symbolized his magnificence and remains a monument of Gothic architecture. His most
significant public action was to finance the reconquest of Normandy and Guyenne, but by
1451 his wealth and pride had won him the envy and resentment of both crown and
nobility. Charles VII found it easier to ruin than repay his greatest creditor. Arrested on
the absurd charge of having poisoned the king’s mis-
Bourges (Cher), Hôtel Jacques Cœur,
courtyard. Photograph courtesy of
Whitney S.Stoddard.
tress, Agnès Sorel, Jacques Cœur was condemned for irregularities in fact typical of
contemporary public finance. His holdings were confiscated by the crown, and he was
imprisoned until 1454, when he escaped to Rome, where Calixtus III gave him command
of a papal fleet. He died on campaign against the Turks at Chios in November 1456.
Paul D.Solon
[See also: BOURGES; CHARLES VII]
Dauvet, Jean. Les affaires de Jacques Cœur:journal du Procureur Dauvet, procès-verbaux de
séquestre et d’adjudication, ed. Michel Mollat, Anne-Marie Yvon-Briand, Yvonne Lanhers,
Constantin Marinesco. 2 vols. Paris: Colin, 1952–53.
Kerr, Albert Boardman. Jacques Cœur: Merchant Prince of the Middle Ages. New York: Scribner,
1927.
Mollat, Michel. Jacques Cœur. Paris: Aubier, 1988.
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 460