The Delta of the Triple Elevens

by William Elmer Bachman

Before its adoption as an emblem by the reigning house of Lorraine, the double traverse cross had a long and interesting history. Important in the history of the development of the shape of the Cross with its two beams, the design being Byzantine and emblematic of the triumph of Christ over Death, are ancient double traverse crosses, each containing fragments of the Real Cross of the Crucifixion. They are preserved in different sections of France.

The double traverse of the Cross of Lorraine comes from the substitution, for the Titulus, or inscription originally used to mark the Cross upon which Christ was crucified, of a plain horizontal arm. The origin of the double traverse cross is Eastern, and, students of the subject point out, it undoubtedly represents the Jerusalem Cross--the True Cross--with its main horizontal beam and the Titulus, represented by a plain beam in the Cross of Lorraine.

Reliquaries containing parts of the Red Cross upon which the Savior was crucified, including the reliquaries in Poitiers and Limoges, are double traverse in form. On an enamelled plate in the Treasury of Graz Cathedral, Hungary, the figure of Saint Helena, credited with the recovery of the True Cross, is represented draped in a dress which is emblazoned with a double traverse cross.

The double traverse cross came to have its association with Lorraine in 1477 after Rene II, reigning head of the Duchy of Lorraine, had defeated Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, at the Battle of Nancy. Rene was of the house of Anjou and the emblem had been known as the Cross of Anjou to earlier members of the house.

Succession to the Duchy of Lorraine came to Rene II through the female line. His mother was Yolande of Anjou, daughter of Rene I. Through his father, Ferri of Vaudemont, Rene claimed descent from the Ancient dynasty of the Dukes of Lorraine, who traced their history to Gerard of Alsace, and who had ruled the Duchy uninterruptedly for almost four centuries.

At the time of the accession of Rene II, the neighboring Duchy of Burgundy was ruled by Charles the Bold, who made a reputation as a general and warrior. In the forwarding of his ambition for greater territory and more widespread authority, he had roused the enmity of Lorrainers. In 1476, following the accession of Rene II, the Duke of Burgundy laid siege to Nancy and took the city.

Rene went abroad to hire troops, and, returning in the early days of 1477 with considerable forces, especially Italian and Swiss mercenaries, gave battle to Charles within sight of Nancy, whose soldier citizens sallied forth to his help. Despite their assistance, Rene might have lost the fight had it not been for Campo Basso, an Italian condettieri in the service of Charles the Bold, who, having some grudge against the latter and being bribed by the other side, went over to the Lorrainers at the critical moment.

The Burgundians were cut to pieces. Charles the Bold, in trying to break away, was slain by a Lorraine officer who did not recognize him and who committed suicide when, the body of the famous Duke having been identified a couple of days later from an old scar behind the ear, he realized that it was he who had killed "so great a Prince."

The Battle of Nancy was not only the greatest event in the History of Lorraine, but one of the most momentous in the History of France, and even of Europe. If Burgundy alone was defeated, three parties benefitted by the victory, namely; Switzerland, for whom it meant final acquisition of independence; the King of France, and the Duke of Lorraine. The disappearance of Charles the Bold ensured at one stroke the unity of France, which it rid of the last ever powerful vassal, and the independence of Lorraine. No doubt Louis XI would rather have been the only profiteer by the death of his rival. No doubt, also, he meant to get hold of Lorraine and, as the event proved, laid hands shortly afterward on the Duchy of Bar and tried to prevent Rene II from coming into this comparatively small portion of Rene of Anjou's inheritance. But his wily plans were foiled by the very fact that, whatever his motives, he had made a show of fostering and supporting the Lorrainer against the Burgundian. Had Lorraine become a part of Charles the Bold's dominions, even the Mighty House of Austria would have been unable to keep it independent from France; Henry II's efforts would have been exerted against Lorraine, and Lorraine it is that France would have occupied at the same time as the three bishoprics, Toul, Metz, and Verdun and before Alsace. France's influence made itself felt in the Duchy as early as 1552, but annexation was put off until 1766.

Not only did Rene II's reign ensure the independence of Lorraine, but it secured the adjunction of Barrois, for there can be no doubt that the Duchy of Bar would have been annexed to France right away had not Charles VIII found it politic to give back the territory confiscated by his father, Louis XI, as an inducement to Duke Rene II not to press his claims regarding such parts of Rene of Anjou's inheritance as Anjou and Provence which France wanted and secured out of the deal.