Church Monuments Society

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From the age of fifteen, until her death at thirty-six, Anne de Bretagne was pregnant at least eleven times. Two children from her second marriage, Claude and Renée, survived to adulthood.^[1] Most of Anne de Bretagne’s other children died before, or shortly after, their births. Charles-Orland, who died at three years old in 1495, is an exception to this. A marble monument, initially installed at Saint Martin de Tours, commemorates Charles-Orland and his brother Charles de France, who was born and died in 1496.^[2]

The two boys, who never met in life, are depicted together as a pair of remarkably naturalistic, life-sized gisants. Charles de France is shown wearing his chrisom-cloth, reminding the viewer that he died within a month of his baptism. Beneath the thick folds of his robe, his pose is suggestive of the tight bands with which medieval newborns were swaddled. Charles-Orland is also shown in luxurious robes, even sporting a crown, which would of course be thoroughly impractical for a living toddler. Indeed, in life, he would have worn plain linen clothes. Nevertheless, in his form and face, he is a relatively convincing three-year-old, and resembles a surviving portrait of him by Jean Hey. Representations of children on medieval tombs did not always align so closely with the deceased’s age; for example, Jean le Posthume (1316), a newborn, is depicted as an older child on his monument.

Both Charles-Orland and Charles de France’s robes are patterned with dolphins and fleur-de-lys, with high relief dolphins also adorning each corner of the monument. This motif emphasises that each boy held the title of Dauphin during his short life, with the associated coat of arms also appearing frequently throughout the sculpture. Various features also remind the viewer of their mother’s Breton heritage. Spots of black inlay indicate that the robes worn by the boys are ermine, which was an important symbol of Brittany and its duchy. Above the monument’s frieze, it is encircled by a Cordèliere, further connoting the dukes of Britanny, and their Franciscan patronage.

As well as demonstrating Anne’s love and grief for her sons, the tomb might also reflect associated feelings pertaining to her homeland. In 1491, Anne de Bretagne married the Valois king Charles VIII in order to bring conflict between France and Brittany to an end. After his death, she was obliged to marry his successor, Louis XII. Nevertheless, she hoped to pass down the duchy independently from the French crown. Due to Salic law and the conditions of the treaty of Montargis, she would have needed to produce two sons in order to do so. The tomb of Charles-Orland and Charles de France (who were of course grievable in their own right) might have also represented the challenges faced by Anne in her quest to maintain the independence of Brittany. Had the two boys, her longest lived sons, survived to adulthood, the independence of Britanny might have been secured for a while longer.

Anne de Bretagne’s loss of so many children should be acknowledged as a potential source of great trauma, and studied as such, rather than solely as a dynastic issue. Nevertheless, such concerns may well have compounded the pain of losing several children. Furthermore, the dynastic importance of Charles-Orland and Charles de France may have legitimised their public commemoration.

Then, like now, social stigma shaped public expressions of grief. An account written by Phillipe de Commynes after the death of Charles-Orland gives a sense of how harshly the young queen’s emotions were scrutinised. Commynes approvingly describes the king’s grief as ‘short’ and reasonable. In contrast, he characterises Anne’s grief as excessive and unnatural.^[3] Following this, there are no surviving accounts of Anne’s emotions during subsequent pregnancies and losses. Indeed, opportunities for Anne to express her grief for her lost children, without risking unpleasant social and political ramifications, were limited. Her options would have been particularly limited following her experiences of stillbirth; canon law forbade the burial of unbaptised children in consecrated ground.

A pair of epitaphs on the tomb for Charles-Orland and Charles de France powerfully convey a sense of loss and grief. Each text specifies the exact age of the deceased child, right down to the day. This precision reminds the viewer how painfully short their lives were, but also that each boy reached major milestones, which may have contributed to perceptions of their personhood. Charles de France’s epitaph describes Atropos, one of the Fates (usually shown cutting the thread of life with shears), using a “deadly arrow, of cruel suffering”, with which she “breaks human hearts”. Atropos’ target is the deceased, yet these lines also emphasize how the bereaved are injured through loss.

Anne de Bretagne’s emotional experiences of loss cannot be fully reconstructed; however, it is clear that she was not truly at liberty to express her feelings freely. Crucially, the tomb at Tours represents an occasion on which Anne de Bretagne had the opportunity to convey her grief. This opportunity was not one afforded to all grieving parents; this tomb could not have been produced without the vast wealth, power and influence which came with being a queen and duchess. For each trace of maternal grief which survives, we must remember that countless stories have been lost. Nevertheless, the tomb at Tours is an invaluable reminder that medieval subjects were not inured to the pain of child loss.

Rosalind Phillips-Solomon

Appendix/Transcriptions:

The Epitaph of Charles-Orland

Transcription:

• Charles huitiesme roy pieux (et) excelle(n)t.
• Fut des anne royne. et duchesse・ (d)e. b(re)taigne
• Son premier filz no(m)me charles orlend.
• Leq(ue)l regna sans mort qui rien nep(ar)gne
• Trois ans trois moys. dauplhi(n) de vienoys
• Conte dyois. et de valentinois
• Mais lan v cen(s)・ mai(n)(s) v・il rendit lame.
• A amboise・le seziesm(m)e du moys
• De dece(m)bre. pui(s) fut mi(s) soubz la lame.

Translation:

Charles VIII, pious and excellent king /Had by Anne his queen and duchess of Brittany / his first son called Charles-Orland / who reigned, until death, which conserves no one, / (for) three years three / months, (as) the Dauphin of Viennois, / (the) count of Dyois, and of Valentinois / but (in) the year fourteen-ninety-five gave up the ghost / at Amboise, (on) the sixteenth of the month / of December  (and) after was placed underneath this stone.

The Epitaph of Charles de France

Transcription:

• par atropos・qui les cueur(s) humai(n)s fend
• Dun dard mortel・ de cruelle souffra(n)ce
• En dessoubz gist . Charles second enfant
• Du roy charles . et de anne royne en france.
• Le quel vesquit・daulphin de viennoys
• Conte dyois . et de valentinoys
• Vignt (et) cinq iour(s). puis lez tours au plessis
• En octobre . morut a deux du moys
• Mil quatre cens・auec nona(n)te et six

Translation:

By Atropos , who breaks human hearts / with a deadly arrow,  of cruel suffering. / Below here lies Charles, second child / of king Charles, and of queen Anne of France / Who lived (as) . the Dauphin of Viennois / The count of Dyois, and of Valentinois / Twenty-five days after (he was born) near Tours in Plessis / In October. (he) died (on) the second of the month /Fourteen-ninety-six.

^[1] In 1873 the skeletal remains of a very small baby were found alongside the heart burial of Charles VIII at Notre Dame de Cléry. The remains have been identified with as Anne and Charles’ son Francois (born in August 1493). The final resting places of the rest of Anne de Bretagne’s children are unknown, although some have suggested that two more children were interred alongside Charles-Orland and Charles de France.

^[2] During the French Revolution, the tomb was moved to Saint Gatien, as is recorded in inscriptions contemporary to its relocation.

^[3] Phillipe de Commynes, Mémoires, see section translated in Brown, The Queen’s Library, 105–6; Original French published in Albert Pauphilet, ed., Historiens et Chroniquers Du Moyen Âge: Robert de Clari, Villehardouin, Joinville, Froissart, Commynes (Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, 1963), 1418–19.