Hard-coded id of currently selected item: . JSON version of its record is available from Blacklight on e.g. ??
Metadata associated with selected item should appear here...
Stowe MS 584
- Record Id:
- 040-001953408
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-001952775
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000534.0x000076
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100165174451.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Stowe MS 584
- Title:
- Complainte sur la mort d'Anne de Bretagne; Discours des Ceremonies du Sacre et mariage d'Anne de Foix avec Ladislaus Roy de Hongrie
- Scope & Content:
-
This manuscript contains two French works attributed to Pierre Choque (b. c. 1450, d. 1530), herald and king of arms at the court of Anne of Brittany (b. 1477, d. 1514), Queen of France. The first text is the Complainte sur la mort d'Anne de Bretagne, beginning with a dedication to the 'Sire de Beton'. In this copy an elegaic poem with the title, 'Elegie et complainte sur le deces de tres illustre princesse Anne; deux fois Royne [de] France et duchesse de Bretaigne (f. 2r), follows the description of the French Queen's funeral. Other copies of the Complainte housed at the British Library are now Add MS 6277 and Cotton MS Vespasian B III.
The second work is the Discours des Ceremonies du Sacre et mariage d'Anne de Foix avec Ladislaus Roy de Hongrie, an account of the marriage between Anne de Foix-Candale, daughter of Gaston, Comte de Candale, and Vladislaus II Jagellion, King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia. Anne's journey to Hungary, and the marriage and coronation ceremonies, are described by Pierre Choque, who travelled as part of her entourage. This is the only illustrated copy but the text is incomplete, lacking the account of Anne's stay in Venice on her journey to Hungary. The only complete copy of the text known to survive is now Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France, ms fr. 90, Choque's original draft containing numerous armorial shields (see Héry, 'Pierre Choque', p. 400, n. 3).
Contents:
f. 1v: An added note in French relating to the ownership of the manuscript by the 'Princesse de Rohan', dated 1774, along with a former pressmark.
f. 2r: A list of the manuscript's contents.
ff. 2v-68v: Complainte sur la mort d'Anne de Bretagne, commemorating the death of Anne of Brittany, Queen of France in 1514, written in French and arranged as follows:
ff. 2v-58v: A prose description of the funeral of the French queen, prefaced with a dedication to the 'Sire de Beton'.
ff. 59r-68v: A eulogistic poem commemorating Anne's death.
ff. 69r-78v: Discours des Ceremonies du Sacre et mariage d'Anne de Foix avec Ladislaus Roy de Hongrie, a prose account of the marriage of Anne de Foix-Candle and Vladislaus II Jagellion, King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia, written in French.
Decoration:
13 large miniatures, in colours and gold (ff. 4v, 7v, 10r, 13v, 18r, 35v, 38r, 40r, 51v, 55v, 70v, 71v, 73r).
6 half-page miniatures in colours and gold (f. 2v, 72r, 77r, 77v, 78r, 78v).
Heraldic arms in the margins (ff. 26v, 27r, 28r (x2), 34r, 48r, 48v, 50r, 69r, 72r, 75v).
3 large decorated initials (3-4 lines), in colours and gold (ff. 45r, 58r, 59r). Numerous decorated initials in colours and gold or in gold on red or blue grounds.
The subjects of the miniatures are
f. 2v: An angel and a lion hold a shield bearing Anne of Brittany's coat of arms; they have scrolls bearing their words, 'Rogo pro te Anna' (the angel) and 'Libera eam de ore leonis' (the lion); a white stoat beneath.
f. 4v: Anne on her deathbed with nuns and clerics, in black Dominican robes, some wearing tunics with fleur-de-lis, kneeling around her.
f. 7v: Anne's body is placed in the coffin in the Hall of Honour at the Chateau de Blois; her royal symbols are displayed on her death bed.
f. 10r: Anne's deathbed with her royal symbols and clerics praying.
f. 13v: The Spheres of Heaven with the sun and moon with faces, and a sun superimposed on a cross.
f. 18r: Anne's tomb at Notre Dame Cathedral with her symbols and clerics praying.
f. 35v: Anne's funeral effigy, made by the royal painter Jean Perreal, is processed through the city with four presidents of the Parlement de Paris in red and white robes of state.
f. 37v: Anne's effigy lies on her tomb in Notre Dame Cathedral, holding the sceptre and main de justice; clerics kneel around her.
f. 40r: Clerics kneel around Anne's tomb with her effigy.
f. 50r: Shield of arms of Anne of Brittany with her motto, A MA VIE, hands holding her two sceptres and a white ermine beneath.
f. 51v: Tomb of Anne of Brittany with her coffin and symbols, clerics kneeling with holy water.
f. 55v: A plaque on the tomb, with a heart shaped inscription on gold.
f. 69r: Four heraldic shields
f. 70v: A procession of 300 armed men ride to meet Anne de Foix at the city of Zagabria.
f. 71v: Anne de Foix rides next to the coast with an armed escort of French men and her ladies in a variety of hats (foreground); Pierre Choque rides out front with the other heralds bearing a standard with the arms of France and Brittany; in the background Bohemian riders ride bearing their standards.
f. 72r: Three heraldic shields with the arms of the House of Jagellion (above); landscape with a river and fish.
f. 73r: Wedding procession of Anne, Vladislaus of Hungary, and two other figures in robes.
f. 75v: A crown, orb and sceptre in gold and red.
f. 77r: A fountain of red liquid, perhaps blood.
f. 77v: Two knights in armour jousting.
f. 78r: A dragon with its stomach cut open; a dragon's head.
f. 78v: Gifts brought to Anne de Foix.
The miniatures illustrating the Complainte and the description of Anne's funeral (ff. 2r-68v) were probably undertaken at the workshop of the French artist Jean Pichore (d. 1521).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Medieval and Renaissance Women
Stowe Collection - Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-001952775
036-001953401
040-001953408 - Is part of:
- Stowe Ms 1-1085 : Stowe Manuscripts
Stowe MS 578-588 : CLASS XIII.CEREMONIALS.
Stowe MS 584 : Complainte sur la mort d'Anne de Bretagne; Discours des Ceremonies du Sacre et mariage d'Anne de Foix avec Ladislaus Roy de… - Hierarchy:
- 032-001952775[0013]/036-001953401[0007]/040-001953408
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Stowe Ms 1-1085
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc_100165174451.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1514
- End Date:
- 1514
- Date Range:
- 1514
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
Please request the physical items you need using the online collection item request form.
Digitised items can be viewed online by clicking the thumbnail image or digitised content link.
Readers who have registered or renewed their pass since 21 March 2024 can request physical items prior to visiting the Library by completing
this request form.
Please enter the Reference (shelfmark) above on the request form.If your Reader Pass was issued before this date, you will need to visit the Library in London or Yorkshire to renew it before you can request items online. All manuscripts and archives must be consulted at the Library in London.
This catalogue record may describe a collection of items which cannot all be requested together. Please use the hierarchy viewer to navigate to individual items. Some items may be in use or restricted for other reasons. If you would like to check the availability, contact our Reference Services team, quoting the Reference (shelfmark) above.
- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 260 x 190 mm (text space: 190/ 200 x 100/115 mm).
Foliation: ff. 78 (+ 1 unfoliated parchment leaf after f. 1 + 2 parchment flyleaves at the end); f. 1 is a parchment flyleaf.
Script: Humanistic cursive.
Binding: Post-1600. Blue leather; marbled endpapers.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
Paris, France.
Provenance:
Dedicated to the 'Sire de Betton' (f. 2v).
Claude d'Argentré (b. 1550, d. 1596), French jurist: inscribed with his motto, monogram and signature (ff. 2r, 3r).
The 'Princesse de Rohan', 1774: a paste-down to f. 1v contains the following ownership record: '1774. 14. fevrier. L'an mille sept cent Soixante-quatorze, le quatorzieme jour de Fevrier, Madame la princesse de Rohan a donne, pour la Bibliothèque de M. le Prince de Soubise [Charles de Rohan] le Manuscrit, qui a été présentée de sa part par M. Marchand son homme d'affaires. Ce Ms. Intitulé Eloge et Complainte sur le décès de très illustre Princesse Anne deux fois Reine de France. dont l'auteur se nomme Bretaigne est incomplet: la fin y manque, et quelques feuillets.'
Charles de Rohan (b. 1715, d. 1787), Prince de Soubise and marshal of France, owned 1774-1787: sold after his death with the rest of his collection; no. 6837 in the catalogue of his library (see Catalogue des livres, imprimés et manuscrits, de la bibliothèque de feu monseigneur le Prince de Soubise (1788), p. 503).
Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1776, d. 1839), 1st duke of Buckingham and Chandos, of Stowe House, near Buckingham: inscribed with the press-mark 'Press 8 no. 55' (f. 1v), corresponding to his catalogue (O'Conor, Bibliotheca Ms. Stowensis (1818-19), II, p. 517).
Richard Plantagenet Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (b. 1797, d. 1861), 2nd duke of Buckingham and Chandos; sold in 1849 to Lord Ashburnham.
Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th earl of Ashburnham, of Ashburnham Place, Sussex.
Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1840, d. 1913), 5th earl of Ashburnham: purchased by the British Museum from him together with 1,084 other Stowe manuscripts in 1883.
- Publications:
-
Catalogue des livres, imprimés et manuscrits, de la bibliothèque de feu monseigneur le Prince de Soubise, Maréchal de France, dont la vente sera indiquée par affiches au mois de janvier 1789 (Paris, 1788), p. 588.
Charles O'Conor, Bibliotheca Ms. Stowensis: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Stowe Library, 2 vols (Buckingham: Seeley, 1818-19), II, 517.
Catalogue of the Stowe Manuscripts in the British Museum, 2 vols (London: British Museum, 1895-96), I, no. 584.
Augustus Hughes-Hughes, Catalogue of Manuscript Music in the British Museum, 3 vols (London: British Museum, 1906-65), III, p. 370.
Michael Jones, 'Les Manuscrits d'Anne de Bretagne, reine de France, duchesse de Bretagne', Mémoires de la Société d'histoire et d'archéologie de Bretagne, 5 (1978), 42-81 (p. 80).
Cynthia J. Brown, 'Books in Performance: The Parisian Entry (1504) and Funeral (1514) of Anne of Brittany', in Meaning and Its Objects: Material Culture in Medieval and Renaissance France, Yale French Studies, 110 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), pp. 75-91 [on the text].
Michael Jones, 'Les Manuscrits enluminés d'Anne de Bretagne: livres précieux ou instruments de propagande?', in Anne de Bretagne, Une histoire, un mythe (Paris-Nantes: Musée d'histoire de Nantes, 2007), pp. 94-95.
Margaret Scott, Medieval Dress & Fashion (London: British Library, 2007), pp. 176-77, pls 105, 107.
Laurent Héry, 'Pierre Choque, héraut et roi d’armes d’Anne de Bretagne, voyageur et écrivain', Bulletin de la Société archéologique du Finistère, 141 (2013), 399-414 (pp. 400-01).
Laura Fabian, 'Review of Attila Györkös, 'Reneszánsz utazás: Anna királyné 1502-es fogadtatásának ünnepségei Észak-Itáliában és Magyarországon (Renaissance journey: The festivities held to welcome Queen Anne to Northern Italy and Hungary in 1502)', The Hungarian Historical Review , 6.3, Migration and Refugees (2017), 680-82 (p. 680).
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)