Good King Rene and His Fountain, Aix-en-Provence, Aix-en-Provence, France
Aix-en-Provence is known as the city of 1,000聽fountains. However, since the folks of this area have a reputation for exaggeration, we should probably take that with a grain of salt. The real number might be closer to 107鈥� but still, they do have a lot of fountains.
One particular fountain caused quite a stir when it was unveiled in 1923. It was to be topped by a statue of a man who played a major role in the history of Aix and of Europe in the fifteenth century: he was called Good King Ren茅. Let鈥檚 learn a bit more about this intriguing character, then we鈥檒l find out what all the fuss was about鈥�
Ren茅 of Anjou, also known as Good King Ren茅, was a very important man in his day. He had more titles than you could shake a stick at: he was the聽Count聽of Provence, Bar, Piedmont, and Guise; the聽Duke聽of Calabria, Lorraine, and Anjou; and the聽King聽of Hungary, Sicily, Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia, and Jerusalem.
This multi-titled man聽played an important role in Europe and rubbed shoulders with the movers and shakers of the time, so let鈥檚 do a bit of name-dropping. Ren茅鈥檚 mother financed聽Joan of Arc鈥檚 campaign to save France, and Ren茅 rode right alongside the聽Maid of Orl茅ans.聽Christopher Columbus聽mentioned Ren茅 as giving him his first commission as captain. And the Good King is said to have inspired聽Cosimo de鈥� Medici聽to collect manuscripts from around the world and open the first public library, San Marco, in Florence. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).
One particular fountain caused quite a stir when it was unveiled in 1923. It was to be topped by a statue of a man who played a major role in the history of Aix and of Europe in the fifteenth century: he was called Good King Ren茅. Let鈥檚 learn a bit more about this intriguing character, then we鈥檒l find out what all the fuss was about鈥�
Ren茅 of Anjou, also known as Good King Ren茅, was a very important man in his day. He had more titles than you could shake a stick at: he was the聽Count聽of Provence, Bar, Piedmont, and Guise; the聽Duke聽of Calabria, Lorraine, and Anjou; and the聽King聽of Hungary, Sicily, Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia, and Jerusalem.
This multi-titled man聽played an important role in Europe and rubbed shoulders with the movers and shakers of the time, so let鈥檚 do a bit of name-dropping. Ren茅鈥檚 mother financed聽Joan of Arc鈥檚 campaign to save France, and Ren茅 rode right alongside the聽Maid of Orl茅ans.聽Christopher Columbus聽mentioned Ren茅 as giving him his first commission as captain. And the Good King is said to have inspired聽Cosimo de鈥� Medici聽to collect manuscripts from around the world and open the first public library, San Marco, in Florence. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).
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Guide Name: Good King Rene and His Fountain, Aix-en-Provence
Guide Location: France » Aix-en-Provence
Guide Type: Self-guided Walking Tour (Article (B))
Author: Margo Lestz
Read it on Author's Website:
Sight(s) Featured in This Guide:
Guide Location: France » Aix-en-Provence
Guide Type: Self-guided Walking Tour (Article (B))
Author: Margo Lestz
Read it on Author's Website:
Sight(s) Featured in This Guide:
- The Good King Rene Fountain
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