of Gilles, the Duke
of Brittany himself wished to marry Francoise, but she would not listen to
his proposals; and at last was obliged, in order to recover her liberty,
to marry the aged Comte de Laval, father of her betrothed, with whom she
lived peacefully thirty years, and had three sons. Duke Francis II.
appointed her to the charge of rearing his daughter Anne.

Arthur Montauban turned monk to avoid the vengeance of Duke Peter, brother
of Gilles, and eventually became Archbishop of Bordeaux. The Pope gave him
the Abbey of Redon, but popular indignation prevented him from accepting
the appointment.

On our return from Montafilant we stopped to visit the Lunatic Asylum
(Asile des alienes), called Les Bas Foins, kept by the brothers of
Saint-Jean-de-Dieu. There are six hundred inmates under the charge of
about sixty brethren. The buildings, with the chapel, are very handsome
and most complete in all the arrangements. Within the enclosure is a large
piece of land. The lunatics are employed in agricultural, garden, and
house occupations; they look very contented and happy. Visitors are not
allowed to speak to them. We omitted seeing the Croix du Saint Esprit, a
curiously sculptured Gothic granite cross of the fourteenth century, not
far from the asylum.

The castle of Dinan is now a prison. It was occupied by the Queen-Duchess
Anne, when on her way to a pilgrimage to Notre Dame-du-Folgoet, in
fulfilment of a vow made during the illness of Louis XII. In the chapel is
shewn a sculptured seat, still called the arm-chair of the Duchess Anne.
Within these walls were crammed, in the last century, about 2000 English
prisoners of war, many of whom fell victims to a contagious fever. From
the platform of the keep we had a magnificent view of the surrounding
country, extending to Mont Dol and the sea.

The church of St. Sauveur has a richly sculptured Romanesque portal. It
contains the heart of Du Guesclin, transferred from the church of the
Dominicans, where he desired it to be interred by the side of his wife
Tiphaine. His body was buried at St. Denis, in a tomb King Charles V.
caused to be made in his lifetime, and he left orders that on his death
his Constable should repose at his feet. On the dark-coloured monumental
stone now incrusted on the wall, are roughly sculptured his arms (an eagle
displayed charged with a cotice(3)), with a commemorative inscription in
gold letters:--

"Cy: gist: le cueur: de
Missire: