King of Bohemia who was killed at the
battle of Crecy : his horse, for sure guidance
into the thickest of the fray, being attached
to the saddles of four attendant knights, all
of whom were also slain. At seventeen
years of age, Louis drew his sword by his
father's side on the fatal field of Poitiers,
but he was neither wounded nor taken
prisoner ; and, before he was twenty, he
exercised the functions of lieutenant of the king
in the provinces of Anjou, Maine, and
Touraine, at which time it is probable he first
began the lucrative occupation of a collector.
But, he was disturbed in that pleasant
pursuit ; peace being concluded between England
and France in the year thirteen hundred
and sixty, one of the conditions of the
treaty by virtue of which King John was
released from his captivity in the Savoy
Palace in the Strand, was the substitution,
for his own person, of a hostage in that of
his second son. The title of Duke of Anjou,
which was conferred upon Louis to reconcile
him to this enforced surrender, did not make
amends for the bitterness of exile ; for, after
enduring his captivity about eighteen months,
to the shame and grief of his honourable
father he broke his parole and fled from
London, avoiding the presence of the king,
and taking refuge in the castle of Guise,
which belonged to him in right of his wife.
We all know how nobly King John returned
to the prison, where, two years afterwards,
he died. When that event took place, the
Dauphin, Anjou's elder brother, succeeded to
the throne of France by the title of Charles
the Fifth ; and, though he might little esteem
the probity of Louis, he appreciated in
his character those qualities of resolution
and capacity for command which were more
serviceable than honesty in the then
disturbed state of the kingdom. ln consequence
of the trust which Charles reposed in him,
the Duke of Anjou successively governed in
Brittany, Languedoc, Guienne, and Dauphiny,
from thirteen hundred and sixty-four to
thirteen hundred and eighty ; and those
sixteen years were, without question, turned to
good account. He added vastly to his
spoils on the death of Charles the Fifth,
when he became Regent of France ; but
another ambition, that of attempting the
conquest of Naples, of which he died king,
caused the dispersion of a great part of his
treasures. Had not Louis of Anjou paid the
debt to time and mortal custom before the
usually allotted period, he might have lived
to enlarge, as king, the enormous accumulations
of the Prince of France ; but, a fever
cut him short in the castle of Bisceglia, near
Bari, in Apulia, and all of his wealth that
remains is the description of it.

It is not my intention to offer a resumé of
this remarkable inventory, for that alone
would more than fill a number of Household
Words ; but what I propose is, to dip into it
at random, extracting here and there the
account of some jewel of price, and then
giving an explanation of its most remarkable
attributes.

I will begin with an image of Saint Michael,
of silver gilt. "He is armed beneath his
mantle, and stands with both feet upon a
serpent" (the Wicked One), "which serpent
has its two wings enamelled azure within
and without, and these wings are between
the feet and legs of the aforesaid Saint
Michael, who carries in his right hand a long
cross of white silver, which he thrusts down
the throat of the aforesaid serpent ; and on
the top of the cross is a small peacock,
surmounted by a cross of red enamel ; in his
left hand the aforesaid Saint Michael holds
a small apple of silver gilt, on which is also
a little cross ; and he stands upon a large
pedestal with six corners. And on the flat
beside the said corners are enamels whereon
men are represented riding on beasts, and
the front of the pedestal is enamelled with
lozenges, some of azure, others of green,
having red borders ; and the said pedestal
rests on six small lions recumbent ; and it
weighs in all, including the wings, which are
large, gilt, and chased, seventy-three marks,
Troyes weight." This ornament belonged to
the prince's private chapel, which was richly
stored with saintly statuettes of gold and
silver. Here is a smaller one of "Saint John
the Baptist on a base (entablement) enamelled
in azure, with angels playing on divers
instruments, seated on three young lions. And
the said image holds in his left hand a round
reliquary of crystal ornamented with a hoop
of silver gilt. And with his right hand
shows Ecce Agnus Dei (Behold the Lamb
of God) ; and weighs altogether nine marks
and one ounce."

These images in precious metal were of
three kinds : solid, moving (mouvantes), and
those which opened (ouvrantes). The two
latter sort deserve special mention. Images
endowed with motion were favourite toys—
lay as well as clerical — during the Middle
Ages. The inventory of the jewels of Anne
of Brittany, towards the close of that epoch,
contains "a picture of Hercules with movable
eyes and eyebrows (les sourcils et yeux
branlans);" and amongst the accounts
relating to the Church of St. Maclou at Rouen
is a sum entered as payment to Nicolas
Quesnel, image-maker (ymaginier), for two
images of moving angels to place upon the
pinnacles of the organs. Opening images
abounded also in the cabinets of royalty, and
amongst ecclesiastical treasures. A very fine
one in ivory, belonging to the collection in
the Louvre, represents the Annunciation,
where the body of the Virgin opens, and
discloses the three personages of the Holy
Trinity, witli Saint Peter and Saint Paul on
either side ; this description of jewel was
common. Of another kind, in the inventory
of the Dukes of Burgundy, is a fleur-de-lis of
wood, gilt outside, and opening ; within is a