This diploma thesis is exploring the topic of legitimacy and legality of the royal power in the late English and French Middle Ages. Specifically, it answers the question whether Edward IV and Charles VII were legitimate kings for their respective subjects, based on analysis and comparison of selected contemporaneous English and French sources. This thesis presents different points of view on the royal power and the royal office according to the medieval authors. It describes the often ambiguous and contradictory opinions on this issue as well as provides a deeper look at the traditions and customs surrounding it. This analysis is presented against the historical backdrop of prolonged armed conflicts and political changes in both kingdoms. The differences between the legal and political situation of Charles VII and Edward IV suggest a wide range of possible interpretations. This thesis, based on the critical analysis and comparison of the relevant historical sources, advocates the view supporting the legitimacy of both kings, based on their respective genealogical and legal claims as well as on the support granted by their subjects. Keywords: Charles VII, Edward IV, royal power, legitimacy, treaty of Troyes, Wars of the Roses, Hundred years war

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À partir de 1422 l’Anglais Jean de Lancastre (1389-1435), duc de Bedford, fut le régent du royaume français de son jeune neveu Henri VI. Le traité de Troyes (1420) prévoyant une présence anglaise pérenne en France, le régent dut mettre en place une structure de domination sociale consentie plutôt qu’entretenue par la coercition. C’est dans cette optique que le duc de Bedford instaura une politique culturelle et linguistique, fortement inspirée de celle des grands Valois, lui permettant de cultiver l’assentiment à son régime et de légitimer sa propre autorité. Cette politique est l’objet principal de notre recherche. Nous proposons en un premier temps d’analyser dans le détail les éléments constitutifs de la politique culturelle du régent Bedford, dont les somptueuses résidences, les riches manuscrits et le généreux patronage étaient autant de manifestations de la puissance anglaise en France. Ces dernières lui permettaient de s’insérer dans une société courtoise continentale, notamment auprès de son beau-frère et plus important allié, Philippe de Bourgogne. Parallèlement sa politique lui permettait aussi, notamment à travers l’imitation des rois de France, le déploiement de ce qu’on pourrait appeler des éléments de propagande. L’analyse de ces divers éléments révèle cependant qu’ils étaient peut-être moins destinés à convaincre les gouvernés qu’à consolider les convictions des gouvernants. Nous consacrons ensuite un chapitre dédié à l’exercice du pouvoir par l’écriture. Nous y analysons la production d’actes du duc de Bedford, autant en France qu’en Angleterre, sous le prisme de sa conformité ou de sa divergence d’avec les normes françaises. Le respect des traditions diplomatiques locales et de la langue des actes constituait, en soi, une affirmation des principes du traité de Troyes et un symbole de la continuité du pouvoir entre Valois et Lancastre. Parallèlement, la présence de certains éléments typiquement anglais dans l’administration militaire de la France de Bedford trahit une intégration imparfaite des pratiques locales. Nous y soulignons également l’importance du rôle des secrétaires français dans la coordination avec le royaume anglais d’Henri VI, certains se trouvant même à en intégrer l’appareil étatique. Si au final l’administration anglaise s’avère avoir été peu encline à l’adoption de pratiques étrangères, elle fut le théâtre d’importants changements linguistiques qui n’étaient pas étrangers à l’expérience de la France lancastrienne. En troisième lieu, nous soulignons la contribution d’autres figures importantes de la vie culturelle en France anglo-bourguignonne. La participation de personnages comme Richard Beauchamp et John Talbot à la vie de cour instaurée par le régent témoigne de l’intégration, par les Anglais en séjour sur le continent, de nombreux éléments de culture française. Une telle activité culturelle persista d’ailleurs longtemps après la mort de Jean de Lancastre. Le patronage, la circulation des idées, des artistes et, surtout, l’intériorisation du récit lancastrien en France y résulta en une certaine acculturation des élites, entraînant subséquemment une transformation de la culture anglaise outre-Manche. Cette appropriation culturelle participa à la pérennité de la langue et de la littérature française dans l’Angleterre du XVe siècle, tout en contribuant paradoxalement à la promotion d’une identité proprement anglaise. / From 1422 the Englishman John of Lancaster (1389-1435), duke of Bedford, was regent of his young nephew’s French kingdom. Because the treaty of Troyes (1420) provided for a long-lasting English presence in France, the regent had to put in place a social domination structure based on consent rather than coercion. In this context, the duke of Bedford devised a cultural and language policy inspired by the attitudes of the most prominent members of the Valois family. It allowed him to bolster support for his regime and legitimize his power. This policy is the main object of our research. We first propose to examine each element of Bedford’s cultural policy. His magnificent households, precious manuscripts and generous patronage were outward symbols of the might and stability of English rule in France. These possessions also allowed their owner to present himself as a legitimate member of continental courtly society. As such, they were a mean to strengthen the bond with his most important ally, his brother-in-law Philip, duke of Burgundy. At the same time the regent depicted himself, and by extension Henry VI, as the legitimate ruler of France by actively imitating past French kings. Some of his cultural enterprises can be conceived as propaganda. However under careful scrutiny these representations of power appear to have been intended not only for the conquered, but also for the conquerors themselves. We devote a second chapter to the exercise of power through writing. We analyze the duke’s production of written documents, both sides of the Channel, in light of its compliance to or defiance of French diplomatic tradition. In itself, the adoption of local practices and language was both respectful of the spirit of the treaty of Troyes and a convenient way to conceal the dynastic rift between Valois and Lancaster. On the other hand, the continued use of typical English documents in Bedford’s organization of the military reveals the limited extent of his acculturation. We also consider the important role of the French secretaries in the coordination between the two kingdoms, which in theory were supposed to be kept separate. Some of them were so involved in English affairs that they moved to England to serve Henry VI. In the end however the English bureaucracy remained mostly unaffected by extraneous innovations. Nonetheless, the very significant linguistic shift it underwent was contemporary, and linked, to the demise of Lancastrian France. The last chapter examines the contribution of other important figures of the anglo-burgundian cultural environment. The continental activity of magnates like Richard Beauchamp and soldiers like John Talbot exemplifies the relative vitality of courtly life in Lancastrian France and highlights the adoption of some elements of French culture by the English there. The subsequent patronage, circulation of texts and artists and, ultimately, the internalization of the Lancastrian French narrative, led to the transformation of English culture. This cultural appropriation contributed to the perpetuation of French language and literature in fifteenth-century England. Paradoxically, it also reinforced a properly English identity.

Les espaces fortifiés médiévaux du Velay (diocèse médiéval du Puy-en-Velay), sont analysés dans leur constitution et leur utilisation. L’enquête concerne un corpus de sites castraux, bourgs fortifiés, maisons fortes, prieurés et églises fortifiées de 145 communes situées en majorité dans le département de la Haute-Loire (France- Auvergne). Les changements que ces espaces fortifiés opèrent sur la période XIIIe-XVe s. sont mis en avant : morphologie spatiale et choix d’occupation des espaces, évolution de l’habitat individuel seigneurial et des enceintes en contexte rural et urbain. L’ensemble est documenté par des textes qui indique la nature des relations entre les différents groupes sociaux, acteurs de la construction du territoire fortifié : relations entre les seigneurs et l’évêque du Puy ou le roi, relations entre les seigneurs et les communautés urbaines ou rurales, émergence de nouveaux groupes sociaux (la petite noblesse). L’accent est mis sur l’articulation de ces espaces et le rapport social et symbolique que chacun des groupes sociaux entretient avec la fortification. Les intentions de dominations et les résistances de chacun des groupes sociaux sont ainsi mis en évidence par l’analyse du parcellaire, des édifices et de la forme de la fortification. / The fortified medieval areas of the Velay (medieval diocese of Puy-en-Velay) are analysed in their constitution and their use. The survey concerns a corpus of castle sites, fortified towns, fortified houses, priories and fortified churches in 145 communes, mostly in the department of Haute-Loire (France-Auvergne). The changes that these fortified spaces operate during the 13th-15th centuries are highlighted: spatial morphology and choices of occupancy of these areas, evolution of individual seigneurial habitats and enclosures in rural and urban context. The nature of the relations between the different social groups building this fortified territory is mainly documented by texts : relationships between the lords and the bishop of Le Puy or the king, relationships between the lords and the urban or rural communities, emergence of new social groups (the small gentry). The purpose focuses on the articulation of these areas and the social and symbolic relationships that each of the social groups has with fortifications. Thus, the intentions of domination and the resistance of each of the medieval social groups are revealed by analysing the plots, the buildings and the form of the fortification

Le manuscrit Aix-en-Provence, bibliothèque municipale, 428/(306) contient deux ensembles de textes. Le premier, La Chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin, est un poème épique rimé retraçant la vie de Bertrand du Guesclin (1320-1380), modeste chevalier breton qui s'illustre lors de la première partie de la Guerre de Cent Ans et devient connétable de France. Cette biographie a été composée par un certain Cuvelier entre 1380 et 1385, peu après la mort du guerrier. Le second est un ensemble de sept pièces lyriques écrites en mémoire de Bertrand, dont certaines sont attribuées à Eustache Deschamps. La première œuvre, à la fois récit historique, épopée, éloge posthume, biographie et poème, tient une place de choix dans la production littéraire de l'époque, puisqu'elle est considérée comme étant la dernière chanson de geste à avoir été rédigée en français. Les poèmes à la gloire du connétable sont pleinement en adéquation avec le renouveau lyrique de la fin du Moyen Age. A travers notre travail, nous souhaitons faire découvrir ou redécouvrir ces textes mal connus. Nous fournissons, avec la transcription de tous les textes originaux du manuscrit, la description des autres témoins, une étude littéraire incluant une analyse du contexte ainsi que de nouvelles informations sur l'auteur, une analyse linguistique du texte, des notes critiques, un glossaire, un index des noms propres, la liste des proverbes et une bibliographie sélective. / The manuscript Aix-en-Provence, municipal library, 428(306) contains two different texts. The first, La Chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin, is a rimed epic poem telling the life of Bertrand du Guesclin (1320-1380), a Britain knight from a modest background who took part of the One Hundred Years War, and would become the constable of France. This biography has been written by a certain Cuvelier between 1380 and 1385, right after Bertrand's death. The second is a set of seven lyric poems written in memory of Bertrand, three of which were written by Eustache Deschamps. The first text, at the same time historical, epic, a tribute, biographie and poem, has a considerable importance in the literary production of the day as the last chanson de geste to be written in French. The poems celebrating the constable are fully in line with the lyric revival of the end of the 14th century. Through our study, we like to discover or rediscover this underrated work ; we will provide original text of the manuscript, descriptions of the other manuscripts, a literary review including a study of the context and new information about the author, a linguistic study, critical notes, a glossary, an index, a list of proverbs, and a comprehensive bibliography.

The subject of this diploma thesis is the French national heroine Joan of Arc and her portrayal and reflection in literary works throughout the centuries. The diploma thesis mentions the historical personality of Joan of Arc in the context of the time she lived in, reconstructs the life of this French saint and deals with the rehabilitation process that completes the myth of the French national heroine. This diploma thesis summarizes the important European literary works that Joan of Arc is the most important theme. The diploma thesis deals more with literary works in which Joan of Arc is the main character but each author writes her story and describes her personality from a different point of view. And precisely these differences of the thesis are analyzed. The diploma thesis focuses more on the literary works of various authors such as Voltaire, Jules Michelet, Anatole France and Stéphen Coubé. The diploma thesis deals also with the portrayal of Joan of Arc in the 20th and 21st centuries.

This thesis is an examination of English evocations of translatio studii et imperii during the Hundred Years War. According to the myth of translatio, intellectual and martial superiority were entwined and together moving ever-westwards, from Athens, to Rome, to Paris, and thence - the English claimed - to England. This study contributes to an understanding of how late-fourteenth- and fifteenth-century English aristocrats and clerics understood and legitimized their cultural struggle with France not only as a martial battle but also as an intellectual competition. It also explores how this struggle contributed to the cultural authority of libraries and book collections. The first chapter of this thesis traces the development of the translatio studii et imperii tradition from its ancient origins to its zenith in the reign King Charles V "the Wise" of France. This chapter serves to establish the historiographical implications of the translatio myth as well as the French translatio tradition to which the English responded. The second chapter of this study is devoted to a literary analysis of texts which explicitly evoke the translatio topos and which were composed or copied in England during the Hundred Years War, such as Bishop Richard de Bury's Philobiblon and Ranulf Higden's Polychronicon, as well as Oxford and Cambridge university foundation myths. The third chapter explores the extent to which late-medieval England's book culture resonated with English evocations of translatio. Central to this exploration is the underhanded acquisition of Charles V's monumental French royal library by the English regent of France, John, Duke of Bedford. As is attested in the writings of French court scholars, the monumental French royal library was held to symbolise France's cultural superiority over England during the Hundred Years War. Bedford's manoeuvre can be seen as a bid to transfer Europe's seat of learning, and by extant of power, to England. This thesis concludes with a consideration of the translatio myth's ambivalent implications for contentious master narratives such as the rise of nationalism and of the English language in late-medieval England.