Home Classical, Ancient Near Eastern & Egyptian Studies Der Herrscher und die gute Ordnung. Das Bild Karls VII. in der französischen Historiographie am Übergang von der tradierten zur humanistisch geprägten Historiographie
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Der Herrscher und die gute Ordnung. Das Bild Karls VII. in der französischen Historiographie am Übergang von der tradierten zur humanistisch geprägten Historiographie

  • Thomas Schwitter
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Portraying the Prince in the Renaissance
This chapter is in the book Portraying the Prince in the Renaissance

Abstract

This article investigates the portrayal of the French king Charles VII (1422-1461) in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century French historiography, beginning with the contemporary chronicles by Gilles Le Bouvier and Jean Chartier and closing with the new French history written by the Italian humanist Paolo Emilio. These sources show that, despite Charles VII’s great successes, no vivid or triumphant image of him as a ruler emerges from the sources. An important reason for this is his inseparability from and thus inescapable comparison with another historical figure of great stature, Joan of Arc. A further cause can be found in the political ideal of ordonnance (political order), an ideal which arose during his reign and was used to characterize his rule in historical texts, thereby entering French historiography for the first time. The ideal of good political order puts the focus on order itself and on the personnel that guarantees order in the king’s service; the figure of the king, however, remains elusive.

Abstract

This article investigates the portrayal of the French king Charles VII (1422-1461) in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century French historiography, beginning with the contemporary chronicles by Gilles Le Bouvier and Jean Chartier and closing with the new French history written by the Italian humanist Paolo Emilio. These sources show that, despite Charles VII’s great successes, no vivid or triumphant image of him as a ruler emerges from the sources. An important reason for this is his inseparability from and thus inescapable comparison with another historical figure of great stature, Joan of Arc. A further cause can be found in the political ideal of ordonnance (political order), an ideal which arose during his reign and was used to characterize his rule in historical texts, thereby entering French historiography for the first time. The ideal of good political order puts the focus on order itself and on the personnel that guarantees order in the king’s service; the figure of the king, however, remains elusive.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents VII
  3. Introduction 1
  4. I. Virtues
  5. Der Herrscher und die gute Ordnung. Das Bild Karls VII. in der französischen Historiographie am Übergang von der tradierten zur humanistisch geprägten Historiographie 17
  6. Charlemagne am Renaissancehof. Die Darstellung Karls des Großen in Paolo Emilios De rebus gestis Francorum 39
  7. Guter König, schlechter König? Die Darstellung Heinrichs V. und Heinrichs VI. von England in Polydor Vergils Anglica historia 65
  8. Alfonso ›the Magnanimous‹ of Naples as Portrayed by Facio and Panormita: Four Versions of Emulation, Representation, and Virtue 95
  9. II. Cultural and Political Pretensions
  10. Illyrian Trojans in a Turkish Storm: Croatian Renaissance Lords and the Politics of Dynastic Origin Myths 121
  11. Personelle Serialität und nationale Geschichte. Überlegungen zu den Herrschergestalten in Franciscus Irenicus’ Germaniae Exegesis 157
  12. Riccardo Bartolinis Austrias (1516) oder: Wie ein Herrscher zum Feldherrn gegen die Türken wird 193
  13. III. Models Ancient, Medieval, and Modern
  14. Der Herrscher als zweiter Salomo. Zum Bild König Roberts von Anjou in der Renaissance 217
  15. Pier Candido Decembrio and the Suetonian Path to Princely Biography 237
  16. Die Cosmias des Giovanni Mario Filelfo (1426–1480) 271
  17. Einhard reloaded. Francesco Tedeschini Piccolomini, Hilarion aus Verona, Donato Acciaiuoli und die Karlsbiographik im italienischen Renaissance-Humanismus 287
  18. Auf den Spuren Paolo Giovios? Herrscherdarstellung in Jacobus Sluperius’ Elogia virorum bellica laude illustrium 307
  19. IV. Method
  20. Princes between Lorenzo Valla and Bartolomeo Facio 337
  21. Juan Páez de Castro, Charles V, and a Method for Royal Historiography 363
  22. Picturing the Perfect Patron? Francesco Filelfo’s Image of Francesco Sforza 391
  23. Verbis phucare tyrannos? Selbstanspruch und Leistungsspektren von zeithistorischer Epik als panegyrischem Medium im 15. Jahrhundert 415
  24. V. Critical Summary
  25. The Description Makes the Prince: Princely Portrayal from the Perspective of Transformation Theory 445
  26. Indices
  27. Index of Names 463
  28. Index of Places 485
  29. List of Contributors 491
Downloaded on 17.1.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110473377-002/html
Scroll to top button