The Good King Rene'

The good King Rene:

Rene of Anjou (1409-1480)

Rene I Naples

Duke of Anjou

Count of Provence (1434-1480)

Count of Piedmont

Duke of Bar

Duke of Lorraine

King of Naples (1435-1442) titular(1442-1480)

King of Jerusalem (1438-1480)

King of Argon (1466-1480)

King of Sicily

King of Majorca

King of Corsica

9^th Grand Master Priory of Scion

Pirate

Gave Christopher Columbus his first sea fairing position

Father of Margaret of Anjou (Wife of King Henry VI of England)

key figure in War of Roses

Born in the Castle of Angers and was the second son of King Louis II, Duke of Anjou, King of Sicily, and King of Naples.

Brother of Marie of Anjou Married to King Charles VII of France and became the Queen of France.

His father Louis II, died in 1417,  Rene,his older brother Louis III and brother in law Charles VII and his sister Maria were brought up under the guardianship of his mother.

His brother Louis III, succeeded the Throne of Sicily and duchy of Anjou in 1417. Rene was count of Guise during this time. In 1419 Rene married Isabella daughter of Charles II Duke of Loraine and became Duke of Bar through an inheritance of his mother Iolanda. By his marriage to his wife Isabella he assumed the duchy of Lorraine.

Rene was 10/yo at this time and was reared in Lorraine, mentored by Charles II of France and Louis Cardinal of Bar. Both Charles II and Cardinal Louis were of the House of Burgundian, but were able to retain the right to bear the coat of arms of Anjou.

His brother Louis III died in 1430, and he succeeded to the Throne of Sicily and Naples. When his father in Law died in 1431 he became the duke of Lorraine.

Through the House of Sicily, he was descended from Rodger I of Sicily, Roger the II, was known as Jolly Roger because of the entertainers, musicians, scientists, artist educators and multicultural peoples, events, and studies that were in progress. His Palace at Palmero was dedicated to the arts and sciences. He established a center for navigation which employed Jewish and Muslim scholars.

The Muslim Scholar Ibn Idrisi produced a celestial disc and a terrestrial disc, both in silver which represented all the astronomical and geographical knowledge of that time. Through these Jewish and Muslim scholars they were able to start a library of ancient but extremely accurate nautical charts.

Through the Line of Monarch's of Jerusalem he can trace his heritage to Godfri de Boulion, and decedents of the REX DEUS. Also threw the Merovingian line represented by Godfri de Boulion to the bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

Jeane d' Arc was a subject of his and she requested his service in 1429 to save France from the English invaders and to ensure that Charles VII be crowned King. Rene was also in her company during the siege of Orleans. Current historians believe that King Rene was with Jeane de Arc at the highlight of her career between 1429 and 1431, when there isn't any activities of his recorded in his palace.

Rene mother Iolande appointed herself as Jeane de Arc matron and sponsor. She was instrumental in helping the palace accept this visionary girls desire and obtained authorization for her to accompany the army to Orleans. It was Iolande who convinced the Duke of Lorraine that Jeane de Arc may very well may be the savior she claimed to be!

Rene was a man ahead of his time! He had a vision of the Renaissance, his ancestor King Rodger II was said to be the father of the Renaissance but Rene took it a step further. An extremely literate man a self appointed artist, poet, and author of grail romances. He had a message to convey to future generations and did so through the pen.

He composed poetry, mystical allegories, as well as tournament rules. He sought to promote the advancement of knowledge, he employed Christopher Columbus at one point. He was steeped in esoteric tradition. His court included a Jewish astrologer, cabalist, and physician known as Jean de Saint- Remy who was the grandfather of Nostradamus.

Rene's interest included chivalry, Arthurian and grail romances. He had a preoccupation with the grail. He is said to have taken great pride in a cup of porphyry, a cup he felt was used at the wedding at Cana. He claimed he obtained it in Marseilles where Mary Magdalene was said to have arrived with the grail. Other historians make a claim that Rene had it in his possession which bore an inscription. He who drinks well will see God and the Magdalene!

In 1439 while in Italy his friend Cosimo de Medici began sending his agents all over the world searching for ancient manuscripts. Then in 1444 Medici formed Europe's first public library. The library of San Marco, and thus started to challenge the churches monopoly on learning.

At the library Platonic, Neo-Platonic, Pythagorean, Gnostic, and Hermetic thought was translated and was made available to the public. Cosimo also instructed the university in Florence to teach Greek. He also started an academy of Platonic and Neo-Platonic studies.

From these their came a process of duplication as these libraries sprang up throughout Italy. This was the start of the Renaissance. And Rene passion with the theme of Arcadia, the underground stream which was incorporated into the grail romances.