The ceremonial was altered at the funeral of Francis I. and Henry II., the body being placed in the chariot d’armes ou de parement, and the honours due to the body, which was in the hinder part of the procession, were paid to the effigy. The gentlemen of the chamber to Francis I., “with straps around their necks,” esteemed it an honour to bear the effigy of their late master; those who had been in the service of Henry II. only walked by the side of his effigy, holding up the pall of cloth of gold. The Parliament, which had always enjoyed the privilege of walking in front of, as well as of surrounding and following, the body and the effigy, felt annoyed at being exclusively attached to the latter, which still represented life; whereas the body, representing death, was already, so to speak, separated from the honours of royalty.
Fig. 400.—Mortuary Cloth from the Church of Folleville (Somme), now in the Museum at Amiens (Sixteenth Century).—The cloth thrown over the coffin formed three crosses; the centre of the largest of these lay over the breast of the deceased, the two others covered the two sides of the bier; upon the white crosses are death’s heads crunching bones between their teeth. Two yellow-hued mirrors reflect the image of a human skull. The crosses bear the Latin inscription, “Memento mori.”
The funeral procession proceeded in the following order through the streets of Paris to the Abbey of St. Denis. First came an esquire in mourning and on foot, carrying the banner of France covered with black crape; then followed, bareheaded, the players of the hautboy, the tabor, and the fife, with their instruments reversed, and in their rear trumpeters with their bannerols flying.
Fig. 401.—Triumphal Vessel, which was drawn upon a car in the solemn funeral ceremony celebrated at Brussels, upon the 29th of December, 1558, in honour of the Emperor Charles V., who died on the 21st of September, in the same year, at the Monastery of St. Just.—This vessel gives some idea of the shape as well as of the magnificence of the galleys constructed at that period. Three symbolic personages are conducting the vessel towards eternity: in the stern stands Charity (Charitas), ever glowing with love; amidships is Faith (Fides), with her eyes fixed upon the image of Christ; and at the prow, above the gilt beak-head, is Hope (Spes), standing with one hand placed upon the anchor of safety. The masts and bulwarks of the ship are decorated with flags upon which figure the arms of the different Netherland States, of Burgundy, and the Tyrol—all direct fiefs or conquests of the deceased emperor. The triangular sail in the stern indicates, by its colour (black), that the vessel is in mourning. The marine monsters which are seen swimming around it represent the enemies vanquished by Charles V., and the columns of Hercules, surmounted by the crown and the tiara, typify the alliance between the Empire and the Church, an alliance to which the Cesarean motto—“Non plus oultre,” lends special significance.—From the “Magnifique et Somptueuse Pompe Funèbre faite aux Obsèques du très-grand Empereur Charles Cinquième en la Ville de Bruxelles” (Plantin, Antwerp, 1559). In the Collection of M. Ruggieri, Paris.
After these came the chariot d’armes, hung with black velvet which reached to the ground, and upon it a large cross in white satin, and twenty-four shields representing the arms of France. The coach was drawn by six horses with black velvet trappings and the large white satin cross, and on the near wheeler and leader postilions in mourning and bareheaded. Around the coach were armourers and sommeliers d’armes, together with some members of the four mendicant orders, carrying tapers to which were affixed armorial shields. Twelve pages followed, dressed in black velvet, who rode, bareheaded, upon twelve horses, also caparisoned in black velvet with a white satin cross, each led by a footman dressed in mourning and also bareheaded.
Fig. 402.—Mourning Costumes.—Group consisting of Gold Fleece, Herald of Spain; of King Philip II., son and successor of Charles V., accompanied by Henry IV., Duke of Brunswick; of the Duke d’Arcos, Spanish Grandee; of Ruy Gomez de Sylva, Count of Melito, and of Emanuel-Philibert, Duke of Savoy. The last-named wears, like King Philip, the mourning hood, being the son of Beatrice of Portugal, sister-in-law of Charles V. The hood was only worn by the heirs of the deceased sovereign.—From the work on the funeral of Charles V., quoted on the previous page (see Fig. 401), published by Plantin, at Antwerp, in 1559. In the Collection of M. Ruggieri, Paris.
One of the esquires of the stable carried the spurs and another the gauntlets; a third, the arms of France, in the form of an escutcheon, with the crown; a fourth bore at the end of a staff, in the form of a gallows, the coat-of-arms made of violet velvet, and studded with golden fleurs-de-lis. The first esquire, or, in his absence, the eldest, carried the royal-crested helmet.