The Court of Burgundy by Otto Cartellieri

Author:Otto Cartellieri [Cartellieri, Otto]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General
ISBN: 9781136204067
Google: vQxUAQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-10-11T01:19:19+00:00

and good food at the banquet at Lille. There it was much easier to promise to leave wife and child, house and home, to expend huge sums, and to risk one's life, than here in the cold reality of everyday life. All kinds of scruples obtruded themselves. One nobleman of Hainault declared roundly that it was madness to undertake such a journey unless Duke Philip bore the cost, and many others shared his opinion.

The Pheasant banquet was over, but criticism was rife. The festive day was now only a memory for the numerous guests, actors, artists and craftsmen, officials and servants. Heavy demands had been made on eye and ear. The presentations had been almost oppressive in their abundance, the programme much too profuse. The cunningly contrived mechanical devices had seemed rather childish and naive. Christian virtue had hidden itself in shame in the presence of unveiled pagan beauty. Holy Church had been obliged to tolerate the company of Hercules, and even of the perjured rascal Jason. There had been a good deal of emotional excitement and the guests must have been conscious that they had been carried away by their feelings.

Considered as a whole, the Feast of the Pheasant left behind it the impression of a carefully contrived theatrical performance at which the most splendid scenery and costumes, the most wonderful and ingenious machinery had been employed. It was not by chance that spectators were admitted to the galleries, and to them, as they looked down, the lords and ladies at the tables must have seemed very much like actors. The Duke himself had not shrunk from taking part in the play and participating in the pantomime.

The allegory which the custom of the period demanded was not always easy to interpret, and the interlude of the "Church" was therefore explained in the official report of the feast. The "Virtues" were given a badge so that their names might be clear to all. On the other hand, the figure of the woman guarded by a lion and some of the other items lent themselves to various interpretations. One thing at least was clear. The Duke's subjects, accustomed as they were to the parade and flourish of the Court, had never imagined such a riot of extravagance and splendour as was exhibited at the Feast of the Pheasant at Lille.

"En conclusion ce a está la plus hautte et pompeuse besongne et la plus riche et la plus grande magnifisance que l'on veit oncques faire." So writes a ducal secretary to Dijon, and Georges Chastellain in his Epistre dedicated to the bon duc thought Lille very highly favoured to have been chosen as the scene for such a feast:—

Quant le rapport te fut fait par exprès

De la grant perte et du mortel eomprès

De Constantin, la noble sainte ville:

Certes bien digne et bien heurée Lille

D'en avoir pris les vœux de mainte clause

Que tu y fis à celle seule cause.

Doubtless, however, depreciatory judgments were associated with praise and approval. Many must have asked themselves:

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