William de Namur--who was
considered the best authority to be found in the kingdom of France. This
collection of the customs of the court forms a kind of family diary
embracing three generations, and extending back over more than a century.

Notwithstanding the curious and interesting character of this book, and
the authority which it possesses on this subject, we cannot, much to our
regret, do more than borrow a few passages from it; but these, carefully
selected, will no doubt suffice to give some idea of the manners and
customs of the nobility during the fifteenth century, and to illustrate
the laws of etiquette of which it was the recognised code.

One of the early chapters of the work sets forth this fundamental law of
French ceremonial, namely, that, "according to the traditions or customs
of France, women, however exalted their position, be they even king's
daughters, rank with their husbands." We find on the occasion of the
marriage of King Charles VII. with Mary of Anjou, in 1413, although
probably there had never been assembled together so many princes and
ladies of rank, that at the banquet the ladies alone dined with the Queen,
"and no gentlemen sat with them." We may remark, whilst on this subject,
that before the reign of Francis I. it was not customary for the two sexes
to be associated together in the ordinary intercourse of court life; and
we have elsewhere remarked (see chapter on Private Life) that this
departure from ancient custom exerted a considerable influence, not only
on manners, but also on public affairs.

[Illustration: Fig. 394.--Interview of King Charles V. with the Emperor
Charles IV. in Paris in 1378.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the
Description of this Interview, Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, in the
Library of the Arsenal of Paris.]

The authoress of the "Honneurs de la Cour" specially mentions the respect
which Queen Mary of Anjou paid to the Duchess of Burgundy when she was at
Chalons in Champagne in 1445: "The Duchess came with all her retinue, on
horseback and in carriages, into the courtyard of the mansion where the
King and Queen were, and there alighted, her first maid of honour acting
as her train-bearer. M. de Bourbon gave her his right hand, and the
gentlemen went on in front. In this manner she was conducted to the hall
which served as the ante-chamber to the Queen's apartment. There she
stopped, and sent in M. de Crequi to ask the Queen if it was her pleasure
that