« Qu'il mecte ma povre ame en céleste lumière » : vers le 5e centenaire de
la mort d'Anne de Bretagne / The Upcoming Centenary of the Death of Anne of
Brittany
In January 2014 the 500-year celebration of the death of Anne of Brittany
(1477-1514) will take place.
The queen of France died in Blois on 9 January 1514 and was buried in the
royal necropolis at Saint-Denis, following an exceptionally long funeral (40
days). According to her wishes, her heart was placed in a reliquary of
gold embellished with enamel and was then transported with great pomp to Nantes
where it was placed in the chapel of the Carmelites on 19 March 1514; it was
later transferred to the Cathedral of Saint Peter. The reliquary containing Anne
of Brittany's heart, an oval-shaped metal container embossed with gold, bears an
inscription venerating her in gold letters embellished with green, blue and red
enamel. It is housed today in the Dobrée Museum in Nantes.
In 2013 (the last trimester) the collection PECIA: LE LIVRE ET L'ÉCRIT,
published by Brepols (Turnhout), will devote a special volume in commemoration
of these events, which were recounted at the time by Pierre Choque, the first
herald and king-at-arms of the duchess of Brittany, in a manuscript book
distributed to the princes and princesses of the time ((Charles VIII, roi
d’Angleterre ; Charles III, Louise et René de Savoie ; Marie de Luxembourg ;
Françoise, Marie et Jean d’Albret ; Philippe de Gueldre ; Louise de Coëtivy ;
Claude de France ; Catherine de Foix ; Renée et Charles de Bourbon ; Guy XVI de
Laval ; Philippe Ier de Nassau ; Louis de Brézé ; René de Brosse, Jean II de
Clèves ; Jacques II de Luxembourg-Fiennes ; Catherine d’Aragon, etc.)
We also have the pleasure of associating with this publication the names of
Michael Jones, the most Breton of Englishmen and eminent "connoisseur" of
medieval Brittany, as well as Cynthia J. Brown (University of California, Santa
Barbara), author of the recent book The Queen's Library. Image-Making at the
Court of Anne of Brittany, 1477-1514, and Elizabeth A. R. Brown (Professor
Emerita of History, Brooklyn College in New York), whose publications on the
Capetian kingdom and many other related subjects are standard reference
works.
jean luc deuffic