Nicolas Rolin
Encyclopedia
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, becoming chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
to Philip the Good (Philip III, Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...
).
Biography
Born into a bourgeois family in AutunAutun
Autun is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in Burgundy in eastern France. It was founded during the early Roman Empire as Augustodunum. Autun marks the easternmost extent of the Umayyad campaign in Europe.-Early history:...
, Rolin's first marriage in 1398 was part of a triple marriage of his widowed mother to a bourgeois of Beaune
Beaune
Beaune is the wine capital of Burgundy in the Cote d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Paris and Geneva.Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France and the annual wine auction of the Hospices de Beaune is the primary wine auction in France...
, accompanied by the marriages of her two sons to two daughters of the bridegroom, Perrenet Le Mairet. However all three brides were dead within a few years. He next married Marie des Landes, before 1407, a marriage which paved the way for his entry to the bourgeoisie of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In 1422, he was made chancellor by Philippe the Good, a post he held for more than forty years as one of the principal architects of the monarch's success. Rolin is closely linked with John the Fearless who was godfather to his third son. Widowed, in 1421 Nicolas Rolin married Guigone de Salins (1403–1470) and together they established the Hospices de Beaune
Hospices de Beaune
The Hospices de Beaune or Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune is a former charitable almshouse in Beaune, France. It was founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, chancellor of Burgundy, as a hospital for the poor and needy. The original hospital building, the Hôtel-Dieu, one of the finest examples of French...
. Rolin was one of the partcipants in drafting the 1435 Treaty of Arras
Congress of Arras
The Congress of Arras was a diplomatic congregation established in Arras in 1435 between representatives of England, France, and Burgundy. Toward the close of the Hundred Years' War, both the Congress and Treaty of Arras represented diplomatic failures for England and major successes for...
by which Charles VII
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...
recognised the independence of Burgundy, thus separating it from the English in the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
.
The house in which Rolin was born is now the Autun town museum and is known as the Musée Rolin
Musée Rolin
The Musée Rolin is a museum in Autun, Bourgogne, France.- External links :*...
. He owned the Château d'Oricourt
Château d'Oricourt
The Château d'Oricourt is a castle in the commune of Oricourt in the département of Haute-Saône, in the Franche-Comté region of France....
and in 1435 he commissioned Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck was a Flemish painter active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century....
the famous The Virgin with Child and Chancellor Rolin, now at the Louvre. One of his sons was Cardinal Jean Rolin
Jean Rolin (cardinal)
Jean Rolin was a Burgundian bishop and Cardinal.His father, Nicolas Rolin, was ducal Chancellor of Burgundy, and lord of Authumes. Jean became a Cardinal in 1448, created by Pope Nicholas V, as part of diplomatic engagement between the Duchy of Burgundy and the Papacy, tending against France.He...
. Another son, Louis, was killed on the field at the battle of Grandson
Battle of Grandson
The Battle of Grandson, took place on 2 March 1476, was part of the Burgundian Wars, and resulted in a major defeat for Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.- Siege of Grandson, February 1476 :...
in 1476, while a third, Antoine, held various court offices such as chamberlain
Chamberlain (office)
A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....
to Charles the Bold.
Hospices de Beaune
Having founded the Hospices de Beaune with his wife in 1443, in 1452 Rolin created a new religious order, "Les sœurs hospitalières de Beaune". He ordered the painting of an altarpiece, The Last judgement by the Flemish painter Rogier van der Weyden for the hospices.Sources
- Charles VII by Georges Minois
Parts of this article were initially translated from this Wikipedia article « :fr:Nicolas Rolin » , specifically from this version and from this Wikipedia article « :fr:Guigone de Salins » , specifically from http://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guigone_de_Salins&oldid=10374744.