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Herman reviews Francois Ier et l'art des Pays-Bas edited by Cecile Scaillierez.

More's retirement at Chelsea after his resignation lasted less than two years, a time which he devoted to write his books of controversy (especially during 1533), while trying to keep himself away from public life. The life of the ex-Chancellor contrasts with the Emperor's frantic activity in Italy, Spain and Northern Africa. As the situation of Catherine of Aragón worsened, the possibility of war between England and Charles V became more and more real. And yet, a careful revision of available data proves that the Emperor never considered this course of action seriously: his real concerns were the Turks, the strengthening of his alliance with the Pope to face Lutheranism, and the ever hostile Francis I. As an epilogue to this research, I will bring into consideration the Emperor's words of praise about the English Chancellor, as reported presumably by Sir Thomas Elyot.

This book, based on a wide variety of contemporary sources, re-examines the little-studied late war between Henry VIII and Francis I in order to assess its impact on both countries and its influence on strategies and tactics for waging war and making peace in the 1540s.

In addition to portraits and diplomatic reports, Renaissance courts relied on fashion dolls to acquaint themselves with foreign dress. Unfortunately, literature on this subject is scarce and often disappointing. Overlooked by doll historians, a letter written by Federico Gonzaga (1500-40) in 1515 reveals that François I^sup er^ (1494-1547) requested a fashion doll from Isabella d'Este (1474-1539). After examining this document within the context of what is currently known about Renaissance fashion dolls, this essay explores what François I^sup er^'s interest in these objects suggests about his personality and his relationship to the women of his court. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

The presence in the Cathedral at Auch of a large carved representation of Francis I as the Biblical King David on the high back panel of one of the choir stalls, turning to face, in the next stall, a carving of Bathsheba of equal proportions, raises intriguing questions, especially as archive documentation on the subject is sparse and requires contemporary literary texts to support it. This article considers how the carving fits into Francis's known iconography, who may have been responsible for commissioning it (Hippolyte d'Este was Cardinal-Archbishop of Auch at the relevant time, 1552-1554) and how Francis in the persona of David was seen by his court poet, Clément Marot, by his sister Marguerite de Navarre and by Francis himself. In addition the David-Bathsheba episode invites comparison with Francis's relationship with the Duchesse d'Etampes. Finally the penitential role of the Psalms is seen to be equally important to both kings.

In April 1518, Federico II Gonzaga traveled to the court of Francis I in Amboise to compete in a joust honoring the firstborn son of the French king. The young prince hoped to achieve several vital diplomatic missions in addition to the anxious business of self-presentation at court. Federico performed well and garnered high praise from his fellow courtiers; paradoxically, he failed to accomplish most of his goals. This article examines the correspondence of this prince and his parents through the anthropological approach of \"practice theory\" to suggest that rank and culture constrained a ritual participant's ability to act creatively while jockeying for position at court, and diminished the possibility of attaining social and material satisfaction. Therefore, the interpretation of any public event requires a precise analysis of its historical context to uncover various levels of meaning.

La Musique a la cour de Francois I by Christelle Cazaux is reviewed.

A largely unresearched \"Querelle des Amyes\" text, Almanque Papillon's \"Le Nouvel Amour\" attributes a \"Perfect Love discourse\" to a King \"(Francis I)\" and describes the performance of this discourse within a fictional court setting. The King's chastity and that of his beloved are inscribed within a hierarchical courtly social structure in which this virtue is the \"apanage\" of the most noble. This article explores possible reasons for the representation of Francis as a chaste persona. It is suggested that this paradigm of chaste love within the text is symptomatic of a contemporary desire to instigate a communal ethic of \"socio-sexual control\" within the \"French Renaissance Court.\"

Recently uncovered archival and historical documents suggest new linkages between the musical patronage of the French royal court and the development of the polyphonic repertory of Francis I's personal chapel as represented in the publications of Pierre Attaingnant. The union in 1514 of the chapels of Anne of Brittany and Louis XII made possible a reorganization of the Chapelle du roi into discrete groups of singers responsible for either the chanting of the chapel's public liturgy or the performance of polyphonic music. As early as the 1490s, however, the French kings began to favor the celebration of private Low Masses en musique, a development seemingly reflected in the increased production of motets by Claudin de Sermisy and other royal court composers.

A sentimental domestic scene, François I and Marguerite of Navarre , was painted in 1804 by the Salon painter Fleury Richard (fig. 1). As he explained, it illustrates an anecdote from the legend of François I. The king's sister, Marguerite de Navarre, is shown discovering on the windowpane a graffito about the inconstancy of women. François — the great royal womanizer — has just scratched it there and looks very pleased with himself. This painting signals not only the early nineteenth century's fascination with the Renaissance king, but reveals its attitudes about the Renaissance itself. For example, the setting and the costumes betray a confusion about the periodization of Gothic and Renaissance: the room in which the scene takes place is of Gothic revival design, while another room - in neo-classical style - opens beyond; the king's costume is historically correct, but Marguerite could be Maid Marian.