Art & Architecture
article | Reading time3 min
The tumultuous life of Jacques Cœur, a wealthy merchant who became Charles VII's treasurer before falling into disgrace, has inspired writers of all eras... A brief overview.
Jacques Cœur's contemporaries
Chronicler Mathieu de Couchy, a contemporary of Jacques Cœur, states that "he earned more each year than all the other merchants in the kingdom combined".
Another contemporary, Georges Chastellain, Flemish poet and chronicler of the Dukes of Burgundy, described the man as "full of industry and high gear".
As for François Villon, he wrote in his "testament" in 1461:
Si tu n'avez tant que Jacques Cœur
Mieuxvaut vivre sous tissu de bure
Pauvre, qu'avoir été seigneur
Et pourrir sous riche tombeau.
Jacques du Clerc, a 15th-century chronicler, wrote: "He (Jacques Cœur) had the richest house of which one could speak made in Bourges in Berry."
The building also inspired writers.
Thomas Basin, bishop of Lisieux, wrote in 1452 in Histoire de Charles VII: "The magnificent residence he had built in his city of Bourges is so beautiful, so decorated with so many ornaments that, in all of France, I don't say only in the middle aristocracy, but even because of its dimensions, even in the king's home, one could hardly find a more magnificent residence."
© Philippe Berthé / Centre des monuments nationaux
From the 19th century to today
Prosper Mérimée, writer, historian and inspector of historical monuments, visiting Bourges in 1837, tells us that "two doors lead from the street to the inner courtyard, one large enough to admit a carriage, the other, next door, very narrow. One senses the forced prudence of those unfortunate times. It would often have been dangerous to open the large door, and the small one provided a safe haven from surprise. "
Henri James (1843-1915), a naturalized British American writer who came to Bourges in 1877, describes the courtyard: "The courtyard is indeed very profusely ornamented with turrets and arcades, with several magnificent windows and carvings set into the walls, representing the various sources of the owner's great destiny (...) there is something delicate and familiar in the bas-reliefs I have mentioned, representing small scenes of agriculture and industry, which show that the owner was not ashamed to draw attention to his crops and enterprises. "
Jean-Christophe Rufin, born in Bourges and author of the novel Le Grand Coeur, also praises the home of this great man: "The Palais de Jacques Coeur, in Bourges, is visited as a curiosity, the testimony of a pivotal moment, when, in the image of its two different facades, the Middle Ages gave way to the Renaissance. "
In conclusion, to encourage you to visit or revisit the palace, let's quote the phrase Jacques Audiberti had Jacques Cœur say in his play Cœur à Cuir:
Who hasn't seen it hasn't seen anything
Coeur à Cuir
© Patrick Müller / Centre des monuments nationaux