Giletta Proves to Bertram That the Marriage Conditions Are Fulfilled, Bringing Their Children and His Ring

Gillette de Narbonne’s return to Bertrand de Roussillon turns a private marriage bargain into a public reckoning. Still in her pilgrim’s habit, she enters the feast at Roussillon carrying their twin sons and bearing Bertrand’s ring; before the assembled company, she makes the case that he must fulfill his promise. His recognition of the children and ring, followed by his acceptance of her as his lawful wife, brings her long separation from him to an end.

The Promise Behind the Return

Gillette’s arrival completes a chain of events set in motion when she cured the King of France. In reward, she asked for Bertrand, whom she had loved since childhood. The king, bound by his promise, ordered Bertrand to return to his county with Gillette as his wife. Bertrand objected to the match and refused to consent, despite the king’s insistence that he honor his word.

The later reunion depends on a promise tied to conditions arranged through two knights. Gillette invokes those conditions when she confronts Bertrand, asking him to receive her as his wife because she has fulfilled what was required. The ring she carries is not merely a token of their earlier union: before the assembled guests, it serves as tangible evidence linking her claim to the promise Bertrand had made.

A Pilgrim at the Feast

After Bertrand returned to his county, Gillette remained in Florence until she gave birth to two sons. She had the boys carefully raised, then set out when the time seemed right. Traveling without being recognized, she went first to Montpellier and learned that Bertrand would hold a great gathering of knights and ladies at Roussillon on All Saints’ Day.

She went to the feast in the pilgrim’s clothing she had continued to wear. The guests were gathered in Bertrand’s palace and about to sit down when she entered the banqueting hall with the children in her arms. Without changing her dress or waiting for a private audience, she made her way through the company to Bertrand and cast herself at his feet. The public setting makes her appeal impossible to treat as a private misunderstanding: her claim and his response unfold before the people whose judgment and presence give the moment its force.

Proof and Recognition

Weeping, Gillette identifies herself as his unhappy wife and recalls that she has wandered for a long time so that he might return and remain at home. She asks him, in God’s name, to fulfill the promise attached to the condition set by the two knights. Her evidence is immediate and visible: one son in her arms, another beside him, and Bertrand’s ring.

Bertrand is confounded, but he recognizes the ring. The children, so like him, confirm what the ring alone could not establish. He asks how this has come to pass, and Gillette recounts the events in order. Her story, her constancy and ingenuity, and the presence of the two boys persuade him that she speaks truth. The resolution thus rests on both a remembered pledge and physical proof: the ring recalls the bond, while the children make the consequences of that bond unmistakable.

A Marriage Acknowledged

Bertrand’s acceptance is shaped by more than the evidence before him. He honors his promise, and his vassals and the women at the feast urge him to receive and honor Gillette as his lawful wife. He puts aside his obstinate resistance, raises her to her feet, embraces and kisses her, and acknowledges both her marital status and the boys’ place as his children.

He then has Gillette dressed in clothing suited to her rank. The change of dress marks the public change in her standing: the pilgrim who entered the hall asking to be recognized leaves acknowledged as Bertrand’s bride. The company celebrates, and Bertrand continues thereafter to honor and love her as his wife. The scene closes not with another departure but with her admission into the household and the recognition of the family she has brought before him.