RÉGNIER, JEAN
(ca. 1390–ca. 1467). The author of the Fortunes et adversitez de Jean Régnier was born
into an influential family of Auxerre. The Fortunes refers to numerous crucial episodes of
his life. As a young squire, he was educated in music, art, and letters in preparation for
his years of service to the dukes of Burgundy. In 1403, when he was about thirteen,
Régnier participated in an expedition to Jerusalem, most likely a spiritual pilgrimage,
with the Marshal Boucicaut. Later in the service of Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, to
whom the English had given the Auxerrois, Régnier was named bailli of Auxerre in
- He served as the duke’s delegate there and took part in negotiations with the
French during the next several years. On January 14, 1432, near Beauvais, while on a
mission to Normandy, Régnier was taken captive by brigands (les compagnons de la
feuillée). Realizing his importance, they turned him over to the French for ransom. Held
in the episcopal prison in Beauvais, then under the infamous Pierre Cauchon, and later in
Lisieux, Régnier was unable to arrange for his release. At one point, enemies close to the
dauphin asked for Régnier’s execution, but La Hire and others intervened. As Charles
d’Orléans had done, Régnier turned to poetry, composing and assembling most of his
Fortunes while a prisoner. At last, on May 1, 1433, he was released, having paid a third
of his ransom and leaving his wife, Isabeau Chrétien, and his eldest son as hostages until
the remaining 2,000 écus were paid. Restored to his duties by the duke and eventually
recovering financially, in 1441 Régnier purchased the castle of Guerchy and its land,
becoming lord of Guerchy. He continued his official duties as bailli until 1465, shortly
before his death.
No manuscript of the Fortunes et adversitez de Jean Régnier is extant. Its 1526 printed
edition by Jean de la Garde survives in only five copies. The major portion of the work,
the Livre de la prison, nearly 5,000 lines, seems to have been composed during Régnier’s
imprisonment. The Livre may have been significantly edited by the author after his
release, since he explicitly reserves the right to revise his work and to say things he could
not while in prison (11. 4,299–302). The Livre de la prison combines narrative verse with
short lyric pieces and draws generously on previous lyric tradition both formally and
thematically. His debt to Charles d’Orléans and Alain Chartier is noticeable. Translating
the captive Régnier’s changing frame of mind, the work moves from his own dilemma to
the vast disarray of the French nation. The Livre contains a testament suggestive of
Villon’s, although Régnier’s is in a more serious vein. An enumeration of poignant
adieux draws an impressive panorama of Régnier’s world, conveying both the intensity
of his feeling and a keen sense of his political surroundings.
Janice C.Zinser
[See also: CHARLES D’ORLÉANS; CHARTIER, ALAIN]
Régnier, Jean. Les fortunes et adversitez de Jean Régnier, texte publté par E.Droz. Paris:
Champion, 1923.
Champion, Pierre. Histoire poétique du XVe siècle. 2 vols. Paris: Champion, 1923. Vol. 1, pp. 227–
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