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Jeanne nursed and consoled Charles in his frequent illnesses, and shared and sympathised with all his tastes.[44] Both were devoted to art and literature; Charles V. was the best educated and most learned prince of the fourteenth century. Almost the only existing letter written entirely by the hand of a Valois King of the direct line is by him. It is preserved at the Dépôt Central.[45] Jeanne’s love of books caused her to interest herself in the writings and translations of the time; she was also fond of poetry. Many Greek and Latin authors were now translated into French, and by the desire of the King and Queen, Nicolas d’Oresme, Bishop of Lisieux, made a translation of the whole of the Bible, which Charles took with him wherever he went, being in the habit of reading it all through every year. It was in two volumes.
On the 24th March, 1367, Charles laid the foundation stone of the new church of the Céléstins. Besides the church he gave them costly presents, amongst others a great cross of silver gilt. The Queen presented an image of the Virgin, also of silver gilt. The church was finished in 1370, and consecrated by the Archbishop of Sens. Charles lavished upon this church the most precious objects of art; chalices, missals, and ornaments of all descriptions; and especially magnificent were two chapels entirely hung with cloth of gold, one being covered with fleurs-de-lis, the other with suns and stars. The benefits and favours conferred by the King and Queen upon this convent were so great as to cause them to be considered as founders of it, and their statues were accordingly placed on the portal of the church. They spent 5,000 francs in building a dormitory, refectory, chapter-house and cloister.[46]
The hôtel St. Paul, where Charles and Jeanne afterwards lived, was most conveniently near the Céléstine convent. The courtiers, following their example, were always giving presents to this brotherhood. The King’s secretaries founded a confraternity in their church, and all belonged to it. The King exempted this order from all public contributions, even such as were generally paid by the clergy. They continued for several generations to enjoy such great favour and protection from the royal family that they appear to have rather presumed upon their privileges, for in time it grew into a byword, and in speaking of a conceited, arrogant person the exclamation “Voilà un fier Céléstin” became a common figure of speech.
The Céléstins, as time went on, became celebrated for the excellence of their cookery; there were especially certain omelettes for which they were much distinguished. But this was long after the time we are now considering.
One of the most fashionable convents for women was that of Chelles, near Paris. It had been founded by Clotilde, wife of Clovis I., and much enlarged by Ste. Bathilde, who dreamed that she saw a ladder raised before the altar of Our Lady, which touched Heaven, and by which she mounted in a cortège of angels. In consequence of this, the Abbey of Chelles bore as arms, a ladder between two fleurs-de-lis, those orders founded by Kings and Queens of France having the right to bear the lilies in their arms. The Abbesses of Chelles bore the greatest names in France, among them were Giselle, sister of Charlemagne, one of his daughters and numbers of widows, sisters, and daughters of kings.
But after a time this rich and distinguished establishment became also very worldly. Some monks built a monastery close to it, and the King had a palace on the other side of its walls. Scandals arose. The nuns got up late, went out hunting and conducted themselves much more after the fashion of the court than the cloister. They were on excellent terms with the brotherhood of the neighbouring monastery, who were mostly poor cadets of noble families. They gave parties and made confitures for these monks; and when Louis le Bègue carried off a nun of sixteen years old over the wall of his palace, his example was so much followed by his courtiers that nearly fifty nuns had eloped in a few months. The Bishop of Paris and Abbot of St. Victor went to preach and try to carry out reforms; but on their way back were attacked in the forest and the Abbot killed.[47] After Robert II. (996) the palace fell into ruins; but the evil reputation of the sisterhood went on long after. In 1358 they fled to Paris, but returned to their convent, which was besieged by the English. They escaped again with their Abbess, Alix le Passy, and were afterwards collected and reorganised by Jehanne la Forêt.
King Jean, who was not by any means a literary character, had only possessed twenty books, but Charles delighted in collecting them and arranged his library in a tower in the Louvre, which was called La Tour de la Librairie.[48] He collected nine hundred volumes, which in those days, before printing was used, made a considerable library. The catalogue of this library was made in 1378 by order of the King, and still exists.[49] It was in three rooms, occupying three floors of the tower, the windows of which had iron bars and a trellis of ironwork; with glass painted. The ceilings were of cypress wood and the walls panelled with richly carved oak. Thirty candles and a silver lamp burned all night in each room so that they might be available for study night and day.
In a manuscript, “Bibliothèque du Roy,” No. 7609, are found the names of the different instruments of music of the fourteenth century, among which can be recognised several that are still in use. Here are the names of some of the books contained in the library:—