The Royal Succession

THE ROYAL
SUCCESSION

MAURICE DRUON

Translated from the French by
Humphrey Hare

PAN BOOKS LTD
: LONDON

First published in French
as
La Loi des Males.
First published in Great Britain 1958 by
Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd.
This edition published 1972 by Pan Books Ltd,
33 Tothill Street, London, SWi.

ISBN 0
330 23328 9

French edition (c) Editions Mondiales, Paris, 1957 This tr
ans
lation
Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd, 1958

Printed in Great Britain by
Cox & Layman Ltd, London, Reading and Fakenham

`History is a novel that has been lived.'

E. & T. DE GONCOURT

`It is terrifying to think how much research is needed to determine the truth of even the most unimportant fact.'

STENDHAL

CONTENTS

The characters in this book 9

Prologue 13

I: PHILIPPE AND THE CLOSED GATES

I THE WHITE QUEEN
5

2 THE CARDINAL WHO DID NOT BELIEVE IN HELL
24

3 THE GATES OF LYONS
32

4 LET US DRY OUR TEARS
38

5 THE GATES OF THE CONCLAVE 47

6 FROM NEAUPHLE TO SAINT-MARCEL
52

7 THE GATES OF THE PALACE
64

8 THE COUNT OF POITIERS' VISITS
73

9 FRIDAY'S CHILD
77

10 THE ASSEMBLY OF THE THREE DYNASTIES
84

11 THE BETROTHED PLAY TAG
93

II: ARTOIS AND THE CONCLAVE

I THE ARRIVAL OF COUNT ROBERT
102

2 THE POPE'S LOMBARD
109

3 THE WAGES OF SIN
116

4 WE MUST GO TO WAR
125

5 THE REGENT'S ARMY TAKES A PRISONER
129

III:FROM MOURNING
TO CORONATION

I A WET-NURSE FOR THE KING
135

2 LEAVE IT TO GOD
142

3 BOUVILLE'S TRICK
151

4 MY LORDS, LOOK ON THE KING
155

5 A LOMBARD IN SAINT-DENIS
158

6 FRANCE IN FIRM HANDS
165

7 SHATTERED DREAMS
169

8 DEPARTURES
179

9 THE EVE OF THE CORONATION
191

10 THE BELLS OF RHEIMS
201

Historical notes
212

The characters in this book

The Queen of France:
CLEMENCE OF HUNGARY, granddaughter
of
Charles
II of
Anjou-Sicily and
of
Marie
of
Hungary, second wife and widow
of Louis X,
the Hutin, King
of
France and Navarre, aged 23.

Louis-X's Children:
JEANNE OF NAVARRE, daughter
of
Louis
X
and his first wife, Marguerite
of
Burgundy, aged
5.
Jean
I,
called THE POSTHUMOUS, son
of
Louis X and Clemence
of
Hungary, King
of
France.

The Regent:
PHILIPPE, second son
of
Philip
IV,
the Fair, and brother to
Louis X,
Count
of
Poitiers, Peer
of
the Kingdom, Count Palatine
of
Burgundy, Lord
of
Salins, Regent, then Philippe
V,
the Long, aged 23.

His Brother:
CHARLES, third son
of
Philip the Fair, Count de la Marche and future King Charles
IV,
the Fair, aged 22.

His Wife:
JEANNE OF BURGUNDY, daughter
of
Count Othon
of
Burgundy and
of
the Countess Mahaut
of
Artois, heiress to the County
of
Burgundy, aged 23.

His Children:
JEANNE, also called
of
Burgundy, aged
8.
MARGUERITE, aged 6. ISABELLE, aged
5.

LOUIS-PHILIPPE
of
France.

The Valois Branch:
MONSEIGNEUR CHARLES, son
of
Philippe
III
and
of
Isabella
of
Aragon, brother
of
Philip the Fair, Count
of
the Apanage
of
Valois, Count
of
Maine, Anjou, Alencon, Chartres, Perche, Peer
of
the Kingdom, ex-Titular Emperor
of
Constantinople, Count
of
Romagna, aged
46.

PHILIPPE O
F VALOIS, son
of
the above and
of
Marguerite
of
Anjou-Sicily, the future King Philippe
VI,
aged 23.

The Evreux Branch:
MONSEIGNEUR LOUIS OF FRANCE, son
of
Philippe
III
and
of
Marie
of
Brabant, half-brother
of Philip
the Fair and
of
Charles
of
Valois, Count
of
Evreux and Etampes, aged 40.

PHILIPPE OF EVREUX
, his son.

The Clermont-Bourbon: ROBERT, COUNT OF CLERMONT, sixth son of Saint Louis, aged 6o. Louis OF BOURBON, son of the above.

The Artois Branch, descended from a Brother of Saint Louis:

THE COUNTESS MAHAUT OF ARTOIS, Peer of the Kingdom, widow of the Count Palatine Othon IV, mother of Jeanne and Blanche of Burgundy, mother-in-law of Philippe of Poitiers and of Charles de la Marche, aged about 45.

ROBERT III of ARTOIS, nephew of the above, Count of Beaumont-le-Roger, Lord of Conches, aged 29.

The Duchy of Burgundy Family: AGNES OF FRANCE, youngest
daughter of Saint Louis, dowager Duchess of Burgundy, widow of Duke Robert II, mother of Marguerite of Burgundy, aged about 57.

EUDES V, her son, Duke of Burgundy, brother of Marguerite and uncle of Jeanne of Navarre, aged about 35.

The Counts of Viennois: THE DAUPHIN JEAN II de la Tour du
Pin, brother-in-law of Queen Clemence. THE DAUPHINIET GUIGUES, his son.

The Great Officers of the Crown:

GAUCHER DE CHATILLON,
Constable of France.

RAOUL DE PRESLES, jurist, one-time Councillor to Philip the Fair.

MILLE DE NOYERS, jurist, one-time Marshal of the Army, brother-in-law of the Constable.

HUGUES DE BOUVILLE, one-time Grand Chamberlain to Philip the Fair.

THE SENESCHAL DE JOINVILLE, companion-in-arms to Saint Louis, a chronicler.

ANSEAU DE JOINVILLE, son of the above, Councillor to the Regent.

ADAM HERON, Grand Chamberlain to the Regent. COUNT JEAN DE FOREZ.

JEAN DE CORBELL and JEAN DE BEAUMONT, called the
Derame, Marshals.

PIERRE DE GALARD, Grand Master of the Crossbowmen.

ROBERT DE GAMACHES and GUILLAUME DE SERIZ, Chamberlains.

GEOFFROY DE FLEURY, Bursar.

The Cardinals:

JACQUES DUEZE, Cardinal in Curia, then Pope Jean XXII, aged 72.

FRANCESCO CAETANI, nephew of Pope Boniface VIII.

ARNAUD D'AUC
H, Cardinal Camerlingo.

NAPOLEON ORSINI, JACQUES and PIERRE COLONNA, BERENGER FREDOL, elder and younger brothers, ARNAUD DE PELAGRUE, STEFANESCHI, and MANDAGOUT etc.

The Barons of Artois: The Lords of VARENNES, SOUASTRE,

CAUMONT, FIENNES, PIQUIGNY, KIEREZ, HAUTPONLIEU, BEAUVAL, etc.

The Lombards: SPINELLO TOLOMEI, a Sienese banker living
in Paris.

Guccio BAGLIONI, his nephew, aged 20.
BOCCACCIO
, a traveller, father of the poet Boccaccio.

The Cressay Family: DAME ELIABEL, widow of the Lord of
Cressay.

JEAN and PIERRE,,her sons, aged 24 and 22 respectively. MARIE, her daughter, aged 18.

ROBERT DE COURTENAY, Archbishop of Rheims. GUILLAUME DE MELLO, Councillor to the Duke of Burgundy. MESSIRE VARAY, Consul of Lyons.

GEOFFROY COQUATRIX, a Burgess of Paris, an Army contractor.

MADAME DE BOUVILLE, wife of the one-time Chamberlain. BEATRICE D'HIRSON, niece of the Chancellor of Artois, Lady
in-Waiting to the Countess Mahaut.

All the above names have their place in history.

Prologue

In three hundred and twenty-seven years, from the election of Hugues Capet to the death of Philip the Fair, only eleven kings had reigned in France and each one had left a son to ascend the throne.

It was a prodigious dynasty, which Providence seemed to have marked out for duration and permanence. Only two of the eleven reigns had covered less than fifteen years.

This singular continuity in the exercise and transmission of power had allowed, if not determined, the formation of national unity.

For the feudal link, a purely personal one between vassal and suzerain, between the weaker and the stronger, was substituted gradually another relationship, another compact uniting the members of a vast human community which had for long been subject to similar vicissitudes and an identical law.

If the concept of the nation had not yet become evident] its symbol already existed in the person of the sovereign, the supreme source of authority and the ultimate court of appeal. Whoever thought of the king also thought of France.

And Philip the Fair, throughout his life, had set himself to cement this nascent unity with a powerful centralized administration and the systematic destruction of external and internal rivalry.

Hardly had the Iron King died, when his son, Louis X, followed him to the grave. The population could not help but see in these two deaths, kings struck down in their prime, one following so quickly on the other, the finger of fate.

Louis X, the Hutin, had reigned eighteen months, six days and ten hours. During this short period of time, this pitiful monarch had destroyed the greater part of his father's achievement. His reign had seen the murder of his queen and the hanging of his first minister; famine had ravaged France; two provinces had rebelled; and an army had been engulfed in the Flanders mud. The great nobles were infringing on the royal prerogatives once more; reaction was all-powerful; and the Treasury empty.

Louis X had ascended the throne at a moment when the world
lacked a pope; lie died before a pontiff had been elected, and Christendom trembled on the verge of schism.

And now France was without a king.

For Louis X, by his marriage to Marguerite of Burgundy, had left only a
daughter of five years of age, J
eanne of Navarre, who was suspected strongly of bastardy. By his second marriage, he had bequeathed but an expectation: Queen Clemence was pregnant; but would not be brought to bed for five months. Moreover, it was being canvassed openly that the Hutin had been
been
poisoned.

No disposition had been made for a regency; and personal ambitions resulted in individual attempts to seize power. In Paris the Count of Valois endeavoured to have himself proclaimed Regent. At Dijon the Duke of Burgundy, brother of the murdered Marguerite and the powerful head of a baronial league, undertook to avenge the memory of his sister by championing the rights of his niece. At Lyons the Count of Poitiers, elder surviving brother of the Hutin, was grappling with the intrigues of the cardinals and vainly striving to force the Conclave to a decision. The Flemings were but awaiting the occasion to take up arms again; while the nobility of Artois was pertinaciously conducting a civil war.

All this was enough to remind the people of the curse pronounced two years before by the Grand Master of the Templars from among the faggots of his pyre. In that age of superstition, it might well have seemed
, in the first week of June 131
6, that the Capets were an accursed race.