Généalogie de la famille de Clèves

MANUSCRIPT

House of CLÈVES, Genealogy of the Family of Cleves in French (Généalogie de la famille de Clèves). 58 fols. on paper, with two half-page ink drawings highlighted in gouache and watercolor and 67 painted coats-of-arms, all finely executed. The text seems unfinished, but the work is complete in itself, as there are no losses. France, either Paris or Château Thierry, ca. 1580-1590 : 360 mm x 225 mm. The watermark closely resembles Briquet 4435 (“Deux colonnes enlacées… ”) from Paris (1588) or Lille (1584-1592) and Briquet 4438 (Château-Thierry, 1584). The last arms in the manuscript confirm this approximate date of production. The texts in cursive script and written in light brown ink belong to this same period.

TEXT

Our manuscript contains the mythical and heraldic history of the House of Cleves, an illustrious family with numerous branches established throughout Europe. The Duchy of Cleves was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Rhine around Cleves, its capital, and the towns of Wesel, Kalkar, Xanten, Emmerich, Rees and Duisburg. It bordered the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the east and the Duchy of Brabant in the west. Its history is closely related to that of its southern neighbors : the Duchies of Jülich (Juliers) and Berg, as well as Guelders and the Westphalian county of Marck. The territory of the duchy is currently shared between present-day Germany (districts of Cleves, Wesel and Duisburg) and the Netherlands (parts of the Limburg, North Brabant and Gelderland provinces).

Our manuscript was copied in the late sixteenth century, and beyond the mythical origin of the Cleves dynasty and the first counts and dukes, it relates directly to the second House of La Marck-Clèves and later to the House of Gonzaga-Clèves, both led by prestigious and powerful dukes of Nevers and Rethel. There are two sister manuscripts : Paris, BnF ms. fr 6058 (Description de la vie et généalogie des nobles seigneurs contes et ducz du pays de Clèves, 73 fols. in an oblong format) and Paris, BnF ms. fr 24182-24183 (Recueil de blasons coloriés et de dessins à la plume d’armes et de portraits de différents membres de la maison de Clèves, 213 fols. and 38 fols.). Our rediscovered manuscript offers a third witness, one by a separate hand and in a layout distinct from the BnF manuscripts. Was it compiled in a circle different from these others—a family tradition of this heraldic opera commissioned by the House of Gonzaga-Clèves ? Interestingly, all the manuscripts end with the arms of Marie de Clèves and do not include those of Charles III, son of Henriette de Clèves who becomes duke of Nevers in 1601. Hence, these manuscripts were arguably commissioned in the 1560s or 1570s, likely before the death of Marie de Clèves in 1574 or soon thereafter. The family was thrown into crisis after the sudden death of Jacques de Clèves (m. Diane de la Marck) but was saved by three political alliances. Henriette de Clèves married into the Gonzaga family (Gonzaga, prince of Mantua), Catherine de Clèves married into the Lorraine-Guise family (Henri de Lorraine, duke of Guise) and Marie de Clèves married into the Bourbon-Condé Family (prince of Condé). These three fortuitous marriages are all represented at the end of the codex.

PROVENANCE

Copied and illuminated in France, based on style of the drawings, language and watermarks of the paper. The watermarks could point in the direction of Château-Thierry (department de l’Aisne), a city associated with the Clèves at the date alleged for our copy. Diane de La Marck, who inherited Château-Thierry from her father Robert IV de La Marck, married Jacques de Clèves in 1558. She was born in Château-Thierry. When Jacques de Clèves, duke of Nevers from 1562 died suddenly in 1564, it is said that Diane had trouble claiming her dowry from the Clèves-Nevers representatives. There was no male heir to Clèves-Nevers, and the House of Nevers was on the verge of bankruptcy. The king of France was keen to salvage the dynastic succession and the Nevers estates passed through the marriage of Henriette de Clèves to Ludovico Gonzaga. The present manuscript was copied and painted in this context, with the last coat-of-arms being those of the three female heirs of the House of Gonzague-Clèves : Henriette, Catherine and Marie de Clèves. This dynastic history is an important consideration in the dissemination of our manuscript, for the family was now irrevocably changed from its ancestral composition.

An eighteenth-century note on fol. 1r reads : “La bibliothèque nationale possède le même MS coté fr. 24182… Blasons coloriés de la maison de Clèves MS du XVIe siècle. Quelques lignes de texte au bas de la plupart des figures—avec la généalogie de M. Jehan duc de Braban et de Nevers et de la descendance de toutes les terres et seigneuries. Celui de la Bibl. nat. (examen fait) n’est pas de la même main et diffère en beaucoup de points. Il est de format pet. in-4° de 199 feuil. Plus la généalogie de Braban, beaucoup plus complet que celui-ci mais d’une exécution inférieure.” Notes in a later 18th-century hand on the back pastedown seem to represent financial accounts. One of them reads : “9400. La forge le domaine… / 2000. Pré de Lamougnon… 600. Pré de la robe / 600. Biens des bergers… 400 Fief de Château fumé / 200. Fief Dardeau.” France, private collection. This manuscript comes with a French export licence.

LARGE SCALE ILLUSTRATIONS

Our manuscript contains two half-page pen drawings highlighted in watercolor and gouache, in addition to 67 painted coats-of-arms. All the illustrations are found on rectos, the versos being left blank (except for longer text on fol. 14rv and 18rv). The first two numbered leaves (fols. 1-2) are blank, except for a note on fol. 1. What follows on fols. 3r-7r is a pictorial representation of the mythical foundation of the Cleves family. It is tinged with romance convention, suggesting a chivalric pretense for a noble lineage. A story of bloodlines is, in other words, turned into a story of courtly love.

Fol. 3r. Two painted coats-of-arms : the “double-headed eagle” of Germany and “Semé de fleurs de lys” of France.

Fol. 4r. Two painted coats-of-arms, Bourgogne ancien : “Bandé d’or et d’azur de six pièces à la bordure de gueules” and “D’azur semé de fleur-de-lys à la bordure componée d’argent et de gueules.”

Fol. 5r. Two painted coats-of-arms, House of Cleves, one with the Swan, the other Cleves : “De gueules aux rais d’escarboucle pommetés et fleurdelysés d’or à l’écusson d’argent en abîme.”

These arms establish the scope of the family bloodlines : French and German ancestry, Burgundy territory, and Duchy of Cleves. The large-scale miniatures convey the founding of the lineage in the marriage between Beatrix and Helias, the Swan Knight.

Fol. 6r. Drawing in ink and color, upper half of the page : Beatrix of Clèves and her ladies-inwaiting stand before the Castle of “Neuniege” and see a ship arriving with the knight Helias aboard. The text below the drawing reads : “Comme Beatrix fill unicque et dame de Cleves estant sur le bord de la mer veid ung navire auquel estoit le Chevalier Helias.”

Fol. 7r. Drawing in ink and color, upper half of the page : Beatrix of Clèves and her ladies-inwaiting greet Helias the “Chevalier au Cygne” before the castle of “Neuniege.” The text below the drawing reads : “Description du Chastel de Neuniege auquel estoit ladite Beatrix ou fust conduict le Chevalier Helias laquelle le receut humainement et traicterent leur contrat de mariage. Description du portraict du Chevalier Helias lequel obtint de l’Empereur Theodosius par se grandes vaillances qu’il erigea la terre et seigneurie de Cleves en conté.”

According to legend, a noble lady named Beatrix married a Count Aelius (or Helios/Helias)—the “Swan Knight”—a follower of Charles Martel. Our text proposes an even earlier chronology, suggesting that Aelius received lands for service to the fourth-century emperor Theodosius I. The count held lands in the area of Teisterbant in Lotharingia. The son of this marriage, Theodoric I, ruled from 742 as Count of Teisterbant and first Earl of Cleves. The counties Teisterbant and Cleves were divided among his heirs.

The “Chastel de Neuniege” likely indicates Schwanenburg Castle (“Château du Cygne”) built above the Rhine on a steep hill in the town of Kleve. It was the residence of the dukes of Cleves. A “Swan Tower” (Schwanenturm) associated with the “Knight of the Swan” (Chevalier au Cygne) was immortalized in Wagner’s Lohengrin.

CONTENTS

Fols. 8r-58r. A sequence of painted arms and texts relating to the genealogy of the Cleves family, starting with Helias, first Lord and Count of Cleves, up to the Cleves-Nevers branch in the late 16th century. Explanatory content appears on fols. 8-9 and 34-35.

Fol. 8r. First coat-of-arms (fol. 8), annotated : “L’an du monde IIIIm VIc IIIIxx II – L’an VIIc XI [711]. Helias chevalier de grand renom premier seigneur et conte de Cleves teint ladicte seigneurie et conté avec Beatrix sa femme l’espace de XXI ans.”

Fol. 9r. Second coat-of-arms (fol. 9), annotated : “L’an VIIc XXI [721]. Thierry premier ainsy nommé filz dudict conte Helias fust le second conte de Cleves l’espace de vingt cinq ans et eut a femme la fille du conte de Haynault.”

Fols. 34r, 35r. Final coat-of-arms and explanatory text : “L’an M. IIIc XIII [1313]. Octe le premier ainsy nommé filz aisné de Thierry fust le XXVIe conte de Cleves par l’espace de XVI and durant et eut sa femme Adelehit fille du conte Engelbert VIIIe conte de la Marque dont il suscita une fille unicque appellée [not named] laquelle fut mariée a Jehan seigneur d’Autrel… et plusieurs aultres filles dont rien ne demeure mais de messire Octe seigneur 6 d’Autrel descendit messire Jehan le dernier seigneur d’Autrel descendist damoiseau Guillaume d’Autrel.”

At this point in the text, the House of Cleves marries into the La Marck line, from which the commissioner descended. The change of format suggests that the antecedent elements may have been prepared long in advance of the following section.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE ARMS

Fol. 8r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Helias, first Lord and Count of Cleves.

Fol. 9r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Thierry I of Clèves.

Fol. 10r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Renaud of Clèves (d. 770), married to Isabelle d’Ardenne.

Fol. 11r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Ludolf of Clèves (d. ca. 790), married to Adélaïde d’Aquitaine de Razes.

Fol. 12r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Jean of Clèves (d. 801), married to Constance of Byzance.

Fol. 13r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Robert of Clèves.

Fol. 14r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Baudouin of Clèves (d. 830) ; married (first) to Hildegarde de Genève.

Fol. 15r. BLANK.

Fol. 16r. No arms, just an inscription that reads : “L’an VIIIc XX. Louys filz du conte Bauduin fust le VIIIe conte de Cleves l’espace de IIII ans. Il n’eut point de femme et ne laissa aulcune enffant de luy.” Louis, 8th Count of Cleves, had neither wife nor issue.

Fol. 17r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Eberhart of Clèves.

Fol. 18r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Luthard of Clèves, married to Berthe de Germanie.

Fol. 19r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Baudouin II of Clèves, married to Mechtilde de Saxe.

Fol. 20r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Arnold I of Clèves (d. 968), married to Aleida de Zutphen.

Fol. 21r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Wichmanus of Cleves, married to Cunegundis of Thuringia.

Fol. 22r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Konrad of Cleves

Fol. 23. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Thierry II of Cleves, married to Agnes von Schaumberg-Rietberg.

Fol. 24r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Thierry III of Cleves, married to Catherina von Henneberg.

Fol. 25r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Arnold II of Cleves, married to Ida von Cleves ( ?).

Fol. 26r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Thierry IV of Cleves, married to Adelheid von Sulzbach.

Fol. 27r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Arnold III of Cleves.

Fol. 28r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Arnold IV of Cleves, married to Adelheid von Heinsberg-Valkenburg.

Fol. 29r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Thierry V of Clèves (d. 1260), son of Thierry IV of Clèves and Marguerite de Hollande.

Fol. 30r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Thierry VI of Clèves (d. 1275 ; also called Thierry de Misnie), son of Thierry V of Clèves and Edwige de Misnie.

Fol. 31r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Thierry VII of Clèves (d. 1305), son of Thierry VI of Cleves and Adélaïde de Heinsberg.

Fol. 32r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Thierry VIII of Clèves (d. 1347), son of Thierry VII of Cleves and Marguerite de Habsbourg.

Fol. 33r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Thierry IX of Clèves.

Fol. 34r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : Otto of Clèves (d. 1310), eldest son of Thierry VII of Clèves and Marguerite de Gueldre. He first married Adélaïde de La Marck, daughter of Engelbert I de La Marck. His second wife was Mathilde de Virnebourg (Mechteld von Virneburg). They had one daughter, Irmengard of Cleves, who first married Adolphe II de La Mark and later John IV, Lord of Arkel.

Fol. 35r. Painted coat-of-arms and text : “ [… ] mais de messier Octe seigneur d’Autrel [Arkel] descendit messire Jehan seigneur d’Autrel descendist damoiseau Guillaume d’Arkel.” Painted arms of the dukes of Guelders and Juliers. Fol. 36r. Painted coat-of-arms, no text.

Fol. 37r. Coat-of-arms traced in pencil : House of La Marck.

Fol. 38r. Painted coat-of-arms, no text.

Fol. 39r. Coat-of-arms traced in pencil : House of La Marck.

Fol. 40r. Painted coat-of-arms, no text : arms of Cleves and Berg.

Fol. 41r. Three painted coats-of-arms, no text ; arms of ClevesBavaria (Wittelsbach) ; unidentified arms ; arms of Cleves and Berg.

Fol. 42r. Two painted coats-of-arms, no text ; Bavaria and Cleves/Burgundy. In 1400 Agnes of Bavaria (Wittelsbach) married Adolphe I of Clèves (d. 1448). Having reunited the Houses of Cleves and La Marck, Adolphe I of Clèves married Mary of Burgundy (d. 1463) in 1406, and they became the parents of Catherine of Cleves (d. 1479).

Fol. 43r. Six painted coats-of-arms, no text : arms of the offspring of Adolphe I of Cleves and Mary of Burgundy, including the arms of Portugal (Beatrix of Portugal married Adolphe of Cleves-Ravenstein, their son) ; Marguerite of Clèves (d. 1444), who married Guillaume III de Bavière-Munich (d. 1435) ; Catherine of Clèves (d. 1479), who married Arnold d’Egmont (d. 1473), duke of Guelders in 1430 ; Agnes of Clèves (d. 1448), who married Charles d’Aragon (d. 1461), prince de Viane in 1440 ; Hélène of Clèves (d. 1471), who married Henri de Brunswick-Lunebourg (d. 1473) ; Marie of Clèves (also called Marie de Gueldre, d. 1487) who married Charles I d’Orléans (d. 1464) in 1440.

In the celebrated Hours of Catherine of Cleves (Morgan Library MSS M.917 and M.945), the first two full-page miniatures and illuminated borders celebrate Catherine’s illustrious lineage. The first page shows her kneeling before the Virgin and Christ Child, who take a personal interest in her salvation. Catherine is identified by her arms at the bottom, shown with those of her husband, Duke Arnold of Guelders. As noted above (cf. fols. 35-36), Arnold of Egmont, duke of Guelders (d. 1473) was the son of John II of Egmont and Marie d’Arkel (d. 1415), the granddaughter of Irmengarde of Cleves and John IV d’Arkel. The borders in the Hours of Catherine of Cleves are decorated with arms of her eight great great grandfathers, a number of which are found in our manuscript : Count Diderik of Cleves, Count Engelbert of Mark, Duke Ludwig of Bavaria, Duke Ludwig of Liegnitz, King Jean the Good of France, Duke Lodewijk of Flanders, Duke Wilhelm of Jülich, Duke Otto of Ravensberg

Naturally, there is some further relevance in the Egmont Breviary (Morgan Library MS M.87), since it features the impaled arms of Egmont and Cleves, representing Catherine’s husband, Arnold d’Egmont, duke of Guelders. Arnold succeeded to the duchy after the death of his great uncle, Reginald IV, who commissioned the Egmont Breviary. Even if the frontis-piece of the Egmont breviary dates to the midsixteenth century, it seems significant that both of these manuscripts bristle with arms. They proclaim the nobility of the Cleves family as well as the dynastic alliances made by them.

Fol. 44r. Painted coat-of-arms, no text : Clèves-La Marck and Burgundy (likely those of Jean I of Clèves (d. 1481) and Elizabeth of Bourgogne-Nevers (d. 1483), married in 1456).

It is through this marriage that the House of Nevers joined that of Clèves.

Fol. 45r. Painted coat-of-arms, no text : Jean II of Clèves and Mathilde de Hesse ( ?).

Fol. 46r. Painted coat-of-arms, no text : Jean III of Clèves (d. 1539) and Marie de Juliers-Berg (d. 1543).

Fol. 47r. Painted coat-of-arms, no text : Guillaume, duke of Clèves (d. 1592), of Juliers (Guillaume IX) and of Berg (Guillaume IV), married in 1546 to Marie d’Autriche (d. 1581).

Fol. 48r. BLANK.

Fol. 49r. Two painted coats-of-arms, no text : Engilbert of Clèves, count of Nevers, Auxerre, Rethel and Etampes (d. 1506) and Charlotte of Bourbon-Vendôme, his spouse (d. 1520).

The arms of Engilbert of Clèves are found in a manuscript of Aristotle, De virtutibus et vitiis (NYPL, MA MS 122, fol. 7r).

Fol. 50r. Coat-of-arms traced in pencil and painted coat-of-arms, no text : House of Amboise ; in pencil are traced the arms of Louis de Clèves, count of Nevers and count of Auxerre (d. 1545), son of Engilbert of Clèves. Louis de Clèves married Catherine d’Amboise (d. 1550), niece of the famous Cardinal George d’Amboise, prime minister of France and manuscript patron of the Rouen illuminator Robert Boyvin.

Fol. 51r. Two painted coats-of-arms, no text : ecclesiastical arms of Philippe of Clèves, Bishop of Nevers, and François of Clèves, abbot of Tréport.

Fol. 52r. Painted coat-of-arms, no text : Marie d’Albret, dame d’Orval (d. 1549), who married Charles of Clèves in 1504. Fol. 53r. Three painted coats-of-arms, no text : François I of Cleves, duke of Nevers and count of Rethel (d. 1562), Marguerite of Bourbon-Vendôme, his first wife (d. 1559) and Marie de Bourbon, duchess of Estouteville, his second wife.

Fol. 54r. Painted coat-of-arms, no text : House of Bourbon-Vendôme (arms of Madame de Montpensier, who married François II of Cleves, d. 1562).

Fol. 55r. Painted coat-of-arms, no text ; House of La Marck. Diane de la Marck was born in 1544 in Château-Thierry, the daughter of Françoise de Brézé and Robert IV de La Marck, duke of Bouillon, lord of Sedan and of Château-Thierry. In 1558, she married Jacques of Clèves (d. 1564), lord of Orval, son of François of Clèves and Marguerite of Bourbon-Vendôme. Diane was therefore the sister-in-law of Henriette, Catherine and Marie de Clèves.

Fol. 56r. Two painted coats-of-arms, no text : House of Gonzaga (Gonzague)- Nevers and Clèves ; Louis IV of Gonzaga-Nevers, prince of Mantua (d. 1595) and Henriette of Clèves (Henriette de Nevers) (d. 1601). They married in 1565.

Fol. 57r. Two painted coats-of-arms, no text : House of Croÿ and House of Lorraine. Catherine de Clèves (Catherine de Nevers, d. 1633) married first Antoine de Croÿ, prince de Porcien (in 1560) and then Henri de Lorraine, duke of Guise in 1570. She bore fourteen children to Henri.

Fol. 58r. Two painted coats-of-arms, no text : House of Bourbon and House of Clèves-La Marck-Rethel : Marie de Clèves (d. 1574) married Henri, prince de Condé in 1572.

Arms of Clèves-La Marck-Rethel, the final arms in this manuscript : Sept quartiers : au premier de gueules à l'escarboucle d'or et à l'écusson d'argent brochant en cœur qui est de Clèves, au deuxième d’or à la fasce échiquetée d’argent et de gueules en trois tires, 8, 8, 8 qui est de La Marck, au troisième d’azur semé de fleurs de lys d’or au lambel de gueules châtelé de neuf pièces d’or qui est d'Artois, au quatrième de sable au lion d'or armé et lampassé de gueules qui est de Brabant, au cinquième d’azur semé de fleurs de lys d’or à la bordure componé d’argent et de gueules qui est de Bourgogne moderne, au sixième de gueules à trois râteaux d'or qui est de Rethel, au septième écartelé, au premier et au quatrième d’azur à trois fleurs de lys d'or, au deuxième et au troisième de gueules à la bordure engrêlée d’argent qui est d’Albret d’Orval.

This armorial ends with the arms depicting three marriages of the daughters born to François I of Cleves, duke of Nevers and count of Rethel and Marguerite of Bourbon-Vendôme (sister of Antoine de Bourbon, husband of Jeanne d’Albret and father of King Henri IV) : Henriette de Clèves (1542-1601), Catherine de Clèves (1548-1633) and Marie de Clèves (1553-1574). When Henriette de Clèves died in 1601, her son Charles III became duke of Nevers and Rethel (d. 1637).

BINDING

Contemporary limp vellum, with smooth spine

CONDITION

Some internal water stains to the first leaves but never affecting text or images. Four unfinished or projected coats-of-arms traced in pencil, and some leaves without arms. A few defects here and there, generally minor loss of pigment to certain arms. Traces of ties (for the binding) which are now missing, and some stains to the binding. In fine and fresh condition overall, however.

LINKS TO RELATED MANUSCRIPTS

BnF ms. fr 6058 : Description de la vie et généalogie des nobles seigneurs contes et ducz du pays de Clèves, jusqu'à Marie de Clèves, fille de François I, duc de Nevers, femme de Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé, morte en 1574. — Début : En l'an de Nostre Seigneur VIIe et XI, Justinian le second de ce nom estant empereur… ; Généalogie de monsieur Jehan de Brabant, conte de Nevers, et la descendue de toutes ses terres et seigneuries. — Début : De feue Mahault, contesse de Nevers, d'Aucerre et de Tonnerre… ; Partaiges pour Philipes le Hardy, duc de Bourgongne. — Début : Philipes le Hardy, duc de Bourgongne, eut troys enfans masles… LINK : ark :/12148/btv1b84700497

BnF ms. fr 24182-24183 : Recueil de blasons coloriés et de dessins à la plume d'armes et de portraits de différents membres de la maison de Clèves. LINK : ark :/12148/btv1b530382710