture, but the genius of Margaret is visible in all its details, harmonising the work, whether Gothic or Renaissance, and creating a building of extraordinary beauty. French, Italian, and German artists helped in building this princely monument, which remains a fitting memorial to one of the most cultivated women of her time.

The plan of the church is very simple. A Latin cross with five naves; the transept and sanctuary separated by a rood screen. The length is about 225 feet, and its greatest width, in the transept, 120 feet.

Outside, the central building is divided into three distinct stories.

The facade, with its great door decorated with devices and emblems. An _Ecce h.o.m.o_ in the centre, on either side Philibert and Margaret kneeling between two angels, and accompanied by their patron saints. A statue of Saint Nicholas de Tolentin guarding the entrance.

On the second story are three pointed windows between two galleries.

Above the upper gallery is a triangular gable with a rose window in the centre, surrounded by three triangular windows, a symbol of the Trinity. Inside, the carved woodwork of the choir stalls is remarkable for its beauty of detail, variety of design, and delicacy of carving.

The stalls are the work of Bressian artists, foremost amongst whom was Pierre Terrason of Bourg. They were finished and put up in 1532. There are seventy-four stalls on each side, in two rows--twenty-one above and sixteen below. The design on each stall is different.

But the tombs in the choir are the most interesting features of the church of Brou.

Jean Perreal (called Jean de Paris) had been commissioned by Margaret to prepare the plans, and after years of work he presented her with a design which she considered perfect, and gave orders to have it carried out. But soon after Perreal was dismissed, and Van Boghen presided over the work. There is little doubt that he made use of the French architect's designs, which Margaret possessed,[148] but he evidently made important modifications, as the work bears distinct traces of Flemish influence. The best Belgian, French, Italian, and Swiss workmen were employed on these monuments. The princ.i.p.al work was given to a Swiss, Conrad Meyt, who undertook to make the five large statues. The three monuments are placed in the positions Margaret desired in her will of 1508--Duke Philibert in the centre, his mother on the right, and her tomb on the left.

[148] Michel Colombe made a model from Perreal's plans for the sum of ninety-four florins.

Margaret of Bourbon's monument is built into the thickness of the wall. The princess's statue rests on a slab of black marble, her head on an embroidered cushion, her feet on a greyhound. Four white marble children support shields with her initials and the arms of Bourbon. On the pillars on either side are five exquisite statuettes. Saint Agnes and Saint Margaret stand near her feet, between them a symbolical female figure, whilst near her head are Saint Andrew with his cross, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria dressed as a maid of honour of Francis I.'s Court. The sarcophagus is decorated with nine niches containing five cherubs and four 'pleureuses,' or weeping women, whose faces are almost hidden by their drooping hoods, sprays of marguerites being scattered everywhere in great profusion about the moulding of the pillars.

In the centre of the choir, facing the high altar, is the tomb of Philibert the Handsome, Duke of Savoy. It is divided into two sections. Underneath is the 'gisant,' or naked body, a little larger than life. Twelve pillars, ornamented with niches containing statues of saints in the dress of the period, surround the dead prince and support a slab of black marble on which the figure of Philibert rests in armour, with his coronet on his head, an embroidered surcoat covers his cuira.s.s, the collar of the Annunciation (composed alternately of fifteen enamelled roses and the letters F.E.R.T.) round his neck, the mantle of the Order wrapt round him, his feet resting on a lion. His face is turned towards his wife on the left, his praying hands towards his mother on the right.[149]

[149] The Order of the Annunciation was founded by Amadeus VI. in the fourteenth century. The following duties were entailed by the holders of the Order, and by the honour conferred on them they undertook: '(1) To a.s.sist the Dukes of Savoy by word and deed on all occasions that their a.s.sistance was required, and to protect the oppressed. (2) To wear constantly the collar or chain of the Order, which was composed alternately of love-knots and the letters F.E.R.T. (3) They were to present to the church of Pierre-Chatel a chalice, surplice, and all other articles requisite for the celebration of ma.s.s. (4) On their death they were to bequeath 100 livres for the support of that church. At funerals the whole community were to be present, dressed originally in white, and later in black cloaks, which, after the ceremony, they handed over to the Carthusian monks; on all other occasions the colour of the cloak was crimson, trimmed with fringes and embroidered with love-knots.'--(From _The Book of Orders_, Burke.) Certain alterations were inaugurated by Charles III. of Savoy in 1518, who gave the Order a new name, 'The Holy Annunciation'; he also added fifteen enamelled roses, alternating the word 'F.E.R.T.' repeated fifteen times, conjoined by the girdle of St. Francis, as previously inst.i.tuted by Amadeus VIII.

in the collar in place of the love-knots. Such is the collar worn by Philibert on his tomb at Brou, as well as in his likeness in the east window. The meaning of the word 'F.E.R.T.', or the four initial letters, has not been clearly elucidated. Many interpretations have been suggested; the only one which seems really probable is that which appears on a gold piece struck in the reign of Victor Amadeus I., preserved in the medal cabinet of the Kings of Sardinia: 'Federe et religione tenemur' ('We are united by honour and religion').--_Notes and Queries_, December 6, 1902.

Margaret of Austria's tomb under the arcade which separates the choir from the chapel of the Virgin is much larger than the other two. The princess is represented twice; underneath lies her dead body in the habit of the Annunciation, her beautiful hair covering her like a mantle, and her feet bare, showing the wound on the sole of the left foot which caused her death. Above she lies as though on a state-bed, wearing her coronet and embroidered robes, her arms folded on her breast. Four beautiful cherubs bear her armorial ensigns, two at her head and two at her feet (the work of Thomas Meyt, the brother of Conrad). Four columns richly moulded spring from the base of the tomb and support the heavy canopy overhead, around which runs her motto: 'Fortune. Infortune. Fort. Une'; whilst everywhere in the richest profusion are carved her emblems, marguerites twining round a palm branch, and the Briquet of Burgundy in the form of a B interlaced with a St. Andrew's cross resting on three stones.[150] And in the niches of the pillars figures of Saints and Virgins, marvels of beauty, stand grouped around, as if guarding her last sleep.

[150] The Briquet was a kind of gun; the cross of Burgundy was the St. Andrew's cross.

This magnificent monument was the work of many skilled sculptors, amongst others Jean de Louhans, Jean Rodin, Ame de Picard, and Ame Carre. Close to Margaret's tomb, behind the altar of the Virgin, is a beautiful bas-relief deeply cut in white marble, divided into scenes representing the seven joys of the Virgin Mary, a masterpiece of carving. In the choir are the original stained-gla.s.s windows, happily uninjured by time. The figures of Philibert and Margaret appear in their robes of state with their patron saints, and are represented kneeling and adoring the Saviour. Love-knots and marguerites abound in the mouldings round the windows.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOMB OF MARGARET OF AUSTRIA IN THE CHURCH OF BROU]

In the princess's chapel the stained gla.s.s is particularly rich in colouring, and represents the a.s.sumption and Coronation of the Virgin by her Divine Son and G.o.d the Father. The apostles below stand round the empty tomb gazing upwards at the glorification of the Mother of G.o.d. In the lower lights Philibert and Margaret, richly dressed, kneel at their prie-dieus, supported by their patron saints.

On the pavement round Margaret's tomb a few of the enamelled tiles may still be seen with which formerly the entire chapel and choir were paved. Behind the princess's chapel is her private oratory, which was divided into two stories, with a fireplace above and below. From her apartments in the monastery she could enter the church by a pa.s.sage across the screen and a hidden staircase, and thus hear ma.s.s and see the elevation of the Host on both altars, without being seen by those who attended the services in the church. All these details had been carefully thought out by the architect, as a letter to Margaret from her secretary, Louis Barangier, shows. In November 1512 he wrote to her from Brou: 'As to your chapels, madame,... he (Van Boghen) will make them opposite this building (the monastery), and intends to construct one which will be a real work of art, for you will be able to descend from above the screen... into your chapel, from which you will see the high altar over your tomb.' Margaret had also intended to build a similar oratory in the prince's chapel, but the executors of her will omitted to carry out this wish, and the chapel was never finished, and is now the sacristy.

Beyond Margaret's oratory is the chapel of her Councillor, Laurent de Gorrevod, Governor of Bresse, which is dedicated to Our Lady of Pity.

It contains the tombs of Laurent de Gorrevod and his two wives, Philiberte de la Palud, and Claude de Rivoire, and several members of their family. The beautiful rec.u.mbent bronze figures of Gorrevod and his wives were destroyed at the revolution, and only the slab on which the statues rested remains, with the founder's motto--_Pour james (jamais)_, and the initials L. F. and L. C. (the letters of his and his wives' names) joined by the girdle of St. Francis.

Near the south door is the Chapel of Our Lady of seven sorrows, founded in 1516 by Antoine de Montecuto, Margaret's confessor and almoner. A fine painting on a wooden panel, by a Flemish artist, hangs over the altar, and was one of the sacred pictures sent by Margaret from Flanders. On the ground outside the church is a curious sun-dial, composed of twenty-four stones arranged in a huge oval, on which are engraved numbers from one to twenty-four, representing the hours of the day. In the centre of the oval are twelve stones arranged in two rows of six each, bearing the initial letters of the twelve months of the year. In order to tell the time, the spectator must stand on the letter of the current month, and his shadow then falls on the hour of the day, he himself being the index. This interesting dial dates from the building of the church, and was probably made for the use of the workmen. It was formerly placed a little further from the edifice, and composed of tiles, but, as it was in danger of being worn away by the constant traffic which pa.s.sed over it, Lalande had it moved nearer to the church, and the worn tiles replaced by slabs of stone, but carefully preserved the original size and dimensions of the dial.

When Francis I. visited Brou on the 1st of October 1541, he was struck by the unique beauty of the church, though he observed that the white stone of which it was built was too soft to stand frost, and would in time crumble away. Paradin, in his _Chronique de Savoie_, mentions the king's visit:--'Je me souviens aussi,' he says, 'avoir veu descendre le feu roy Francois, quand il vint a Bourg, qui apres avoir veu cette esglise restoit ravy en admiration, disant n'avoir veu ny savoir temple de telle excellence, pour ce qu'il contenoit. Vray est qu'il se print garde (comme il esttoit prince excedant en bon esprit tous les rois de son temps) que ceste pierre blanche, dont est l'esglise bastie, ne seroit de duree a la gelee, pour estre trop rare et tendre. Et s'est trouve depuis qu'il disoit vray: car long temps apres, tomberent du quarre du clochier aucuns de ses grans bastions ou gargoles, qui conduisent les eaues sur le couvert de l'esglise, du coste des cloistres, chose qui fit grand dommage au bastiment.'

On the 17th of September 1856 (326 years after Margaret's death) the entrance to the vault at Brou was accidentally discovered in raising some flagstones near Philibert's monument, and on December the 1st of the same year it was opened in the presence of a committee of ten persons. Count E. de Quinsonas, who was present, gives an interesting account of the visit of inspection. The vault, which had not been opened since Margaret's coffin had been placed there in 1532, was entered by a flight of steps from the choir. The three coffins were found exactly under their respective monuments in the church above; Duke Philibert of Savoy's in the centre, Margaret of Bourbon's on the right, and Margaret of Austria's on the left. Philibert's coffin was intact, and of a great length, but those of the two princesses had broken open, and their remains were scattered on the floor of the vault. The three coffins rested on iron trestles.

Margaret of Bourbon's coffin was of lead, shaped like an elongated square, but had originally had an outer coffin of oak, the remains of which lay on the ground. The princess's skull was intact, and showed a tress of chestnut hair. The inscription on the leaden coffin was in French as follows:--

IHS MARIA S

Marguerite de Bourbon 1483 ce 27 Avril fut esevelie.

Philibert's coffin was found in a perfect state of preservation, in shape similar to that of Margaret of Bourbon, but of gigantic size.

The duke's body had been placed in an oaken coffin enclosed in lead, which probably accounted for its preservation; whilst the two princesses had been laid first in lead and then in oaken sh.e.l.ls, the outer cases of which had rotted away from the damp, and the inner coffins had broken open. The following is the inscription on Duke Philibert's coffin:--

+ IHS MARIA S

Cy gist, tres excellent et tres puissant prince Philibert.

Due de Savoye IIe de ce nom. tres vertueux le quel trespa.s.sa et r[=e]dist lesperit a Dieu l[=a] mil Ve et quatre le Xe jour de Septembre au chasteau du Pont Deyns et fust enterre ceans le XVIe du dit mois. pries Ntre Seignr pour luy.

Margaret of Austria's leaden coffin had also originally been enclosed in one of oak, and was shaped like a mummy case to the form of the body. The inscription on the coffin was as follows:--

Hic jacet corpus D[=n]e Margarete Archiducisse Austrie Comitisse Burg[=u]die et qdam Maximili[=a]i Cesarie filie Caroli vero Quinti Imperatoris et Ferdin[=a]di Rom[=a][=o]rum Regis fratrum amite Philiberti Ducis Sabaudie vidue huius m[=o][=s]terii Sancti Nicolai de Tolletino patroe et f[=u]datricis que kalendis Decembris in suo Mechliniensi o[=p][=i]do Cameracensis diocesis ano D[=ni] millesimo quengentesimo tricesimo diem suam clausit extremam anima eius in pace quiescat.

From the bones found in the coffin it was evident that Margaret, though not tall, was above middle height. Her skull, with its well-developed forehead, was covered with bright golden hair, which showed no trace of grey. The bones of both feet and legs were intact, proving that no amputation had taken place.

After reverently collecting the scattered bones of the two princesses, and placing them in new oaken coffins, they were temporarily removed until the necessary cleaning and restoration had been made in the vault, which had suffered much from damp. On the 5th of July 1858 they were enclosed in outer coffins of lead and, with Philibert's coffin, replaced in their former positions, but on a stone slab which had been erected to support the three caskets instead of the iron trestles, which had suffered much from decay. When all was accomplished a solemn service was held before the final closing of the vault, conducted by Cardinal Donnet, Archbishop of Bordeaux:--