In this work, based largely on her 2004 PhD thesis, Tracy Chapman Hamilton treats the artistic commissions of French Queen Marie of Brabant (1260–1321), second wife of King Philip III. Marie has often been overlooked by historians, not only because of her gender but also because her reign was bookended by the eventful eras of the saintly Louis IX and the power-hungry Philip IV. The author corrects this neglect while arguing that Marie's court was a place in which this queen deliberately “chose innovative materials . . . and iconographies,” patronizing new styles “that would later in the fourteenth century become the norm” (37). Chapman Hamilton's Marie is neither a victim of the political scandal that marked her early reign, nor merely a “frivolous” (92) lover of courtly pleasures, as some scholars have emphasized. Instead, she is an individual with a strong “vision of herself” (37), a queen and royal widow who used pleasure-inducing objects and spaces to further her political power.
The book's six chapters have a chronological thrust, but are largely thematic, as each chapter treats a distinct dimension of Marie's patronage. After an introduction, chapter 2 delves into Marie's connections to her Brabantine homeland, explaining how the precocious (and wealthy) court culture of the Low Countries shaped her appreciation for poetry, ceremony, and “monument” (78). Chapter 3 treats the transformation of the “tone of [royal] patronage in Paris” (83) upon Marie's arrival, as the almost exclusively religious projects of Louis IX and his mother Blanche of Castile were augmented by those with “secular themes” (84).
Central to Chapman Hamilton's interpretation is her analysis of the opening illumination in Arsenal 3142, a lavishly illustrated vernacular miscellany commissioned by Marie around 1285. Chapter 4 continues discussion of this work, also treating other manuscripts patronized by Marie. Through a detailed analysis of various codices, the author concludes that these manuscripts—secular or religious, amusing or didactic—were “innovative,” and involved portrayal of “greater intimacy” between human figures, thereby changing the “entire aesthetic” (178) of the late Capetian court. Chapter 5 is a comprehensive discussion of Marie's “genealogical campaign” (246) to promote her Carolingian descent—and therefore her reginal authority—through artwork. A concluding chapter treats Marie's entombment as well as the continued circulation of her collected manuscripts well after her death.
Chapman Hamilton's undertaking was considerable, and her conclusions are convincing, especially the Carolingian connections made within chapter 5. Her continued use of secular as an oppositional term to sacred and religious is problematic at points, given that this polarity did not necessarily exist in later medieval contexts. Additionally, her central argument on Marie's personal creativity is often obscured, as her contentions are not asserted fully throughout, with the historiographical contributions of others sometimes forefronted instead. This may be attributable to the origin of the work as a dissertation.
Overall, Chapman Hamilton's book is a solidly interdisciplinary study that is both meticulously researched and generously footnoted. The fact that it draws from a diversity of source bases and reconstructs a variety of lost objects renders it indispensable for those researching medieval queenship or Capetian rulership. Those studying courtly life and literature will also find it useful. In terms of visual presentation, this book, featuring 140 color illustrations, is indeed fit for a queen. This work is of special relevance to scholars interested in Renaissance studies. Foundational to our understanding of this movement are the development of secular concerns, artistic innovations (involving “idealized naturalism” [169]), and ideologies “of the individual” (32). The story of Marie's court—and her matronage—give us much to think about in each of these areas. Chapman Hamilton's book should therefore be consulted by medievalists and early modernists alike.
