Two Accounts for the Chapel of René of Anjou (1449–54)

Abstract

René of Anjou (1409–80) was a major figure in the French royal family in the fifteenth century. He inherited some of his titles and lands from his brother Louis III, held previously by his father Louis II and grandfather Louis I (the second son of John II, King of France). But marriage and politics had also increased the wealth and power of the Angevins, adding to the Dukedom of Anjou the Dukedoms of Lorraine and of Bar, the County of Provence, the Kingdoms of Sicily and of Naples, and the title of King of Jerusalem. In the later phases of the Anglo-French conflicts of the fifteenth century René initially supported the Anglo-Burgundian alliance, but later (by 16 July 1429) he transferred his allegiance to the French crown. Captured by the Burgundians at the Battle of Bulgneville on 2 July 1431, he was held prisoner at Dijon until 1437. He was granted provisional liberty between 1432 and 1434, and again in 1435, and was finally released in 1437 after payment of a large ransom.