(1394-1465) poet
Charles d’Orleans was born in the midst of the Hundred Years’ War. His mother, Valentina Vis-conti, was the daughter of the duke of Milan, and his father, Louis d’Orleans, was the brother of King Charles VI. As a youth he was exposed to the tradition of French lyrical poetry through his father’s patronage of such artists as Jean froissart and Christine de pisan. D’Orleans’s first poetic effort was The Retinue of Love, an imitation of the allegorical style (see allegory) of the courtly love poetry inherited from the southern troubadours and developed by Jean de Meun.
Captured by the English king at the Battle of Ag-incourt in 1415, d’Orleans was held hostage at a series of English castles for 25 years. With only books, servants, and visits, as well as messages from friends in France to amuse him, d’Orleans turned to writing poetry. Though a great number of his poems draw on the formulaic images and language of the courtly love motif, the themes of solitude and imprisonment add an original and introspective touch to the poetry he composed during his exile. By the time of his release in 1440, he had written another long narrative poem called Dream in the Form of a Complaint, a collection of carols, more than 86 songs, and almost 100 ballads. Two manuscripts of these works exist, the English version containing elements not found in the French.
Following failed efforts to negotiate peace between England and France and to restore properties taken from him during his imprisonment, d’Orleans retired to Blois, where he led a court known for its poetic activity and lively entertainment. He continued composing poetry, largely in the form of the rondeau, and mentored several younger poets, among them Francois villon. The wry humor and cynicism of the aging d’Orleans mark his later poems. As a whole the body of his work demonstrates the evolution of French poetry from the highly stylized patterns of the later Middle Ages to the observations of direct experience and inward thought that signaled the humanism of the RENAISSANCE.
An English Version of Works by Charles d’Orleans
Fox, John. The Lyric Poetry of Charles d’Orleans. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.
A Work about Charles d’Orleans
McLeod, Enid. Charles of Orleans: Prince and Poet. New York: Viking Press, 1970.
