Burgund "Feast of the pheasant" in February 1454

<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="0"> <tr><td><a name="a"><b><font size="3" color="#0033ff" face="Verdana, Arial Narrow">    A</font></b></a><a href="http://autorbis.net" target="_blank"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial Narrow">UTORBIS.net </font></a> - <a href="http://trionfi.com" target="_blank"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial Narrow">TRIONFI.com </font></a> </td> <td align="right"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial Narrow">created 2003 - 2006       </td> </tr></table><hr size="1" width="90%"> <table width="100%"><tr><td rowspan="2" width="30%" align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#dddddd"> <b><font size="+1">Trionfi <br> - not related to playing cards</font></b><br><br><ul> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/t/00/">Start</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/t/01/">Triumpe - Greeting a God</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/t/02/">Petrarca and the Trionfi</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/t/03/">Material to Petrarca</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/t/04/">Trionfi Examples in Art</a><br><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/t/05/">Trionfi as Procession</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/t/06/">Trionfi and Spectacle in Milan</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/t/21/">Feast of the pheasant, Burgund 1454</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/t/22/">Medici Marriage, Florence 1565/66, 21 chariots</a><br><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/t/10/">Name Trionfi - wild Notebook</a> </ul> </ul></td><td height="50" align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#dddddd"> Trionfi - when not related to Playing Cards </td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <h1>The Feast of the Pheasant (Burgund 1454)<br> <font size="3"> - (Excerpt of Ruth Putnam: Charles the Bold. Last Duke Of Burgundy, 1433 - 1477; <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14496/14496.txt" target=_blank">(Full text version)</font></a> </h1> The feast was celebrated in February 1454 and it is called the "greatest feast" of its time. It followed after a great militaric victory of the duke of Burgund against the citizens in Gent in the preceding year, it's said, that about 14.000 victims were counted only at the Gent side. So it meets the category "peace and victory Trionfi, although this term likely wouldn't have been used by its celebrators. It meets with two other contemporary peace-treaties, 9th of April 1454 peace of Lodi between Milan and Venice and other partaking cities in Lodi ( <a href="http://www.maproom.org/maps/historical/clarendon/lane-poole/lane-poole.pl?m=0049" target="_blank">Italian Map 1454</a>) short after the feast (ending a period of about 30 years of successive wars and open a period of about 40 years of relative peace) and with the issue of the battle of Castillon ( <a href="http://www.xenophongroup.com/montjoie/castilon.htm" target="_blank">Report</a>), which ended the hundred-years-war between England and France with a great victory for France at July 19th, 1453. All 3 great wars in European development had the background of the Fall of Constantinople. <br><br> <hr width="90%"><br><br> After the fatigues of this contest with Ghent, followed a period of relaxation for the Burgundian nobles at Lille, where a notable round of gay festivities was enjoyed by the court. Adolph of Cleves inaugurated the series with an entertainment where, among other things, he delighted his friends by a representation of the tale of the miraculous swan,[1] famous in the annals of his house for bringing the opportune knight down the Rhine to wed the forlorn heiress. <br><br> When his satisfied guests took their leave, Adolph placed a chaplet on the head of one of the gentlemen, thus designating him to devise a new amusement for the company; and under the invitation lurked a tacit challenge to make the coming occasion more brilliant than the first. Again and again was this process repeated. Entertainment followed entertainment, all a mixture of repasts and vaudeville shows in whose preparation the successive hosts vied with each other to attain perfection.<br><br> The hard times, the stress of ready money, so eloquently painted when the merchants were implored to take pity on their poverty-stricken lord, were cast into utter oblivion. It was harvest tide for skilled craftsmen and artisans. Any one blessed with a clever or fantastic idea easily found a market for the product of his brain. He could see his poetic or quaint conception presented to an applauding public with a wealth of paraphernalia that a modern stage manager would not scorn. How much the nobles spent can only be inferred from the ducal accounts, which are eloquent with information about the creators of all this mimic pomp. About six sous a day was the wage earned by a painter, while the plumbers received eight. These latter were called upon to coax pliable lead into all sorts of shapes, often more grotesque than graceful.<br><br> One fete followed another from the early autumn of 1453 to February, 1454, when "The Feast of the Pheasant," as the ducal entertainment was called, crowned the series with an elaborate magnificence that has never been surpassed.<br><br> Undoubtedly Philip possessed a genius for dramatic effect and it is more than possible that he instigated the progressive banquets for the express purpose of leading up to the occasion with which he intended to dazzle Europe.[2]<br><br> For the duke's thoughts were now turned from civic revolts to a great international movement which he hoped to see set in motion. Almost coincident with the capitulation of Ghent to Philip's will had been the capitulation of Constantinople to the Turks. The event long dreaded by pope and Christendom had happened at last (May 29, 1453). Again and again was the necessity for a united opposition to the inroads of the dangerous infidels urged by Rome. On the eve of St. Martin, 1453, a legate arrived in Lille bringing an official letter from the pope, setting forth the dire stress of the Christian Church, and imploring the mightiest duke of the Occident to be her saviour, and to assume the leadership of a crusade in her behalf against the encroaching Turk.[2]<br><br> Philip was ready to give heed to the prayer. Whatever the exact sequence of his plans in relation to the court revels, the result was that his own banquet was utilised as a proper occasion for blazoning forth to the world with a flourish of trumpets his august intention of dislodging the invader from the ancient capital of the Eastern empire.<br><br> The superintendence of the arrangements for this all-eclipsing fete was entrusted, as La Marche relates,<br><br> "to Messire Jehan, Seigneur de Lannoy, Knight of the Golden Fleece, and a skilful ingenious gentleman, and to one Squire Jehan Boudault, a notable and discreet man. And the duke honoured me so far that he desired me to be consulted. Several councils were held for the matter to which the chancellor and the first chamberlain were invited. The latter had just returned from the war in Luxemburg already described.<br> "These council meetings were very important and very private, and after discussion it was decided what ceremonies and mysteries were to be presented. The duke desired that I should personate the character of Holy Church of which he wished to make use at this assembly."<br><br> As in many half amateur affairs the preparations took more time than was expected. At the first date set, all was not in readiness and the performance was postponed until February 17th. This entailed serious loss upon the provision merchants and they received compensation for the spoiled birds and other perishable edibles.[4]<br><br> The gala-day opened with a tournament at which Adolph of Cleves again sported as Knight of the Swan to the applause of the onlookers. After the jousting, the guests adjourned to the banqueting hall, where fancy had indeed, run riot, to make ready for their admiring eyes and their sagacious palates. _Entremets_ is the term applied to the elaborate set pieces and side-shows provided to entertain the feasters between courses, and these were on an unprecedented scale.<br><br> Three tables stood prepared respectively for the duke and his suite, for the Count of Charolais, his cousins, and their comrades, and for the knights and ladies. The first table was decorated with marvellous constructions, among which was a cruciform church whose mimic clock tower was capacious enough to hold a whole chorus of singers. The enormous pie in which twenty-eight musicians were discovered when the crust was cut may have been the original of that pasty whose opening revealed four-and-twenty blackbirds in a similar plight. Wild animals wandered gravely at a machinist's will through deep forests, but in the midst of the counterfeit brutes there was at least one live lion, for Gilles le Cat[5] received twenty shillings from the duke for the chain and locks he made to hold the savage beast fast "on the day of the said banquet."<br><br> Again there was an anchored ship, manned with a full crew and rigged completely. "I hardly think," observes La Marche, "that the greatest ship in the world has a greater number of ropes and sails."<br><br> Before the guests seated themselves they wandered around the hall and inspected the decorations one by one. Nor was their admiration exhausted when they turned to the discussion of the toothsome dainties provided for their delectation.<br><br> During the progress of the banquet, the story of Jason was enacted. Time there certainly was for the play. La Marche estimated forty-eight dishes to every course, though he qualifies his statement by the admission that his memory might be inexact. These dishes were wheeled over the tables in little chariots before each person in turn.<br><br> "Such were the mundane marvels that graced the fete," is the conclusion of La Marche's[6] exhaustive enumeration of the masterpieces from artists' workshops and ducal kitchen.<br><br> "I will leave them now to record a pity moving _entremets_ which seemed to be more special than the others. Through the portal whence the previous actors had made their entrance, came a giant larger without artifice than any I had ever seen, clad in a long green silk robe, a turban on his head like a Saracen in Granada. His left hand held a great, old-fashioned two-bladed axe, his right hand led an elephant covered with silk. On its back was a castle wherein sat a lady looking like a nun, wearing a mantle of black cloth and a white head-dress like a recluse.[7]<br> "Once within the hall and in sight of the noble company, like one who had work before her, she said to the giant, her conductor:<br><br> "'Giant, prithee let me stay<br> For I spy a noble throng<br> To whom I wish to speak.'<br><br> "At these words her guide conducted his charge before the ducal table and there she made a piteous appeal to all assembled to come to rescue her, Holy Church, fallen into the hands of unbelieving miscreants. As soon as she ceased speaking a body of officers entered the hall, Toison d'Or, king-at-arms, bringing up the rear. This last carried a live pheasant ornamented with a rich collar of gold studded with jewels. Toison d'Or was followed by two maidens, Mademoiselle Yolande, bastard daughter of the duke, and Isabelle of Neufchatel, escorted by two gentlemen of the Order. They all proceeded to the host. After greetings, Toison d'Or then said:<br> "'High and puissant prince and my redoubtable lord, here are ladies who recommend themselves very humbly to you because it is, and has been, the custom at great feasts and noble assemblies to present to the lords and nobles a peacock or some other noble bird whereon useful and valid vows may be made. I am sent hither with these two demoiselles to present to you this noble pheasant, praying you to remember them.'<br> "When these words were said, Monseigneur the duke, who knew for what purpose he had given the banquet, looked at the personified Church, and then, as though in pity for her stress, drew from his bosom a document containing his vow to succour Christianity, as will appear later. The Church manifested her joy, and seeing that my said seigneur had given his vow to Toison d'Or, she again burst forth forth into rhyme:<br><br> "'God be praised and highly served<br> By thee, my son, the foremost peer in France.<br> Thy sumptuous bearing have I close observed<br> Until it seemed thou wert reserved<br> To bring me my deliverance.<br> Near and far I seek alliance<br> And pray to God to grant thee grace<br> To work His pleasure in thy place.<br><br> "'0 every prince and noble, man and knight,<br> Ye see your master pledged to worthy deed.<br> Abandon ease, abjure delight,<br> Lift up your hand, each in his right,<br> Offer God the savings from thy greed.<br> I take my leave, imploring each, indeed,<br> To risk his life for Christian gain,<br> To serve his God and 'suage my pain.'<br><br> "At this the giant led off the elephant and departed by the same way in which he had entered.<br> "When I had seen this _entremets_, that is, the Church and a castle on the back of such a strange beast, I pondered as to whether I could understand what it meant and could not make it out otherwise except that she had brought this beast, rare among us, in sign that she toiled and laboured in great adversity in the region of Constantinople, whose trials we know, and the castle in which she was signified Faith. Moreover, because this lady was conducted by this mighty giant, armed, I inferred that she wished to denote her dread of the Turkish arms which had chased her away and sought her destruction.<br> "As soon as this play was played out, the noble gentlemen, moved by pity and compassion, hastened to make vows, each in his own fashion."<br> The vow of the Count of Charolais was as follows: "I swear to God my creator, and to His glorious mother, to the ladies and to the pheasant, that, if my very redoubtable lord and father embark on this holy journey, and if it be his pleasure that I accompany him, I will go and will serve him as well as I can and know how to do."<br> Other vows were less simple: all kinds of fantastic conditions being appended according to individual fancy. One gentleman decided never to go to bed on a Saturday until his pledge were accomplished. Another that he would eat nothing on Fridays that had ever lived until he had had an opportunity of meeting the enemy hand to hand, and of attacking, at peril of his life, the banner of the Grand Turk.<br><br> Philip Pot vowed never to sit at table on a Tuesday and to wear no protection on his right arm. This last the duke refused to permit. Hugues de Longueval vowed that when he had once turned his face to the East he would abstain from wine until he had plunged his sword in an infidel's blood, and that he would devote two years to the crusade even if he had to remain all alone, provided Constantinople were not recovered. Louis de Chevelast swore that no covering should protect his head until he had come to within four leagues of the infidels, and that he would fight a Turk on foot with nothing on his arm but a glove. There was the same emulation in the vows as in the banquets and many of the self-imposed penalties were as bizarre as the side-shows.<br><br> There were so many chevaliers eager to bind themselves to the enterprise that the prolonged ceremony threatened to become tedious. The duke, therefore, declared that the morrow would be equally valid as the day.[8]<br><br> The Count of St. Pol was the only knight present who made his going dependent on the consent of the King of France, a condition very displeasing to his liege lord of Burgundy.]<br><br> "To abridge my tale [continues La Marche], the banquet was finished and the cloth removed and every one began to walk around the room. To me it seemed like a dream, for, of all the decorations, soon nothing remained but the crystal fountain. When there was no further spectacle to distract me, then my understanding began to work and various considerations touching this business came into my mind. First, I pondered upon the outrageous excess and great expense incurred in a brief space by these banquets, for this fashion of progressive entertainments, with the hosts designated by chaplets, had lasted a long time. All had tried to outshine their predecessors, and all, especially my said lord, had spent so much that I considered the whole thing outrageous and without any justification for the expense, except as regarded the _entremets_ of the Church and the vows. Even that seemed to me too lightly treated for an important enterprise.<br> "Meditating thus I found myself by chance near a gentleman, councillor and chamberlain, who was in my lord's confidence and with whom I had some acquaintance. To him I imparted my thoughts in the course of a friendly chat and his comment was as follows:<br> "'My friend, I know positively that these chaplet entertainments would never have occurred except by the secret desire of the duke to lead up to this very banquet where he hoped to achieve a holy purpose and to resist the enemies of our faith. It is three years now since the distress of our Church was presented to the Knights of the Golden Fleece at Mons. My lord there dedicated his person and his wealth to her service. Since then occurred the rebellion of Ghent, which entailed upon him a loss of time and money. Thanks be to God, he has attained there a good and honourable peace, as every one knows. Now it has chanced that, during this very period, the Turks have encroached on Christianity still further in their capture of Constantinople. The need of succour is very pressing and all that you have witnessed to-day is proof that the good duke is intent on the weal of Christendom.'"<br><br> During the progress of this conversation, a new company was ushered into the hall, preceded by musicians. Here came _Grace Dieu_, clad as a nun followed by twelve knights dressed in grey and black velvet ornamented with jewels. Not alone did they come. Each gentleman escorted a dame wearing a coat of satin cramoisy over a fur-edged round skirt _a la Portuguaise. Grace Dieu_ declared in rhyme that God had heard the pious resolution of Duke Philip of Burgundy. He had forthwith sent her with her twelve attendants to promise him a happy termination to his enterprise. Her ladies, Faith, Charity, Justice, Reason, Prudence, and their sisters, were then presented to him. _Grace Dieu_ departs alone and no sooner has she disappeared than Philip's new attributes begin to dance to add to the good cheer. Among the knights was Charles and one of his half-brothers; among the ladies was Margaret, Bastard of Burgundy, and the others were all of high birth. Not until two o'clock did the revels finally cease.<br><br> It must be noted that La Marche's reflections upon the extravagance of the entertainment occur also in Escouchy's memoirs. Probably both drew their moralising from another author. It is stated by several reputable chroniclers that Olivier de la Marche himself represented the Church. That he merely wrote her lines is far more probable. Female performers certainly appeared freely in these as in other masques, and there was no reason for putting a handsome youth in this role of the captive Church. In mentioning the plans that La Marche claims to have heard discussed in the council meeting, he says plainly that he was to play the role of Holy Church, but as he makes no further allusion to the fact, it may be dismissed as one of his careless statements.<br><br> This pompous announcement of big plans was the prelude to nothing! Yet it was by no means a farce when enacted. Philip fully intended to make this crusade the crowning event of his life, and his proceedings immediately after the great fete were all to further that end. To obtain allies abroad, to raise money at home, and to ensure a peaceful succession for his son in case of his own death in the East--such were the cares demanding the duke's attention.<br><br> </td></tr></table> <hr><br><br> <center><b><font size="1">Trionfi.com </b>has its focus on Tarot History and especially the origin of Tarot in 15th century, also the representation of about 100 000 Tarot and other playing cards in the Tarot Museum. <br><b>The Chapter "Name Trionfi"</b> presents material to the usage of the word "Trionfi" in other contexts.<br> Author: when not otherwise specified, autorbis. Copyright: trionfi.com. Links do lead occasionally to foreign sources, we've no influence on these sites and are not responsible for their representations and opinions.<br><br> <b>Central pages: <a href="http://trionfi.com">International Start</a> - <a href="http://trionfi.com/tarot-history/">Tarot History</a> - <a href="http://trionfi.com/tarot-playing-cards-museum/">Tarot Museum</a> - <a href="http://trionfi.com/tarot/">Tarot in all Aspects</a> - <a href="http://trionfi.com/tarot/cards/">Tarot Iconography</a> - <a href="http://trionfi.com/tarot-free-reading/">Tarot Reading</a> / <a href="http://google.com">Google</a> - <a href="http://yahoo.com">Yahoo</a> </font></center> </BODY></HTML>