Ceremonial Entries and the Confirmation of Urban Privileges in France, C
Ceremonial Entries and the Confirmation of Urban Privileges in France, c. 1350–1550 Neil Murphy In late November 1465, Charles of France arrived at the monastery of Saint- Catherine, situated at the summit of a hill overlooking Rouen. He was due to make his ceremonial entry into the town on St. Catherine’s Day (25 November), where he was to be formally installed as the new duke of Normandy. Charles’s appointment to this position came as a result of his participation in the princely rebellion against his brother, King Louis XI, known as the War of the Public Weal. In the summer of 1465, Charles had joined a coalition of princes led by Charles the Bold and Francis, duke of Brittany, who forced the king to make major territorial concessions to the princes. Francis dominated Charles, using him as a pawn to increase his own power. Charles’s appointment as duke of Normandy was largely due to the actions of Francis, who wanted a pliable duke in control of the strategically important duchy of Normandy. However, as Francis waited with Charles for the townspeople of Rouen to prepare the ceremonial reception, he began to fear that Charles’s installation as duke of Normandy would weaken Francis’s control over the prince, and thus Francis planned to escort Charles into Brittany before he could make his public entry into the town. Thomas Basin, then bishop of the neighbouring town of Lisieux, writes that on the afternoon of 25 November Rouen’s town council received word from John of Lorraine, count of Harcourt, regarding Francis’s intention to prevent Charles from making his inaugural entry into the town.1 The renewal of Rouen’s rights and liberties were dependent on Charles formally entering the town and confirming these grants as part of an entry ceremony.2 In a bid to increase its power over the surrounding countryside, Rouen’s town coun- cil had opened their gates to League forces in October 1465, forcing Louis XI to separate Normandy from the French crown.
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