Pierre Salmon (–1424) was a French clergyman, courtier and diplomat under Charles VI. Salmon was educated at a university. He was in the royal service by 1395. In 1396, he accompanied Charles VI's daughter

Isabelle Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...

to England for her marriage to King

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

. In England, he was accused of treason and theft. He afterwards made a pilgrimage to and visited

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

. He was a royal secretary to Charles VI from shortly before 1406 until at least 1417. In this capacity, he travelled to

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Lucca and

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

on diplomatic missions before the end of 1409. Salmon wrote a

Middle French Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from t ...

advice book or "

mirror for princes Mirrors for princes ( la, specula principum) or mirrors of princes, are an educational literary genre, in a loose sense of the word, of politics, political writings during the Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, the late middle ages and the Re ...

" dedicated to Charles VI, entitled ''Dialogues''. It was published against the backdrop of the a civil war in France and the

papal schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Vatican Standoff, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon b ...

. The first version, completed in 1409, survives in a single illustrated manuscript designed to be presented to the king. It contains a prologue and three sections. A second, revised version was made by Salmon between 1412 and 1415. It contains a fourth section. It survives in three manuscripts, including an illustrated presentation copy.: Geneva, Bibliothèque de Genève, fr. 165 (for presentation); Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fr. 9610 (); Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, fr. 5032 (). Production of the two presentation copies was supervised by Salmon himself. The prologue of the ''Dialogues'' contains a dedication and an explanation of its structure. The first section is written in the form of answers to the king's questions. It is divided into three parts on the virtues, habits and choice of counsellors of a king. The three virtues which a king must possess are the fear of God, honouring of the royal dignity and upholding of justice. The second section maintains the question-and-answer format. Its topic is the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

(''divine escripture'') and it ranges from questions on the divine essence to divine mercy in the afterlife. The third section is a description of Salmon's services to the king. It begins by quoting a letter from Charles asking Salmon to write up his experiences in royal service. Salmon's narrative is interspersed with thirty of his official letters from the period 1407–1409. He ends by expressing hope that he has found a physician who can cure the king of his mental ailment. When Salmon revised the ''Dialogues'', every section was edited, the third most drastically. He removed all but four of the letters and added three new ones. All seven letters are addressed to the king. In the last one, he expresses his intention to withdraw from the world. The new fourth section is a dialogue between him and three ladies who visit him in his retreat—Reason, Faith and Hope. This section is modelled on

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...

' ''

Consolation of Philosophy ''On the Consolation of Philosophy'' ('' la, De consolatione philosophiae'')'','' often titled as ''The Consolation of Philosophy'' or simply the ''Consolation,'' is a philosophical work by the Roman statesman Boethius. Written in 523 while he ...

''.

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

*{{commons category-inline, Dialogues de Pierre Salmon 14th-century births 15th-century deaths Medieval French diplomats Middle French literature