#savoyards

The mayor giving money to young Savoyards. Volume 1, Book 5, Chapter 4.

⚜️ Savoyard cavalry helmet, late 16th - early 17th cent.

Guys, we publish the next exhibit from our exhibition project 2015-2022

More photos on website http://sl-armours.com/en/gallery-of-medieval-arms-and-armour/helmets/158.html

Made by Creative Workshop "Steel Legacy" in 2015

Images by Valery Sibrikov

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⚜️ Кавалерийский шлем "Мертвая голова" (савойский), конец XVI - нач. XVII вв.

Друзья, публикуем следующий экспонат с нашего выставочного проекта 2015-2022 гг.

Больше фото на сайте http://sl-armours.com/ru/gallery-of-medieval-arms-and-armour/helmets/158.html

Шлем изготовлен в нашей Художественной мастерской "Стальное Наследие" в 2015 г.

Фото: Валерий Сибриков

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Haven't seen this in the tags, and I still think it's really interesting context, so here, have a post about Petit Gervais before he's completely Gone from our narrative! (note: this is largely taken from Graham Robb's The Discovery of France: From the Revolution to The First World War , a book I definitely recommend to anyone wanting more French History Context!): Petit Gervais is definitely a chimney sweep. Hapgood's translation cuts that specific phrase out (others leave it in!), but to someone in Hugo’s era, even without the specific mention of him being a chimneysweep, it would be obvious that was his line of work, because that’s what migrant Savoyard boys were. Every year, a large migration of new kids headed north, towards Paris. When they got there: 

...they split up into village groups. Each had its own dormitory and canteen. A Spartan building in a  particular street might look like a part of Paris when in fact it was a colony of Savoy controlled by a Savoyard sweep-master. The master might also sell pots and pans or rabbit-skins and keep an eye on the boys as they went about the city shouting “Haut en bas!” (”Top to bottom!”). If a boy stole money or misbehaved, he was punished according to Savoyard traditiion. Boys who fled into the back streets were always found; chimney sweeps knew the city as well as any policeman and better than most Parisians…

The sweeps who avoided asphyxiation, lung disease, and blindness, and who never fell from a roof, might one  day set up on their own as stove-fitters.  Nearly all of them returned home to marry. Their tie to the homeland was never broken.  When he emerged from the chimney onto the roof of a Parisian apartment -block, a Savoyard sweep could always see the Alps.” - Graham Robb,  The Discovery of France

 So Petit-Gervais– and other Savoyard children like him (it was supposed to be just boys, but of course some girls joined too, with all the extra risk that entailed)  isn’t just a randomly wandering parentless kid. He’s a boy learning a trade, and he’s either off to Paris to essentially serve his apprenticeship, probably working for his money along the way,  or coming back home from Paris. Given how young sweeps were when they aged out of the job (only REALLY little kids can fit in chimneys, after all) and how much money Gervais is carrying, I’d *guess* he’s on the way home from the big city, but it could be seen either way. 

SCENES FROM THE WORLD OF THE SAVOYARDS: Chateaux Chillon

The main characters in my novel THE SISTER QUEENS, Marguerite and Eleanor, may have been the daughters of the Count of Provence, but much of their real power and attraction as royal brides lay in another family connection. These remarkable 13th century women were related through their mother to the house of Savoy.  The Savoyards were celebrities in the High Middle ages—a family of considerable political and marital power, whose members were renowned for their personal attractiveness.  People wanted to be like the Savoyards, and people (even kings and popes) wanted to be seen with them.

Eleanor had a particularly close connection with her Uncle Peter, Count of Savoy.  In December of 1240 Peter arrived in England to advise and support his niece. Henry III of England took to Peter immediately and made much of him—eventually knighting him and granting Peter the Honor of Richmond.

From this point on Peter spent significant time in England, but ever a Savoyard, he did not sever his relationships with his native territory nor with his powerful brothers. Peter owned the legendary Chateau Chillon on the banks of Lake Geneva. He gained this stronghold—and with it control of the road from Burgundy to the Great Saint Bernard Pass and a fleet of ships on Lake Geneva—beginning in 1234 (when he and all the Savoyard brother’s met there upon the death of their father to negotiate a settlement which recognized Amadeus as the head of the house and allowed them to work together to the aggrandizement of all Savoyards rather than turning on each other and diminishing the house through infighting).

And I will call it…

Pirates: (disgusted) Oh, dash it all!

Pirate King: Here we are again!

General: I ask you, have you ever known what it is to be an orphan?

King: Often!

General: Yes, orphan. Have you ever known what it is to be one?

King: I say, often.

Pirates: (disgusted) Often, often, often. (Turning away)

General: I don’t think we quite understand one another. I ask you, have you ever known what it is to be an orphan, and you say “orphan”. As I understand you, you are merely repeating the word “orphan” to show that you understand me.

King: I didn’t repeat the word often.

General: Pardon me, you did indeed.

King: I only repeated it once.

General: True, but you repeated it.

King: But not often.

General: Stop! I think I see where we are getting confused. When you said “orphan”, did you mean “orphan” – a person who has lost his parents, or “often”, frequently?

King: Ah! I beg pardon – I see what you mean – frequently.

General: Ah! you said "often", frequently.

King: No, only once.

General: (irritated) Exactly – you said “often”, frequently, only once.