The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. IV. (of V.)
Page 27
A. (Tale XXXVI., Page 63.)
The following are the more important particulars, supplied by M. JulesRoman, with reference to President Charles of Grenoble:--
Jeffroy Charles was an Italian, born in the marquisate of Saluzza, wherehis father, Constant, had been a distinguished jurisconsult. The heroof Queen Margaret's xxxvith tale always signed his name Jeffroy Charles,but his descendants adopted the spelling Carles. Doubtless the name hadoriginally been Caroli. Before fixing himself in France, Jeffroy Charleshad been in the service of Luigi II., Marquis of Saluzza, who hadappointed him to the office of "Podesta" and entrusted him withvarious diplomatic missions to the French Court (see _Discorsi soprealame famiglie nobili del Piemonte_ by Francesco Agostini della Chiesa,in MS. in the State Archives, at Turin). At the time when Charles VIII.was planning his expedition to Naples, he gave a cordial greeting to allthe Italians who presented themselves at his Court, and, securingthe services of Jeffroy Charles, he appointed him counsellor of theParliament of Grenoble (October 5, 1493), and entrusted him with varioussecret missions, the result being that he sojourned but unfrequently inDauphine. On the death of Charles VIII., Jeffroy secured the goodgraces of his successor, Louis XII., and was appointed (June 16, 1500)President of the Senate of Turin, and some months later Chief Presidentof the Parliament of Grenoble. Charles spent the greater part of thatyear on missions, both to the Court of the Emperor Maximilian and thatof the Pope. It was he who obtained from the former the investiture ofLouis XII. as Duke of Milan, which afterwards led to so much warfare.Most of the following years he spent at Milan, seeking to organise thegovernment of the duchy, and contending against the rapacity of boththe French and the Italian nobles. In 1508 he was sent by Louis XII.to Cambrai, in company with Cardinal d'Amboise, to conclude an alliancewith the Emperor against Venice, and he also repaired the same yearto Rome with Marshal Trivulzio to negotiate the Pope's entry into thisleague.
On war being declared, he set aside his judicial robes, and took anactive part in the campaign against Venice, fighting so bravely atAgnadel that Louis XII. knighted him on the battlefield. His lastdiplomatic mission was to the Court of Leo X. in 1515, in which year hewas, on account of his great learning, appointed to direct the educationof the King's younger daughter, the celebrated Renee of Ferrara. Butit is doubtful whether he ever even entered upon these duties, since hedied soon after he had been entrusted with them. His family remained inDauphine, where it died out, obscurely, during the seventeenth century.Only one of his sons, Anthony, evinced any talent, becoming counsellorof the Rouen Parliament (1519), and ambassador at Milan (1530). Lancelotde Carles, Bishop of Riez, was not, as some biographers assert, a sonof Jeffroy Charles, nor was he, it would seem, in any way connected withthe Saluzza family.
Jeffroy Charles's wife, Margaret du Mottet, had borne him eight childrenbefore he surprised her in adultery. After the tragical ending of hisconjugal mishaps he adopted as his crest the figure of an angel holdingthe forefinger of one hand to his mouth as if to enjoin secrecy. (1) Inthe seventeenth century this "angel of silence" was to be seen, carvedin stone, and serving as a support of the Charles escutcheon, on thehouse where the President had resided in the Rue des Clercs at Grenoble(Guy Allard's _Dictionnaire du Dauphine, &c_, Grenoble 1695). Escutcheonand support have nowadays disappeared, but on certain of Charles'sseals, as well as in books that belonged to him, now in the BibliothequeNationale, Paris, the emblem of the angel will still be found. Theearliest seal on which we find it is one affixed to a receipt dated fromMilan, July 31, 1506. Assuming that he adopted this crest in memory ofthe events narrated by Queen Margaret, it is probable that the latteroccurred in the earlier part of 1506 or the latter part of the previousyear. (2)
1 The suggestion here presents itself that, apart from the question of any crime, this emblem of secrecy was a very fitting one for a diplomatist to assume.--Ed.
2 That is, twenty years after the _Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles_, from which some commentators think the _Heptameron_ story to have been borrowed, was first printed. --Ed.
Three copies of a medal showing Charles's energetic, angular profile,with the inscription _Jafredus Karoli jurisconsultus preses Delphinatuset Mediolani_, are known to exist; one in the Grenoble museum, one inthat of Milan, and one in my (M. Roman's) collection. Three MS. worksfrom the President's library are in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.The frontispiece of one of these (MSS. Lat. No. 4801) is a miniaturepainting of his escutcheon, surmounted by the half-length figure of the"angel of silence," who is clad in dark blue, with wings of red, greenand blue feathers. On folio 74 of the same MS. is a full-length figureof the angel, clad in light blue and supporting Charles's escutcheonwith one hand, whilst the forefinger of the other is pressed tohis lips. In the libraries of Lyons, Grenoble and Turin are otherrichly-illuminated works that belonged to the President, who was adistinguished bibliophilist and great patron of letters, several learnedItalian writers, and among others, J. P. Parisio, J. M. Cattaneo andP'ranchino Gafforio, having dedicated their principal works to him.He it was, moreover, who saved the life of Aldo Manuzio, the famousVenetian printer, when he was arrested by the French as a spy in 1506.
From the foregoing particulars it will be seen that President Charles was alike learned, brave and skilful. But for the Queen of Navarre's circumstantial narrative it would be hard to believe that a man with so creditable a public record killed his wife by means of a salad of poisonous herbs.--Ed.
THE END OF THE FOURTH VOLUME