Renée du bois d'Ambre

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Resides: Porte de l'Eau Date Started: A.S. VII Status: Active Awards: Visit the Order of Precedence to access a list of this person's awards. Offices: {{{offices}}}
Heraldry
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Renée du bois d'Ambre is a widowed woman of advanced years, of mixed ancestry, being of Franco-Scots and Sinti descent. She has now lived in An Tir for half of her life, something she finds odd to believe, being a mere slip of a girl of 21. She currently resides in the Canton of Porte de l'Eau.

Persona

Renée du bois d'Ambre has lived a long and colourful life, and in many regards, it is surprising that she has survived as long as she has.

While known formally by respectable people as Renée or Madame du bois d'Ambre, she is also known as Baba Jaël (or Mémé Renée) to her Kumpania Tsigane family, and during her marriage as Madame des Banes.

Family and Early Life

Renée was born at the end of August 1524 at Crécy-en-Ponthieu, Picardy, France to Marie Josef du Bois and Robert MacBean (Bain) d'Ambre. She was a sickly child, and nearly died several times following her birth, accordingly she was named for Saint-René d'Angers, and christened on his feast day, November 12. She has one sister, Patrik Ottley, seven years her senior, and, who in her five marriages has provided two nieces and one nephew to Renée. Renée was married, briefly, to a cousin, Jean-Henri des Banes (who was said to be an illegitimate son (or grandson) of one of the Guise family), but had no children of her own, her spouse dying in war. She uses the name Renée du bois d'Ambre, as she now lives near Senlis, in the woods of the Forêt d'Halatte, near her Sinti relatives in Picardy.

Renée's paternal grandfather Donal MacBheathain (of Clan MacBean, and no relation to the infamous cannibal clan of Sawney Bean of East Lothian) came from the Cairngorm Mountains by the river Spey in Scotland to the continent as part of what is in modern parlance called the Auld Alliance between the crown of Scotland and France against the English, served in the Garde Écossaise, the loyal bodyguard of the French monarchy. (Many Scottish mercenaries chose to settle in France. Some were granted lands and titles in France. In the 15th and 16th centuries, they became naturalized French subjects.)

Renée's maternal great grandparents came from Alsace with other Sinti and Roma into France during the middle 15th Century, eventually settling in the Picardy region, where Renée's parents met and married, despite cultural differences, and had two children who lived, and many who died between them.

Timeline of the Roma in Europe During Renée's Lifetime

• 1525. Charles V issues an edict in Holland ordering all those that call themselves Egyptians to leave the country within two days.
• 1526. The first anti-Gypsy laws are passed in Holland and Portugal.
• 1530. The first law expelling Gypsies from England is introduced. Henry VIII forbids the transportation of Gypsies into England. The fine is forty pounds for ship's owner or captain. The Gypsy passengers are punished by hanging.
• 1531. The Augsburg Reichstag forbids the issuing of passports to Roma.
• 1536. The first anti-Gypsy laws are passed in Denmark.
• 1538. Deportation of Roma in Portugal to colonies begins.
• 1539. Roma are prohibited by Frances I from residence in France. The punishment is banishment. A second offence results in corporal punishment.
• 1540. Gypsies are allowed to live under their own laws in Scotland.
• 1541. Roma are blamed for outbreak of fires in Prague. This sets the stage for future anti-Gypsy legislation.
• The first anti-Gypsy laws are passed in Scotland.
• 1547. Edward VI of England institutes law requiring that Gypsies be seized and "branded with a 'V' on their breast, and then enslaved for two years." If escapees are caught they will be branded with an "S" and made slaves for life.
• Andrew Boorde authors an encyclopedia in England entitled The Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge. It has a chapter on Romani, which includes some of the earliest specimens of the language.
• 1549. The first anti-Gypsy laws are passed in Bohemia.
• 1554. In the reign of Philip and Mary, an Act is passed which decrees that that the death penalty shall be imposed for being a Gypsy, or anyone who "shall become of the fellowship or company of Egyptians."
• 1557. The first anti-Gypsy laws are passed in Lithuania.
• In the reign of Sigismund Augustus, the first law ordering Roma to be expelled is passed by the Warsaw Seym (parliament).
• 1559. Roma are recorded on the Finnish island of Åland.
• 1560. The Archbishop of the Swedish Lutheran Church forbids priests to have any dealings with Roma. Their children are not to be christened and their dead not to be buried.
• 1560 and others. Spanish legislation forbids Gitanos of travelling in groups of more than two. Gitano "dress and clothing" is banned. Punishment for wearing Gitano clothing and travelling in groups of more than two is up to eighteen years in the galleys for those over fourteen years of age. This legislation is later altered to change the punishment to death for all nomads, and the galleys reserved for settled Gitanos.
• 1561. Roma are prohibited by Charles IX of France from residence. The punishment is banishment. A second offence results in the galleys and corporal punishment. Men, women and children have their heads shaved.
• 1562. An Act is passed in England "for further punishment of Vagabonds, calling themselves Egyptians." Any Gypsy born in England and Wales is not compelled to leave the country if they quit their idle and ungodly life and company. All others should suffer death and loss of lands and goods.
• 1563. The Council of Trent in Rome affirms that Roma cannot be priests.
• 1568. Pope Pius V orders the expulsion of all Roma from the domain of the Roman Catholic Church.
• 1573. Gypsies in Scotland are ordered to leave the country or settle down.
• 1578. At the General Warsaw Seym, King Stephen Báthory pronounces an edict threatening sanctions against anyone who harbours Roma on their lands. They are punished as accomplices of outlaws.
• 1579. Augustus, elector of Saxony, orders the confiscation of Romani passports and banishes them from Saxony.
• Gypsies are recorded in Wales.
• Wearing of Romani dress is banned in Portugal.
• 1580. Roma are recorded on the Finnish mainland.
• 1586. Nomadic Roma are ordered expelled from Belarus.

Ran away with the 'Gyptians

In her youth (about ages 4-12), she traveled with her maternal (Sinti) relatives for several seasons throughout Váltši and Spánia before reaching an age where prospects of marriage became more likely. During this time, she was called Jaël, or in English spelling Jaelle, which is a Sinti form of the biblical Hebrew name Yael, meaning "chamois," "ibex," or "mountain goat." It wasn't given due to grace … Recounting the tale in later years, I recall it began with an argument between myself and my elder sister, Patrik, and that I would resolve the matter by "running away with the gypsies", and so I did. Which, of course, mother allowed me to do, knowing that her family would take good care of me. It also allowed for her to plan Patrik's wedding to the Baron Layne duFrost without me underfoot.

While living amongst the Manouche, I learned many of their customs, which became my customs as well, some of which are with me to this day. I also learned to read the cards, and the palms, and in my youth, I could dance as well as any other unmarried girl. Age, alas, has robbed me of that pleasure, though the others are still with me, even if I do not ply them as a trade these days, except to a very select few.

Married and Widowed

When I came of marriageable age, father tried to rein me in, bringing me back home, which probably saved me from the rapidly coming oppression of the Roma peoples. I was taught numbers and letters and can read and write in Picard, French, Latin and with difficulty, Gaelic, Italian and English, although the last two came somewhat later in my education.

In September 1538 I was wed to a cousin, Jean-Henri des Banes (who was also said to be an illegitimate son (or grandson) of one of the Guise family), shortly before Francois I ordered the Roma peoples from residing in France. Jean-Henri was a military man, some 20 years older than me, but kind and gentle; he was assigned to travel with Captain Paulin during the Italian Wars in the Peidmont.

When Francois I of France ordered the punishment of the Waldensians of the city of Mérindol for dissident religious activities, Paulin was on his way to fight against the English in the area of Boulogne after returning from an embassy to Constantinople, where he was French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. While in Marseilles in 1545, he was requested to assist Jean Maynier d'Oppède in the repression.

The Massacre of Mérindol took place in 1545, where Provençal and Papal soldiers killed hundreds or even thousands of Waldensian villagers. My husband was among the military casualties, and I have never remarried, resumed the use of my unmarried name, took a place within the family businesses, and eventually acquired a position at court as a lady in service to Queen Catherine. While there, I also learned the art of astrologique from Michel de Nostradamus.

Despite this upbringing (to say nothing of the anti-Gypsy laws being enacted across Europe) - or perhaps because of it, my family has managed to remain close to the French Court (possibly due to the rumoured kinship with the House of Guise), and when Mary Stuart, Queen-Consort-Dowager of France, returned to Scotland in August 1561, I went with her as a Dame d'honneur in the widowed Queen's retinue.

Life in Scotland

Having made several visits to Scotland on family business, following Francois II's death, I journeyed with the Queen's party, arriving in Leith on 19 August 1561. Having lived in France since the age of five, Marie had little direct experience of the dangerous and complex political situation in Scotland. As a devout Catholic, she was regarded with suspicion by many of her subjects, as well as by Elizabeth, her father's cousin. I fared little better.

Scotland was torn between Catholic and Protestant factions, and Marie's illegitimate half-brother, the Earl of Moray, was a leader of the Protestants. The Protestant reformer John Knox preached against Marie, condemning her for hearing Mass, dancing, and dressing too elaborately. She summoned him to her presence to remonstrate with him unsuccessfully, and later charged him with treason, but he was acquitted and released. Into this environment Renée was now expected to live -- and survive.

Renée remained part of Marie's entourage for several years, until Marie's new husband, Lord Darnley was murdered in 1567. Following this, she made her way to where she had relatives near Loch Leven and from there made her way back to Picardy in 1570, which was where she always considered home.

Notable Timeline Events

• 10 July 1559: Francois II, the husband of Marie, Queen of Scots, becomes King Francois II of France.

• 27 February 1560: The Treaty of Berwick is concluded at Berwick-upon-Tweed. It is an agreement made between the English and the group of Protestant Scottish nobles known as the Lords of the Congregation to pursue the removal from Scotland of the French troops who are defending the regency of Marie de Guise.

• 11 June 1560: The death in Edinburgh Castle of Marie de Guise, Regent of Scotland and mother of Mary, Queen of Scots.

• 5 July 1560: The Treaty of Edinburgh is agreed between England and France bringing to an end the siege by English troops of French forces occupying Leith.

• August 1560: The Scottish Parliament prohibits the practise of the Latin Mass in Scotland and denies the authority of the Pope, in effect implementing the Reformation across Scotland.

• 5 December 1560: King Francois II of France, husband of Marie, Queen of Scots, dies of an infected ear and is succeeded by his brother, Charles IX of France.

• 19 August 1561: Mary Queen of Scots, aged eighteen and now a widow, is increasingly isolated in France, and has little choice but to accept an invitation to return to a now Protestant Scotland as Queen.

• 4 September 1561: Mary Queen of Scots meets John Knox at the Palace of Holyroodhouse to try to resolve the religious differences between them. The meeting fails and Mary neither ratifies nor revokes the Protestant Acts passed by Parliament.

• 28 October 1562: Mary Queen of Scots and her half-brother James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, defeat George, the 4th Earl of Huntly at the Battle of Corrichie, near Aberdeen, to curtail his ambition and assauge Protestant concerns in Scotland. She goes on to sack Huntly Castle.

• 29 July 1565: Mary Queen of Scots marries her cousin Lord Darnley in a Catholic wedding.

• 26 August 1565: Mary Queen of Scots leads an army out of Edinburgh to supress a rebellion led by her half brother James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, who is opposed to her marriage. She puts the rebellion to flight in what becomes known as the Chaseabout Raid.

• 9 March 1566: Mary Queen of Scots' private secretary, David Rizzio, is murdered in front of her at the Palace of Holyroodhouse by a group including her husband Lord Darnley. The attempted coup that follows fails when Darnley has second thoughts and helps Mary to escape to Dunbar.

• 18 March 1566: Mary Queen of Scots returns to Edinburgh with an army provided by the Earl of Bothwell and those responsible for the murder of her private secretary David Rizzio, flee, many subsequently being exiled.

• 19 June 1566: Mary gives birth to a son, Charles James, at Edinburgh Castle.

• 7 December 1566: Mary Queen of Scots leaves Craigmillar Castle after a group of her advisers agree the Craigmillar Bond, an arrangement for the disposal of Lord Darnley, who by now everyone including Mary knows to be thoroughly unsuitable as a husband. Those involved include The Earls of Argyll, Huntly, and Bothwell, Sir James Balfour, and William Maitland of Lethington.

• 17 December 1566: The future James VI/I is christened at Stirling Castle. Lord Darnley refuses to attend.

• 9 February 1567: Darnley, now ill with syphilis, is murdered while staying at the Provost's House on the edge of Edinburgh. The cellar of the building has been packed with enough gunpowder to leave not a stone standing upon another, but it seems Darnley may have been strangled while trying to escape the explosion. Public suspicions grow that the Earl of Bothwell, and possibly Mary herself, are involved in the murder.

• 12 April 1567: The Earl of Bothwell is tried for the murder of Darnley and found not guilty. Few Scots believe the trial to be fair.

• 19 April 1567: James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, although already married, proposes marriage to Mary Queen of Scots with the support of many influential nobles across Scotland. Mary turns him down.

• 21 April 1567: James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, kidnaps Mary Queen of Scots on the edge of Edinburgh and takes her to Dunbar Castle, where, assuming Mary is an unwilling participant, he rapes her. They agree to marry.

James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell is divorced from his wife, Jean Gordon, to clear the way for his planned wedding to Mary, Queen of Scots.

• 15 May 1567: Mary Queen of Scots marries the Earl of Bothwell in a Protestant wedding at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. They then flee from widespread popular dissent to Dunbar Castle.

• 15 June 1567: Scottish nobles intent on retrieving Mary Queen of Scots from James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, meet the couple and a thousand supporters at Carberry Hill, east of Edinburgh. After a day long stand-off Mary agrees to the nobles' demands and sends Bothwell away. They never meet again. Mary is taken away to imprisonment in Lochleven Castle on an island in Loch Leven, near Kinross.

• 24 July 1567: Lords Ruthven and Lindsay visit Mary Queen of Scots and insist she abdicates immediately or be killed. She abdicates.

• 29 July 1567: One year old Charles James is crowned King James VI of Scotland in a Protestant ceremony in the Church of the Holy Rude, close to Stirling Castle. John Knox preaches a sermon. It is exactly two years since Mary married Darnley.

• 2 May 1568: Mary Queen of Scots escapes from Lochleven Castle and revokes her abdication. She gathers an army and moves towards Dumbarton Castle.

• 13 May 1568: Mary Queen of Scots' army is defeated by a much smaller force under the Regent, the Earl of Moray, at the Battle of Langside, now part of Glasgow.

• 15 May 1568: Mary Queen of Scots' flight takes her to Terregles Castle near Dumfries. She rejects supporters' advice to return to France and chooses instead to flee to England and seek the mercy of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, who still fears Mary might make a claim to the Crown of England.

• 23 January 1570: The Regent, the Earl of Moray, is shot and killed at Linlithgow by an assailant hiding in the home of the Catholic Archbishop of St Andrews.

• 12 July 1570: The Earl of Lennox, father of Lord Darnley, is appointed Regent with support from Queen Elizabeth.

Between 1567 and 1570, observing that being a Catholic in Scotland is not conducive to health and well-being, that Renée planned and executed her return to France, despite her true fondness for Marie.

Return to France

Observing the distrust of Catholics in Scotland, following Marie's marriage to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and his subsequent murder and the open revolt against their rightful Queen by Marie's half-brother, the Earl of Moray, along with other Protestant lords, Renée made her way to relatives in Scotland, and from there, returned to France, taking up residence near Senlis, in the woods of the Forêt d'Halatte, with her maternal relatives, attempting to avoid the Wars of Religion and keep true to her Catholic upbringing, although she is still not used to Pope Pius V's 1570 revision to the Mass, even after fifteen years. She has, however, embraced the Rosary, which in 1571 Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the "for victory at the Battle of Lepanto". The Christian victory at Lepanto was at first celebrated as the feast of "Our Lady of Victory" on October 7, but was later renamed the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Guillaume IV Rose is now our Bishop at the Diocese of Senlis, which has been beautifully rebuilt; Cardinal Montalto has recently been elected Pope, taking the name Sixtus V. He is the ninth Pope of my lifetime, from Pope Clement VII to Pope Sixtus V.

I am displeased that ten days have been robbed of my life by this new calendar.

I pray Our Lady intercede on behalf of my Marie for her safety.

Current condition

• Age: 66

• What year is it: 1590

• Who is on the Throne: Henri IV, also known by the epithet Good King Henry or Henry the Great, who was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589. He is of the Bourbon, not the Valois, who were better, for keeping the Old Religion. Henri IV is a Protestant. I miss the late King, Henri III, for whom I have admiration as he was a politique, arguing that a strong and religiously tolerant monarchy would save France from collapse. He gave me some hope that my Sinti kinfolk will remain safe in their skins and that the wars of religion can end without more of the bloodshed that claimed my Jean-Henri.

• Political and social affiliations: of the gentry, viewed with some suspicion due to her association and friendship with Marie as well as her mixed parentage, but she has avoided arrest, imprisonment or banishment.

• Romantic affiliations: None, married from 1538 - 1545 when widowed

• Children: None

• Religion: The Old Religion, silly, Catholic. I attempt to attend mass at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Senlis whenever I am able. Over my lifetime, I have watched the Cathedral be rebuilt from the fires that nearly destroyed it two decades before my birth. Fire started by lightning in 1504 set ablaze the wooden roof structure, the belfry and high parts of the cathedral. Central nave vaults collapsed, spire threatened. Lead flowed in the streets, the fire burning for two days. Guillaume IV Rose is now our Bishop at the Diocese of Senlis, which has been beautifully rebuilt; Cardinal Montalto has recently been elected Pope, taking the name Sixtus V. He is the ninth Pope of my lifetime, from Pope Clement VII to Pope Sixtus V. I am displeased that ten days have been robbed of my life by this new calendar.

• Position in society / Job: "retired lady in waiting", raises lapins for fur and meat

• How was this position obtained: Survived the Courts of Cathérine de Médicis (regardless of who was King) and Marie Stuart

• Responsibilities: Enjoy what life is left to her before going to her Heavenly reward

• Current residence location: bois d'Ambre (Amberwood) in the Forêt d'Halatte, Picardy

• Type of residence: Woodland cottage in the Forêt d'Halatte, Picardy

• Primary Locomotion: Walking or cart, I am a competent, though far from expert, horsewoman.

• Favored possessions: A set of recorders that had belonged to my grand-père, and carte da trionfi pf the Visconti-Sforza, gifted me by my late husband, who possibly obtained it as a gift from Maximilian Sforza with whom he became friends during the former's imprisonment by Francois I.

• Animals: Deux chats me permettent de les appelle des le mien.

• Sports: Assurément, vous raillez!

• Games: Jeu de Tarot, chess, Noddy, Toutes Tables (Backgammon)

• Favorite foods: There are few things for which I give thanks to Queen Cathérine de Médicis, however, she insisted on refining table manners and introduced the use of elegant glassware from Venice, glazed earthenware from Faenza and that little tool, perfected in Florence, called the FORK. Even so, my favorite foods are soups and broths, simply prepared with vegetables and perhaps some pork, chicken or other fowl or fish; and fruit, such as peaches when it can be obtained. She has been complimented on her quiche aux champignons.

In keeping with my Sinti upbringing, I have fondness for Baxtale xajmata or “auspicious foods” that is, food that is “pungent or strongly flavored like garlic, lemon, pickles, peppers, sour cream, and so on.”

• Favorite drinks: fond of Scots uisge beatha, extremely fond of the new beverage thé especially when flavored with spices such as cannelle as well as many other tisanes.

• Motivations: Sleep and then awaken. Prefereably at night and then the day.

• Personal aspirations: Survive the wars of religion.

House Amberwood/La Maison du bois d'Ambre

• Was founded by Aislynn of Amberwood in July of A.S. XIX (via Caid) with the following badge associated: Per pale Or and gules, two fir trees eradicated counterchanged.

Renée is a member of this Household. She has hopes that other members of the Household will become active again, especially Aislynn. Other members of the household have included Aislynn of Amberwood, Alaric Wulfgar of Amberwood, Maire of Amberwood, Elspeth of Amberwood, Gana of Amberwood and Maeve Moorland.

• Member of Clan Blue Feather

Offices and Positions

Boar Pursuivant Herald - September 2016 - February 2017; resigned office due to health issues.

Awards

None within An Tir as yet.

In Caid, under a different persona (see Alaric_Wulfgar_of_Amberwood), Order of the Dolphin on 12/07/1985 by TRM Glyn and Tressa at the Darkwell (Shire) Below the Salt event

SCA Miscellany

When I first joined the Society in Anno Societatis VII, at the suggestion of a Bard of the West, the late Gwydion Pendderwen, in the West, there were but four Kingdoms, and An Tir had only recently become a Principality. I later lived in Atenveldt, Ansteorra and the then Principality of Drachenwald before returning to the United States, where most of my active time within the Society was spent within the Kingdom of Caid where I was a founding member of the former Shire of Darkwell, where in another life (and persona) earned awards and arms, which are irrelevant to Renée.

In Anno Mundanis 1987, our family moved to Washington, and for many reasons, our participation within the Society ended not long after. My mundane career was spent in Civil Service, working variously for the Social Security Administration,the Kern County Department of Human Services (California), and lastly Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, from which I medically retired in 1997.

Over the years, I have stayed abreast of some changes within the Society, and have renewed membership multiple times, but only recently felt able to return to active participation, and renewed my practice of heraldry, primarily research and consulting.