#anne de bretagne

[rossodimarte]

Jean Bourdichon, Saint Sebastian, Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany, ca 1508

[dreamconsumer]

Anne de Bretagne par Regnault.

[zaboun64]

Anne

[postcard-from-the-past]

Some more Anne de Bretagne costumes from 1907 and 1909:

Official visit of president Edouard Herriot in Nantes, at the arm of a young woman in Anne de Bretagne costume, November 20th 1932 - Nantes municipal archives (colorized by me 🙂)

[frenchcurious]

Mike Beuttler avec son amie Anne Ries - Grand Prix de Grande Bretagne - Brands Hatch 1971. - source F1 Old and New.

[philoursmars]

Troisième étape de mon périple dans l'Ouest pour retrouver des ami(e)s lointain(e)s : Christian en Bretagne, près de Brest, il y a un mois déjà.

Une visite de Brest.

les 3 premi��res: la colorée plage de Maison-Blanche

Sainte-Anne-du-Portzic et ses belles villas donnant sur la Rade de Brest

de l'autre côté de la rade: sur la Pointe des Espagnols, à Roscanvel, le Fort des Capucins.

[mutant-distraction]

Anne Laure Gvd

Coucher de soleil sur l'océan en bretagne

[skeleton-richard]

YES I HAVE I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!

@ardenrosegarden !!!!

Anne de Bretagne, opéra rock

Might be a bit obscure, but has anyone here listened to/watched the musical Anne de Bretagne (though I prefer the French classification opéra rock)?

It doesn't appear to have very many fans or be well-known in general (so much so that searching for the key words "Anne de Bretagne" on Tumblr turns up, alongside some scant biographical posts on the woman whose life formed the historical basis for the production, one of my own posts on, curiously, my Hornblower post-canon continuation fic), but who knows, maybe there are others who enjoyed Anne de Bretagne, too?

Seeing as there are many people who enjoy the general time period (and historical fiction set in it, albeit often in a strictly English/British context), there has to be someone else beside me, right?

I found this opéra rock coincidentally, coming across Alan Simon's rendition of Le Prince d'Orange, sung in the musical by Laurent Tixier as Jean IV de Chalon-Arlay (whose daughter's nephew-in-law's great-grandson coincidentally features on this blog every now and then) and fell into a rabbit hole, and here I am.

[harritudur]

The Côte de Bretagne, Louvre Museum

The Red Spinel, known as the Côte-de-Bretagne, is the oldest gem in the French Crown Jewels collection, originally belonged to Anne of Brittany & her mother Marguerite de Foix (c. 1480).

It was later shaped into a fat "Oriental" dragon with flames by Jacques Guay, the gemstone engraver of Louis XV.

During the French Revolution, it was stolen from the Royal Storehouse. It miraculously surfaced in London in 1797, and was restored to the French collection.

[yan-wo]

Dragon detail from Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany / Les Grandes Heures d'Anne de Bretagne, 1503-1508. Manuscript, illuminated by Jean Bourdichon 

[dreamconsumer]

La Maison de Valois.

[skeleton-richard]

@ardenrosegarden !!!!

I don't drink but.... I might make an exception just for this. Or just buy a bottle to put on my shelf.

Duck de Bretagne - amber ale

[percehaies]

Anne de Bretagne priant, entourée de Sainte Anne, Sainte Marguerite et Sainte Ursule.

1508

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Jean Bourdichon (French, ca.1457-1521) Queen Anne of Brittany between Sainte Anne, Sainte Ursule and Sainte Hélène (with a cross), Detail, ca.1503-1508 Les Grandes Heures d'Anne de Bretagne

[jean-dieu]

Dragon age Meta : Breton Lavellan

My version of Clan Lavellan for Aloysius Lavellan, my Inquisitor, is inspired by Brittany and the Bretons.

And here's a lil ramble about how "Rather Death than Dishonor" became the clan's motto!

Brittany's historical motto is "Kentoc'h mervel eget bezañ saotret", which was translated on Wikipedia in "Rather death than dishonor", though there's a strong taint/dirt/filfth dimension to "dishonor".

It comes from a legend where a white haired stroat choose to be killed by Anne de Bretagne's dogs who were hunting it instead of crossing a muddy river that would have stained its fur. Admiring the animal's dedication, Anne spared its life.

Another version, my favorite, says it's Alain Barbetorte, son of the last King of Brittany and Duke of Brittany between 938 and 952) who said that to his men during a war against the Normands as he saw a stroat standing up to a fox rather than crossing that same muddy river.

NOW TO THE LAVELLAN. It's their motto as well.

Their legends say their motto, "Rather death than dishonor", has been said by an Emerald Knight to his men during the second exalted march against the Dales. Cornered by Orlesian soldiers, they're faced with a choice : Crossing a large muddy river to flee, or stand up and fight. As he remembers witnessing a Halla standing up to human hunters, refusing to cross a dirty river to preserve its coat and its whiteness, he shouts these words to his men and they fight the human soldiers until victory.

That's also why THEY particularly hold the Hallas as sacred animal, more than dalish already do.

[adarkrainbow]

An example of the book's fascinating studies: as I said before, the chapter about Sleeping Beauty notices how fin-de-siècle authors, when "perverting" the tale, focused on the fairies around the baby's cradle - and Jean de Palacio notices that the names chosen for these fairies are very revealing of this "perversion".

Indeed, some authors in their twist-take on Sleeping Beauty, decided to name the group of fairies around the cradle. Anatole France, in his take on the Sleeping Beauty story in 1909, listed eight fairies: Titania, Mab, Viviane, Mélusine, Urgèle, Anna de Bretagne, Mourgue. Catulle Mendès, in 1888, had evoked in his work a total of 12 fairies - Oriane, Urgande, Urgèle, Alcine, Viviane, Holda, Mélusine, Mélandre, Arie, Mab, Titania, Habonde. Jean Lorrain did this list twice - once in 1883 including Habonde, Viviane, Tiphaine, Oriane, Mélusine, Urgèle, Morgane ; and another in 1897, simply removing Urgèle. As for Joséphin Péladan, he also did a double list: one in 1893, Mélusine, Morgane, Viviane, Mourgue, Alcine ; and another in 1895 to which he removed Mourgue to add Urgèle, Nicneven and Abonde.

These names can be taken as just random famous fairy names - but Jean de Palacio highlights that... They are not just chosen randomly, and all denote a way to discredit the fairies or to highlight their ambiguous if not negative nature. Of the recurring names four are taken from the matter of Britain, Arthurian and medieval legends: Viviane, Melusine, Anna de Bretagne (a variation of Anne of Britanny, an actual queen of France) and Mourgue/Morgane. Famous characters, right... But who is present here, around this baby's cradle to deliver gifts? Morgan le Fay, half-main villain of the Arthuriana half-healer of Avalon. Viviane, the good lady of the lake, oh yes... but also a shameless seductress who used Merlin's lust and love to steal his secrets and get rid of him. And Melusine - a national treasure, one of France's beloved legends... And a snake-woman with a strong demonic aura and devilish reputation. Viviane, Melusine and Morgan are all manifestations of the "femme fatale", of the deadly though seductive woman.

There is also a British influence at work here, since we have Titania and Mab, the two famous Shakespearian fairy queens. But Titania's reputation had already been soiled in Shakespeare's play by her mad love for a donkey - sorry, an ass ; as for Mab, in the minds of fin-de-siècle century, she is still strongly associated with the "materialistic atheism" of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "Queen Mab". Not perfect example of "godmothers"...

But let's return to Mourgue/Morgue briefly. Yes, she is the Franco-British Arthurian character of Morgan le Fay... But she is also part of the Italian literary tradition thanks to the Orlando Furioso, where she is Morgana, the incest-born sister of the enchantress Alcina who... Oh look! She is there too! Alcina in French is "Alcine" and in the lists you find... Alcuine. Once again, a new discredit over the fairies, as you have two wicked enchantresses dedicated to the dark art - including a lustful old hag so vain she hides her true appearance under a glamour of youth and beauty.

Of the various fairies presented in this list, only Urgèle seems to be free of any same, flaw or negative side - but that's because she is the most "recent" of them all, and not an old literary heritage or cultural figure, but rather a fresh creation. Urgèle was created by Voltaire in 1764 for a short tale/fairytale of his, "Ce qui plait aux dames", "What pleases the ladies", and immediately taken back for an "opéra-comique" adaptation by Favart in 1764, "La Fée Urgèle, ou Ce qui plaît aux dames". And while Théodore de Banville made her a good fairy victim of a wicked enchanter in his comedy "Le Baiser", "The Kiss" ; it didn't refrain Michel Carré and Paul Collin to make her the wicked fairy of Sleeping Beauty in their theatrical-opera adaptation of the fairytale in 1904...

[As a personal note, if you are interest in the other fairy names, Habonde is a variation of Abonde - la fée Abonde was a figure of popular folklore and superstitious beliefs in medieval France, an embodiment of abundance and prosperity fought off by the Church and who was tied to the rite of leaving "meals for the fairies" on special nights such as Christmas or the Epiphany. Holda is of course the same as Frau Holda/Frau Holle of Germanic mythology ; Arie is a reference to "Tante Arie", a Christmas gift-giver of eastern France, and Nicneven is a variation of Nicnevin/Nicnevan of Scottish folklore. I have to admit I do not know about the origins of Mélandre or Tiphaine.]