Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Timeline
- Introduction
- 1 The Life of Jean II Le Meingre, Dit Boucicaut (1366–1421)
- 2 The Livre Des Fais Du Bon Messire Jehan Le Maingre
- 3 Defending the Marshal
- 4 A Flower of Knighthood
- 5 The Virtues, the Good Habits and the Good Disposition of the Marshal
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Timeline
- Introduction
- 1 The Life of Jean II Le Meingre, Dit Boucicaut (1366–1421)
- 2 The Livre Des Fais Du Bon Messire Jehan Le Maingre
- 3 Defending the Marshal
- 4 A Flower of Knighthood
- 5 The Virtues, the Good Habits and the Good Disposition of the Marshal
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Jean II Le Meingre was buried in his family chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the basilica of Saint-Martin at Tours. The effigy presented him wearing a long robe marked with his coat of arms, a double-headed eagle with spread wings (‘D’azur à l’aigle bicéphale de gueles, becquée et membrée d’azur’). His epitaph declared that
Here lies my noble lord Jehan Le Meingre, known as Boucicaut the son, marshal of France, great constable of the emperor and of the empire of Constantinople, governor of Genoa for the king, count of Beaufort, of Clux, of Alest, and viscount of Turenne, who died on 25 June 1421 in England where he was a prisoner.
His wife, Antoinette de Turenne, had also asked to be buried in this chapel in her will dated 10 April 1413. Her body was finally moved from the monastery of Notre-Dame du Carmel at Tours to join her husband in 1426, thanks to the efforts of her confessor and executor, Jean Manubier. Her effigy was placed alongside her husband, and her epitaph simply identified her as viscountess of Turenne and wife of ‘Jehan Bouciquaut’. But on 15 March 1562, the basilica was ransacked by soldiers in the service of the prince of Condé and Antoine de La Rochefoucauld, and the effigies upon the tombs of both Jean I and Jean II Le Meingre were mutilated. Then, in 1793, the basilica was transformed into a stable, and shortly afterwards it was demolished, so the only surviving record of his tomb now exists in the pages of an antiquarian notebook.
The couple were also commemorated in the splendid Boucicaut Hours. One illumination showed a young Boucicaut facing Antoinette as they both prayed to the crowned Madonna and the baby Jesus Christ above them. The marshal was dressed in armour, accompanied by an angel acting as his squire, thereby emphasizing both his martial identity and his service to God. The fact that husband and wife were depicted kneeling in front of one another and physically mirroring one another would suggest an equal and respectful relationship.
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- Information
- A Virtuous KnightDefending Marshal Boucicaut (Jean II Le Meingre, 1366–1421), pp. 159 - 167Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2019