The Triumphal Entry in Sixteenth-Century France

1 he triumphal entry in sixteenth-century France forms part ofa very long tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages and continues, with interruptions, right into the nineteenth century.^ The early royal entries into Paris and other cities in the French provinces up to the end ofthe fifteenth century have already been carefully documented by Bernard Guenée and Françoise Lehoux.^ By that date the form ofthe ceremony was well established and the word "triumphal" was beginning to be used in the great variety of ways one finds in the century following, where it came to be applied not only to entries but to coronations, weddings, funerals, masses, buildings and even to costume. The only similar descriptive term equally common at the time and equally vague in its import is the appelation "à l'antique." Both expressions evoke classical models, to be sure, and one might well ask howmuch was then actuallyknown concerning Roman triumphs and other customs they were supposedly imitating. This no doubt varied considerably, depending on the commentators, but, as early as 1517, for the entry of Francis I into Rouen, one of the decorations consisted of a huge horse with its front feet up in the air and on its back a figure representing the king. The account of the entry notes that this statue