An imagined gathering
1535 · Fontainebleau, France
Francis I shows Charles V, Erasmus, and Copernicus the château and gallery that make his court the equal of any in Italy.
Francis has rebuilt Fontainebleau into a palace of galleries and gardens, and he walks his guests through it himself. Charles V, who is passing through France on his way from Spain to the Netherlands, has accepted the visit; Erasmus, old now and famous, has been persuaded to come; Copernicus is in the party of a bishop and has been brought along.
The king talks about art and architecture as a form of power, and about the library he is assembling at Blois. Charles answers with the scale of his empire; Erasmus with the republic of letters; Copernicus, quietly, with the order of the heavens. They eat tortellini in broth, roast partridge, a vegetable torte, and zabaglione, and the evening ends with the king promising Erasmus a pension and meaning it.
Host: Francis I of France
Charles V — Crossing France under safe conduct on his way to the Low Countries.
Desiderius Erasmus — Aged and celebrated, courted by every prince in Europe.
Nicolaus Copernicus — Traveling with a bishop's retinue, and near the end of his great work.
Main
a period dish
Side
a period dish
Drink
a period dish
Francis I of France
The northern Renaissance as it took root in France: châteaux, libraries, and a king who collected genius.
Francis I of France
The French court of Francis I, where Italian artists and French chivalry were fused into a new style.
Charles V
The patchwork of kingdoms Charles V inherited and the impossible task of ruling them as one.
Nicolaus Copernicus
The claim that the Sun, not the Earth, sits at the center of the planetary system — and the slow, contested work of making it fit observation.
This gathering is an editorial recreation grounded in the biographies of those present; it did not necessarily take place as described.