The chess game has become for the feudal elite, more than a simple nobiliary entertainment, a real intellectual, didactic and moral tool.
Under the supervision of Émilie Rosenblieh, lecturer at the University of Franche-Comté, Émilie Tattu Carvalho conducted a very original investigation on the dissemination and use of chess as allegory of the good government, through the interpretation that the adviser of the kings, Philippe de Mézières in the Dream of the old pilgrim (1389-1390), following the Moralized chess gamea treaty recorded by the Dominican Genoese Jacques de Cessoles, a century earlier. Coming from a master’s thesis, this book was 2023 of the Prix of the Association of the Literary Association of the Middle Ages (Alma-Recherche).
Finding in the wake of Michel Pastoureau, the young author continues, in terms of another support than the fresco, the reflection on the representation and the secularization of the medieval power led by Patrick Boucheron. The work analyzes the process by which the game of chess has become for the feudal elite, more than a simple nobiliary entertainment, a real intellectual, didactic and moral tool.
After having drawn up a sociogenesis of failures (chapter 1), the student describes a mental universe conducive to allegorical representations (chapter 2), then details the dissemination of the manuscript of cessolas (chapter 3), before explaining the context of drafting of the work of Mézières and its posterity (chapter 4 to 6).
An allegory of medieval power
Originally from India, first disseminated in the Arab-Persian world, then appeared in Europe in favor of trade as military companies with the East, failures lend themselves, more than any other playful activity, to the political metaphor, as suggested by the very designations of the pieces which refer to the figures of the Court. Contemporaries of their normalization during the XIIIe century have understood this. Through them, it is free to (re) think a harmonious socio-political structure, literally “ square – In the image of a tray which has 64 boxes -, hierarchical in its organization – insofar as the parts are a corps society dominated by the royal couple – as much as predictable in its dynamics or developments – it being understood that the movement of the parts responds to pre -established rules, and no longer at chance, since the original use of dice has been gradually abandoned.
In short, the chess game symbolizes a quest for stability, at a time when the country saw a period of intense upheavals. In addition to a conflict soon secular with England, the turn of the XVe century is thus marked by the mental alienation of King Charles Vi (said “ fol ) And by the soon fratricidal war between Armagnacs and Bourguignon, to which is added the unfair Treaty of Troyes (1420) which mortgages the very future of the Crown of France. In view of such a context, we understand that the Dream of the old pilgrim could have constituted “ a major work in the French literary and political landscape at the end of XIVe century (P. 142).
An order on set
In addition to the intelligence and discernment which must be proven, the success of failures with the feudal nobility is explained by the crystallization of the values of prowess and chivalrous lenses, then particularly rented. In fact, the purpose is less to strip the enemy camp – as vulgar mercenaries would do to the booty – than to put in difficulty the opposing king, to whom the position of “ failure “Still offers an escape movement, before being” mast ». In a sense, failures respond to an almost ordal logic, according to which the result of strategic confrontation expresses the judgment of God. In addition, the renunciation of dice testifies to a Christianization of the game, which allows the church to “ Develop a didactic and moralizing discourse, by opposing a doctor from Docte chess, controlling his emotions (…), to a player (hazardous), symbolizing destitution, madness, violence (P. 48).
Failures also echo the courteous love, insofar as the queen has the strongest attributes, if not the best attires – since she often has among the most beautiful pieces. But, they also and above all participate in a monarchical ideology which consecrates the figure of the king, a centerpiece par excellence. Because, if it falls, all the other pieces are “ bags ». In addition, the progress of the pawns on the plateau takes the appearance of a territorial conquest. However, the time was precisely to the enlargement of the kingdom, as Norbert Elias and his famous “ monopoly law ». Conversely, the attacked player can negotiate a defensive withdrawal in order to undergo the tactical seat of his opponent. Clearly, failures reproduce, on a small scale, the logic of territorial expansion such as medieval military art.
These similarities explain that failures are so popular among the aristocracy. Traditionally, we indulge in it during the long winter break, between two spring hunting parts, at the foot of the ramparts of strong besieged castles or on the boats of the crusaders who sail towards the Levant. Besides, some northern lordships such as Artois, Picardy and Flanders are known to welcome many lains dedicated to games ; This is not without arouse the reprobation of a monarchical power quick to impose taxes and regulations. And for good reason, the games are also accused of disturbing public order, as soon as they are likely to divert soldiers from the handling of weapons.
Between initiation path and reform program
At a time when a first science of the state materialized in mirrors and other ethical treaties developed, failures also have their manuscripts. However, these are less intended to fix the rules than to serve as a support for a moral and political reflection on what should be a “ good government “, Characterized by temperance, honor and bravery. Translated into French by Jean de Vignay, the Moralized chess game of cessolas represents a “ First milestone of the politicization of the Echiquician metaphor (P. 189). Civic instruction manual before the hour, it echoes other manuscripts of the same type, like the Libro de los juegos Commissioned by Alphonse X of Castille. According to the student, it is nevertheless the work of Mézières who constitutes, thanks to her complexity, the most successful political and Didactic allegory, but also the most “ malleable », Offering a roadmap with monarchical power, but also a critical resource for the use of its detractors.
Presented as a “ self med (ieval) man “(P. 115), Philippe de Mézières is a knight from the Picardy little nobility who, of a intrepid nature and obsessed with the preservation of the last Christian kingdoms of the East, traveled Europe and the Mediterranean in search of adventure and salvation. Become advisor to several kings – including Charles V says “ the sage “, He wrote, in the fall of his life, the Dream of the old pilgriman allegorical treaty intended for the young Charles Vi. Assimilated to an infant, the “ White hawk “Must drink from the teachings of” Old pilgrim “, Which intends to guide him towards the way of wisdom and virtue. Unfortunately, Charles’s madness Vi soon ruins the business of his tutor. However, if the Treaty of Mézières does not obtain the expected reception during his lifetime, its posthumous dissemination among the high nobility, during the following century, raises a double contradictory hypothesis: the circulation of the nine known copies among the great feudal feuds would attest to a deaf rebellion against the growing grip of the royal state, or, on the contrary, would constitute proof of an absolute allegiance. This dissemination accompanies, in fact, intellectual and political debates on the need for a reform of institutions at a time of expansion of monarchical power.
Admittedly, the work of this young author is not free from small structural faults, some repetitions, even gaps. Thus, the exercise borrows more from codicology, than from the textual analysis of works as such, so that reflection on allegories is ultimately Quite reduced. Moreover, taking as a study a singular element (the game of chess), Émilie Tattu Carvalho indulges in a broader history of medieval mentalities and intellectual and political conceptions which structures it. His work joins, moreover, that of other medievalists who have chosen to revisit the reign of Charles Vi on the occasion of the 600e anniversary of his death.