Business of the tower of Nesle

the business of the tower of Nesle is a legend of the XVe century according to which a Reine of France would have made this tower a den of iniquity, where it would have slept with his/her lovers before throwing them to the the Seine, bent in a bag.

The Tower

The Turn of Nesle, named in the beginning Hamelin Tower, is high on left bank of the Seine, facing the tower of the Louvre. Both belong to the four large towers of the enclosure that Philippe Auguste made build starting from 1214 to protect Paris. Round and massive, this tower of almost 25 meters height quickly takes its name of its proximity of the Hôtel of Nesle.

The business

A legend of XVe century (towards 1471) sticks to this tower: until in 1314, a queen of France would have been delivered there to the vice, before making throw his/her lovers in the Seine, bent in a bag. A professor of university named Buridan would have managed to escape and its indiscretions would have woven the screen of this light comedy. The name of the queen is not specified, but the legend would see well there Jeanne of Burgundy, one of the daughters-in-law of Philippe Beautiful the. Others placed there the vices of its other daughters-in-law, Blanche and Marguerite.

This legend, whose no testimony of the time makes it possible to confirm the existence, is based on a proven historical fact: the inaccuracy of the daughters-in-law of Philippe the Beautiful one.

Inaccuracies of the princesses

Philippe the Beautiful one has four wire, of which three will succeed to him the throne of France, respectively Louis X, Philippe V Length and Charles IV the Beautiful one, that it Marie with three princesses. Louis marries Marguerite, the girl of the duke of Burgundy. Philippe marries Jeanne, the girl of Mahaut d' Artois in 1306. Lastly, Charles marries Blanche of Burgundy in 1308. Very dependant between them, the princesses make blow a wind of cheerfulness and charm on the austere court of the King. Their elegance and their coquettery give birth to soon a destroying rumor. They are suspected of receiving young people. However, no proof comes to support these charges and the princesses continue their merry life.

The visit in Paris of the king d' Angleterre Edouard II and of Isabelle, girl of Philippe the Beautiful one, rings the knell of their beautiful days. Philippe the Beautiful one gives several festivals in the honor of his hosts. During one of them, Isabelle notices that two knights carry to the belt of the aumônières similar to those which it personally offered a few months earlier to two of her sisters-in-law, Marguerite and Blanche. She hastens to announce the brothers Gauthier and Philippe d' Aunay to her father. The king orders an investigation which confirms the facts. Philippe d' Aulnay is the lover of Marguerite and his/her Gauthier brother is the lover of White. No lover with Jeanne is known, but it is at least guilty to have covered the overflows of her sisters-in-law. Decrees, the brothers of Aunay resist the question, then they end up acknowledging, followed by Marguerite and White.

Philippe Beautiful the, pious one if it is, does not have any pity for his adulterous daughters-in-law. Marguerite and Blanche are mowed, equipped with bore-hole and piers to the dungeon with the Andelys. After the death of Philippe the Beautiful one, Marguerite is locked up with Castle-Strapping man and is choked between two mattresses, probably on the order of her husband, become Louis X. White accepts the cancellation of its marriage and withdraws themselves with the Abbaye of Maubuisson, where she dies shortly after. Judged, Jeanne is discharged, for lack of evidence. Philippe plans to repudiate it but it should then return the Franche-Comté which she brought in dowry. It calculates whereas its “marital honor” is not worth this loss. The brothers of Aulnay are émasculés, tortured and trailed by horses before being decapitated the April 19th 1314 then hung by the armpits with gibets.

In 1316, Philippe V Length reaches the throne after the court reigns of Jean Ier Posthumous the. Jeanne thus becomes queen of France. Philippe offers the tower to him and the hotel of Nesle in 1319, is five years after the business. After the death of Philippe V in 1322, it installs its residence definitively there. In her will, Jeanne of Burgundy asks that the hotel of Nesle be sold and becomes a college.

The legend

According to the legend, one of the inaccurate queens, even several, would have used the Tower of Nesle like den of iniquity, killing his/her lovers at daybreak. A Master of philosophy, named Buridan, would have escaped with his disastrous fate, either while being fished out by his pupils, or while dropping himself in a boat from hay which its students brought.

Two established facts still contradict this version:

Buridan is known to be the vice-chancellor of the university of Paris in 1327. Born in 1300, it is too young to be a professor of philosophy and to have taken part in claimed the events of the tower of Nesle (it does not have which 14 years at the time of the lawsuit in 1314).
the layout of the the Seine at that time does not allow in any manner accosting or even the sufficient approach of the famous boat of hay to save Buridan.

In 1832, Alexandre Dumas and Frederic Gaillardet publishes the Tower of Nesle , a historical drama in five acts which puts in Marguerite scene of Burgundy, Buridan and the brothers of Aulnay.

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