RICHARS LI BIAUS
. Preserved by a single manuscript (Turin, Bibl. Univ. L 13), Richars li biaus was
composed by an otherwise unknown “maistre Requis” in the second half of the 13th
century in the extreme northern part of Picardy or in Walloonie. Realistic rather than
courtly in tone, the romance combines in 5,454 octosyllabic rhyming couplets two
important folklore motifs: “The Son Who Sets Out to Find His Parents” and “The
Grateful Dead.”
William W.Kibler
Holden, Anthony J., ed. Richars li biaus, roman du XIIIe siècle. Paris: Champion, 1983.
RICHEMONT, ARTHUR DE
(1393–1458). Constable of France and duke of Brittany. The second son of Jean IV, duke
of Brittany, Arthur inherited title to his father’s English earldom of Richmond in 1399
and for most of his life was known by its French form, comte de Richemont, until he
finally became duke of Brittany as Arthur III near the end of his life. A title derived from
English lands was singularly ill suited for the man who would mold and command the
Valois armies that reconquered France for Charles VII. Captured at Agincourt (1415),
Richemont won freedom in 1420 by helping persuade his brother, Duke Jean V of
Brittany, to support the Treaty of Troyes. The ambitious Richemont married a sister of
Philip the Good but abandoned Burgundy to accept the office of constable of France
when his brother reconciled Brittany to the Valois cause in 1425.
Despite his office, Richemont’s importance was more administrative and diplomatic
than military. He was as proud and fractious a counselor as might be expected from one
of his lineage. He sought to dominate Charles’s court and was involved in the
assassination of counselors who opposed his interests. A bitter struggle for favor with
Georges de La Trémoille led to his exile from court after 1428. Though he fought at
Patay, he returned to court only in 1433 to work for a reconciliation with Burgundy,
which, after the Treaty of Arras, made possible his entry into Paris at the head of
Charles’s army in 1436.
Richemont’s greatest achievement was to draw on his familiarity with English military
administration in directing the French military reforms of 1445. He dispersed many
undisciplined companies and prepared the remainder for the final victories of 1449–53.
During the Norman campaign, Richemont commanded the armies entering lower
Normandy. His timely arrival at Formigny clinched the decisive victory of the campaign.
After 1450, Richemont became regent of Brittany but continued to serve Charles as
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