Description:

King Francis I of France 1540 DS for Payment to Soldiers

KING FRANCIS I OF FRANCE. Manuscript Document Signed, “Francoys”, 1p, 17.25” x 7” (visible), Maulny, August 28, 1540. Written in an elegant secretarial hand and countersigned at the lower left. Matted with a typed translation and framed to a size of 21” x 10.5”. Although the translation covers the lower right portion of the document, what is visible appears to be in Very Good condition, save folds, uneven toning, some soiling, and creasing. Document not examined outside of frame.

The document, in full:

“Francis, through the grace of God, King of France, to our well liked and loyal counsellor and treasurer of our savings, Maitre Jehan Duval, salute and kind regards! We want and bid you that, from the money of our savings, you pay, give and deliver in case to our well-liked and loyal Jehan Godet, by us committed to the payment of soldiers by us established in peacetime for guarding, securing and defending the towns and cities of the frontier of our province of Champagne, the sum of three hundred livres tournois that we have appropriated and are appropriating for him by this letter, to be converted and used for paying twenty soldiers, being for our service at the said castle of Linchant in Ardennes belonging to the Baron of Rougnac and for having guarded the abovesaid during the quarter of April, May and June lately passed; which is at the rate of one hundred livres tournois per month, for payment of abovesaid Godet only, we want said sum of three hundred livre tournois to be passed and allowed into the expense part of your accounts and taken out of the account of our savings by our well-liked and loyal general controller of our accounts, to who, through the present letter, we bid to do so without any trouble, because such is our pleasure notwithstanding any other ordinances, restrictions, orders or interdictions to the contrary. Given at Maulny on the twenty eighth day of August, in the year of grace one thousand five hundred and forty, of our reign the twenty sixth.”

The livre tournois was the predominant form of currency in France in the 13th century, and this continued in most part until the end of the French Revolution. In 1795, the livre tournois was replaced by a new franc currency. The livre tournois, which was exchangeable into the new currency at a rate of 81 livres to 80 francs, continued to circulate in France until 1834. As in this document, most royal accounting took place in livres tournois.

Francis I (1494-1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death. Although the Italian Wars (1494–1559) came to dominate the 32-year-long reign of Francis I, the wars were not the sole focus of his policies. As a patron of the arts, he promoted the emergent French Renaissance by attracting many Italian artists to his court, including Leonardo da Vinci, who brought the Mona Lisa with him. Francis I was also renowned as a man of letters, bringing culture to the war-obsessed French nation. He worked diligently at improving the royal library, and during his reign, the size of the library greatly increased. In 1537, Francis I signed an ordinance which decreed that his library be given a copy of every book to be sold in France.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!

Accepted Forms of Payment:

American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Paypal, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

Unless otherwise indicated, we do our own in-house worldwide shipping!

Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. We offer several shipping options, and remain one of the few auction houses who proudly provides professional in-house shipping as an option to our clients. All items will ship with signature required, and full insurance. Most items are sent via Federal Express, with P. O. Box addresses being sent through USPS. We insure through Berkley Asset Protection with rates of $.70 per $100 of value, among the lowest insurance rates in the industry. Our shipping department cameras document every package, both outgoing and incoming, for maximum security. In addition, we compare our shipping and handling rates against those of other auction houses, to ensure that our charges are among the lowest in the trade.

Upon winning your item(s), you will receive an invoice with our in-house shipping and handling fees included. ***We will ship to the address as it appears on your invoice. If any changes to the shipping address need to be made, you must inform us immediately.***

International shipments: In order to comply with our insurance provider, all international shipments will be sent via Fed Ex and customs paperwork will show a value of $1.00. International buyers should contact our office directly with any questions regarding this policy.

Third Party Shipping Option: If a third party shipper is preferred, the buyer is responsible for contacting them directly to make shipping arrangements. For your convenience, we have provided some recommended shippers. For your protection, we will require a signed release from you, confirming your authorization for us to release your lots to your specified third party Please copy and paste this following link into your browser: http://universityarchives.com/UserFiles/ShippingInfo.pdf. At that point, our responsibility and insurance coverage for your item(s) ceases. Items picked up by third party shippers are required to pay Connecticut sales tax. Items requiring third party shipping due to being oversized, fragile or bulky will be denoted in the item description.

Please see our full terms and conditions for names of suggested third party shippers.

After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 10 business days following receipt of full payment for item.

Please remember that the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs from University Archives' offices in Wilton, CT to the buyer's door. Please see full Terms and Conditions of Sale.

May 4, 2022 10:30 AM EDT
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 25% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000