Sir John Froissart presenting his book of Love Poems to Richard the second
PLATE XVII.
SIR JOHN FROISSART PRESENTING HIS BOOK TO RICHARD II.
Froissart, who originally came to England in the suite of Philippa of Hainault, queen of Edward III., returned, after an absence of twenty-seven years, in 1395, and was well received by Richard II., in recollection of his services and attachment to the Black Prince, his father, and to King Edward and Queen Philippa, his grandfather and grandmother.[8] Froissart relates, with an affecting and very pleasing naïveté, his renewal of old friendships after so long an absence, but is more particularly minute in his description of the interview with the King, when he presented his book of love poems, the romance of Meliador. He says, that “he (the king) opened it, and looked into it with much pleasure;” and continues, “he ought to have been pleased, for it was handsomely written and illuminated, and bound in crimson velvet, with ten silver gilt studs, and roses of the same in the middle, with two large clasps of silver gilt, richly worked with roses in the centre. The King asked me what the book treated of? I replied, ‘Of love!’ He was pleased with the answer, and dipped into several places, reading parts aloud, for he read and spoke French perfectly well, and then gave it to one of his knights, called Sir Richard Credon, to carry to his oratory,” &c. &c.
This illumination forms the frontispiece to Chapter 54.[Pg 81][Pg 80]
Interview of king Richard the second with his uncle the Duke of Gloucester at his Castle of Pleshy