Anne of Bretagne

Anne of Bretagne died at Blois in 1514. Her funeral was exceptionally extravagant and the object for a new publication in the autumn of 2013

Anne of Bretagne died at Blois in January 1514. She was buried in the royal necropolis at St. Denis at the end of a funeral, which was on an unprecedented scale and took more than 40 days. According to her will, her heart was placed in an enamel gold reliquary and brought to Nantes in March. Deposited in the vault of the Carmelite friars, in the tomb made for her parents, it was later transferred to the cathedral of St. Pierre in Nantes. Today it is housed in le Musé Dobrée at present closed until 2015.

In connection with her funeral a “Commemoracion et advertissement de la mort de tres crestienne, tres haulte et tres excellante princesse, ma tres redoubtée et souveraine dame madame Anne, deux foyz royne de France, duchesse de Bretaigne” was written by Pierre Choque and dedicated to Pierre de Saint-Gilles († 1537), husband of Catherine Grimault, who was lady of honour to Anne de Bretagne. One of the extant manuscripts, Stowe 584 , is held by The British Library. Others are in the collections of BnF, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in the Netherlands, St. Petersburg etc. All in all 30 manuscripts are extant.

In connection with the centennial the Collection Pecia published by Brepols, is planning to present a special volume about this magnificent work and the extant manuscripts. The edition is planned in collaboration with Michael Jones, Cynthia j. Brown and Elizabeth A. R. Brown. Also the volume will publish a series of texts – epitaphs, poems, records of the funeral and the expenditure as well as the list of guests, who attended the magnificent spectacle.

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