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In 1385, the wedding of a Bavarian prince with one of the daughters of Philippe, Duke of Burgundy, was to be celebrated with great pomp and rejoicings at Cambrai, in the presence of the King and the whole of the French court. During the festivities the Duchesse de Brabant took the opportunity of reopening the subject with the King’s uncles to whom she pointed out all the alliances and advantages it would bring. The princes were willing to agree to it; for they had not yet decided on a wife for their nephew. A daughter of Lancaster had been suggested, but this was not approved of, and they were still hesitating between an Austrian archduchess and a princess of Lorraine, having, as they said, received[88] no further communications from Bavaria. The duchess promised to see about it before the end of the summer. The Duke of Burgundy, himself closely connected with the house of Bavaria, was the chief supporter of this alliance and entered warmly into the plans of the Duchesse de Brabant, who succeeded in overcoming the objections of Stephan and persuaded him to allow his daughter to pay a visit to her and to the Duchesse de Hainault, also a relation, and then to go with them to the fair of Amiens, where she would meet the King. Her uncle, Duke Friederich was to take her, and in order to avoid anything compromising to her dignity, she was to go on the pretext of a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Jean d’Amiens, where a famous relic was exhibited during the time this fair was going on. A painter was sent to paint the portraits of the three princesses, i.e., of Lorraine, Austria, and Bavaria. The portraits were shown to the King, who at once chose that of Isabeau. It still hangs in the gallery of the Louvre. She wears a red robe trimmed with fur, a tight corsage partly of blue velvet and a high headdress ornamented with gold and jewels.
It was early summer when Isabeau took leave of her father and her country, and set off with her uncle upon her journey. They travelled first to Brussels, where they were warmly received by the Duchesse de Brabant with whom they stayed three days, and then went to Quesnoy to stay three weeks with the Duchesse de Hainault; of whom Froissart remarks, “La duchesse qui fut moult sage, endoctrinait tous les jours, en toutes manières et contenances, la jeune fille de Bavière, quoique, de sa nature, celle-ci estoit propre et pourvue de sens et de doctrine; mais point de françois elle ne sçavoit.”
They also made considerable changes in Isabeau’s dress, which they declared to be far too simple for the future Queen of France. The Duchesse de Brabant ordered an entirely new trousseau for her so that she might be dressed as magnificently as if she had been her own daughter, and having arranged all this she went to Amiens, where she was joined by Isabeau under the care of the Duchesse de Hainault and her uncle, Friederich of Landshut.
The fair of Amiens, which took place every year was one of those mixtures of amusement and devotion so characteristic of the Middle Ages. The relic, which they declared to be the head of St. John the Baptist, had been brought from the siege of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204; and given by a gentleman of Picardy to the church of St. Jean d’Amiens, of which one of his brothers was a canon. It was always shown at the time of the fair, to which all classes came in crowds. One can form no idea of the splendour and picturesqueness of these mediæval fairs from the squalid spectacles that survive in our own days.
For what do we see now? Uninteresting but harmless crowds, mostly clad in cheap, tasteless imitations of the dress of a higher rank, pressing into shows which one cannot imagine anybody wishing to see, surrounding long rows of monotonous booths filled with ugly, commonplace goods that one cannot imagine anybody wishing to buy, committing no crimes and molesting nobody. But although very few modern fairs in civilised Europe offer anything worth buying or seeing, they were widely different in the Middle Ages. In many towns important fairs took place every year to which people went properly attended and protected, and where beautiful and valuable things of all kinds were to be sold. There the merchants brought jewels, embroideries, and costly stuffs from Italy and the East; pictures, illuminated missals, stamped leather, rich carvings in wood and ivory; delicately wrought cups, flagons, bowls, and other precious works of the gold and silver smiths; weapons of war, objects of art, and curiosities of every description. All sorts of shows and diversions were also going on all day and far into the night, which was the time the King and court usually went. It was a wonderful sight: the fitful glare of torches thrown here and there on the booths loaded with costly wares, while mingling in the throng around might be seen gleaming armour, magnificent dresses of silk and velvet, leather jerkins, tall caps, and peasants’ coarse woollen gowns and tunics; dark gabled houses forming a shadowy background. Now and then a fierce quarrel would arise, and there would be a rush and scuffle of armed men, the glitter of swords and daggers, shouts, cries, the fall of some and the dash of others down the dark, narrow streets which afforded their best chance of escape. The most famous of the old French fairs were the Foire de Lendit, or Landit, held between Paris and St. Denis, and perhaps the most ancient of all,[89] the fairs of St. Denis and St. Germain, which belonged to the Abbot and monks of St. Germain-des-Près, and was held in the celebrated Pré-aux-clercs, a great meadow or open space going from the Abbey to the Seine. The fair of Amiens was a great resort of all classes at that time, and when Isabeau with her uncle, Duke Friederich, and the Duchesse de Brabant arrived at its gates the town was thronged with people. The King was there with his court and a great array of nobles and ladies, besides numbers of ecclesiastics, merchants bringing their goods on long trains of mules, bourgeois and peasants, wandering minstrels and soldiers, so that the whole place was a scene of bustle, excitement, and festivity, which may well have delighted a young girl scarcely out of childhood longing for all the pleasure and magnificence so soon to be laid at her feet. For the King, ever since his uncles had shown him the portrait of Isabeau had not ceased to torment them to let him see the original, and as soon as he heard that she was really close at hand he sent two of his favourite chevaliers, the Seigneurs de la Rivière and de la Tremoille, to receive and conduct her with her relations and suite to the lodgings prepared for them, and assure them of his eagerness for the interview which had been arranged to take place on the following day.
The Duchesses and Isabeau were delighted at all they heard from the two chevaliers of the King’s anxiety and impatience, which promised well for the success of the plan; the beauty of Isabeau being far too striking to leave much doubt of the effect it would produce on a romantic, impressionable lad, who had already fallen in love with her picture.
The next day, Friday, the young princess was magnificently dressed, the Duchesses of Burgundy, Brabant, and Hainault, presiding at her toilette, after which she went with them to the King’s reception.
Charles, who had lain awake all night thinking about her, turned eagerly towards the door as Isabeau entered, and all eyes were fixed on her with interest and curiosity as she passed through the throng of courtiers. It must have been a trying moment for her, though if she felt nervous she did not show it, but only stood in silence before the King, who hastily prevented her, as she was about to bow or kneel before him, and raised her up with passionate admiration. All the evening he could not take his eyes from her, and after she had left and the reception was over no one felt any doubt of the result. The Duke of Burgundy told La Rivière, who was going with the King to his room, to find out while he was undressing what he wished to be done. Charles replied: “Tell my uncle, the Duke of Burgundy, to make haste and conclude the affair.”[90]
