The Ceremonial of Royal Succession in Capetian France: The Double Funeral of Louis X
On 12 and 13 July 1316 the abbey of St-Denis was the scene of a curious and unusual service performed for King Louis X of France, who had died and been buried at the abbey more than a month before. As Geffroy de Paris relates, Philip, count of Poitiers, ‘made his way to St-Denis and there, grieving...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
1978
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| In: |
Traditio
Year: 1978, Volume: 34, Pages: 227-271 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | On 12 and 13 July 1316 the abbey of St-Denis was the scene of a curious and unusual service performed for King Louis X of France, who had died and been buried at the abbey more than a month before. As Geffroy de Paris relates, Philip, count of Poitiers, ‘made his way to St-Denis and there, grieving and downcast, he did his brother's service’; another chronicler, more explicit, says that ‘in Philip's presence were celebrated obsequies for his brother King Louis.’ Fuller information is found in the accounts kept by Geffroy de Fleury, future argentier of Philip V, for what he terms the obseque of Louis X, performed for the king's trespassement. In the account are recorded expenses for a chapelle used for the occasion, and, to make the border, cover, and ceiling of the chapel, 14 aunes of red silk worked with the royal arms and 16 double aunes, two pieces of sky-blue silk, and five black cloths; money was also spent on workmen who went to St-Denis to put the chapel in place — ‘tendre la chappelle’ — and on the nails they used to do their work. Finally, two Turkish cloths were bought ‘to put over the body,’ and the 22 1. par. paid for these cloths represented more than a third of the entire cost of the funeral, which amounted to 59 1. 6 s. par. The evidence in Fleury's account supplements the chroniclers' terse references to the ceremony, but no more than the chronicles does the account suggest the significance of the strange service: the only double funeral ever held for any king of France. |
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| ISSN: | 2166-5508 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Traditio
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0362152900016135 |